Charley's eyes were becoming accustomed to the semi-gloom and a few steps forward gave him a clear view of the dark object. One glance, and he turned to his chum with a cry which was lost in his muffling helmet.
Before the two lads lay the wreck of a once stately ship, her masts broken short off and a great gaping hole in her side. She had evidently lain long in her bed amongst the coral and sponges for long tendrils of sea moss streamed out from her barnacle-covered sides.
Someone had been there before them for the moss and marine growth had been scraped from the vessel's stern revealing the name, "Golden Hope".
Charley turned from the spelling out of the indistinct letters to see his chum beckoning to him wildly and he hurried to his side.
Walter was stooping over an opened box partly filled with what had once been shining gold pieces but which were now tarnished and almost unrecognizable in their coat of gray slime. The box had been recently torn open as was evident from the freshly-splintered wood.
Charley sat down on the box's edge and did some rapid thinking. The crew's excitement was now accounted for. They had not come upon a rich bed of sponges as he had suspected but had discovered a treasure such as men for ages have fought, struggled, and died to attain. The half emptied box showed that the divers had already begun to remove the gold. For a moment, the lad was puzzled to know how they had been able to bring up what was missing without its being seen. There were no pockets to the diving suits and they could have carried but a few pieces at a time in their closed hands. A moment's reflection, however, brought him to the only possible explanation; the gold must have been sent up in the sponge basket hidden amongst the lumps of mud from which it could have been removed by the crew without much risk of discovery. But it was not the removal of the gold which gave the quick-witted lad the most concern. The amount taken by the Greeks was likely but a mere trifle when compared with that which remained. It was the effects the discovery of such a treasure would have upon an already unruly crew that he feared. As he had said to Walter but the day before, he believed it needed but a trifle to fan the Greeks' growing discontent into open mutiny. Here was riches enough to tempt the most steady band of sailors and it was but reasonable to suppose that it would tempt the lawless Greeks to deeds of violence and bloodshed. These thoughts surged through the lad's mind in far less time than it has taken to tell of them. He would have liked to have talked the matter over with his chum and settled upon the wisest plan to follow, but that was impossible below the surface and signs were useless to convey exact ideas. He must decide alone upon their immediate course of action and trust to Walter's quick wit to fall in with what he decided upon.
Arising he turned to his chum and laid one finger across his lips. Walter nodded his ponderous head-piece to show that he understood the sign for silence regarding their discovery.
Taking up his sponge basket, Charley retraced his steps to the spot where they had descended followed by his observant chum. Here the sponges grew in abundance and he at once began to fill his basket, an example which Walter immediately followed.
As he bent over to tear up an unusually large sponge he became suddenly sensible of an agitation of the water near him. Straightening up, he stood frozen to his tracks with fear and horror. Not ten feet from where he stood lay a gigantic shark, its belly gleaming white through the clear water. Its little green eyes were fixed upon him with a wicked unblinking stare. He let the basket drop from his grasp and flung up his arms with an unreasoning instinct to protect his head from the impending attack. At his sudden movement the great fish darted away. Evidently, it was equally as frightened of the strange unknown monster it had encountered.
The shock had left the frightened lad weak and trembling and he had to rest a few minutes before he could resume the filling of his basket.