"Not today," was the cool answer of the young inventor. "I may let you know what I find in it if you leave your address. Goodbye!"
Tom waved his hand, gave orders to close the hatches and submerge the M. N. 1, and a few moments later the sea closed over her, leaving the other vessel to grapple uselessly for the treasure-ship.
"What are you going to do, Tom?" asked Ned of his chum, as they were all gathered in the main cabin half an hour later.
"Head for home as soon as we can. I've had enough of this, and I want to get at something else I have in mind. But first I'm going to see what's in this box."
It required the strength of Koku to open the small steel box, but when it was torn apart, for the combination was impossible to guess at, all that was seen were bundles of papers. The case having been hermetically closed, no water had penetrated it, though it had been submerged a long time.
"What are they?" asked Ned of his chum.
Tom did not answer for a moment. Then having quickly examined the papers, he cried:
"We've struck it!"
"What?" they all wanted to know.
"The very thing Hardley was after. These are the missing papers in the oil-well deal—the papers that prove Barton Keith has a half share in property worth many millions of dollars. It was these papers that Hardley was after. He may have thought he could get the gold, too, but he wanted most these oil shares. Boys, we've found the fortune anyhow, in spite of the fellows who looted the gold boxes!"