"I wished to enquire if the young gentlemen intend to go down in the suits again to-morrow?" he said, suavely.
"We haven't decided yet," Charley said, carelessly, "Why do you wish to know?"
"Because, if you are, the air hose had better be greased. If it is left dry for long the rubber sometimes cracks and makes leaks."
"Then have it well greased," the captain ordered.
"I guess he's afraid of being shot if anything happens, an' is taking every precaution," chuckled the captain when the Greek had retired.
"Perhaps," agreed Charley, doubtfully, "but, I confess, I am afraid of that fellow. I'll certainly look over that hose carefully before I go down to-morrow."
When they ascended to the deck, which they had forgotten to have watched in the excitement of their discussion, they found Manuel and two of the divers busily engaged in greasing the rubber air hose with bacon slush from the cook's galley.
Charley's was the first watch on deck and, long after his companions had retired to their bunks, he paced back and forth aft of the main mast pondering thoughtfully over the plan he had suggested. It was the best he could conceive under the circumstances but he realized that its execution would be attended with the gravest dangers. Most of all, he dreaded the proposed descent to the bottom for the gold. He was convinced that Manuel had hit upon some scheme to get rid of him and Walter without danger to himself. Again and again the lad's thoughts came back to the greasing of the hose. If the operation was so important, why had the divers not done it before—They were not the kind of men to take any unnecessary risks in their dangerous work below the surface. He had often noted the care with which they had examined hose and pump before each descent.
But, while the lad puzzled over the matter, he did not neglect to keep a watchful eye upon the three or four Greeks who lingered on the forward deck. If he had needed any reminder of the peril of their situation, it would have been found in the sight of those watchful, restless figures.
Near the end of his watch, he gave vent to a low exclamation—He had discovered the reason for the greasing of the hose. For a few minutes he was appalled by the cunning fiendishness which had prompted the act. The two hoses lay coiled close together in great heaps on deck. Sauntering over to them, the lad stooped over each pile for a second, then, straightening up, he resumed his slow steady pacing.