Dutch the Diver; Or, A Man's MistakeFenn, George Manville
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Dutch the Diver; Or, A Man's Mistake
Fenn, George Manville
Adventure stories; Deep diving -- Fiction; Treasure troves -- Fiction
But Dutch did not hear him, for he was once more eagerly trying to trace
out in the weeds the shape of the old galleon.
Yes, there it was, undoubtedly; and, to make assurance doubly sure,
another shark slowly glided out, about thirty feet to the left of where
Dutch saw the first, setting the weeds in motion, and displaying, black
and grey with encrustations, three more of the nearly buried ribs of an
old ship.
With this help to locality, he could now make out plainly where the
galleon lay, and see that she must have been nearly a hundred feet long,
and that her stem had struck on the mass of rocks described as those off
which 'Pollo had dived; while her stern lay off behind the boat in the
dense forest of sea growth. And as Dutch looked on he became more and
more aware of the fact that there were watchers over the treasure--if
treasure there was--in the shape of sharks. He had already seen two,
and now, dimly visible in their lairs, lay no less than five more, of
which he could just make out a fin of one, the snout of another, the
tail of another, and so on, one gliding slowly out into the sunshine,
turning right over so as to show its white belly and great teeth-armed
jaws, before dashing after a shoal of bright-coloured fish which had
tempted him from his lair.
So powerful were the strokes of the monster's tail that the water was
all of a quiver, and the long strands of the seaweed waved and undulated
to and fro, displaying here and there more blackened stumps, and showing
how possible it was for anyone to sail a boat over the wreck a hundred
times without catching a glimpse or dreaming of its existence.
"Well," said Mr Parkley, "when you're tired of shark-gazing, we may as
well go on board."
There was only one man of the crew looking over the side now, and that
was the mulatto, who, with half-closed eyes, lazily watched their
actions; the others, finding the business uninteresting, having
adjourned to the shade.
"I'm ready to go on board," said Dutch, quietly. "When shall we begin
work?"
"Oh, at once. Let's ask Studwick to weigh anchor, and try one of the
other places. Ah, my lad, I'm afraid I let my anger get the better of
my judgment. We shall do nothing without the cursed Cuban."
"Think not?" said Dutch, with a smile.
"I am sure of it," said Mr Parkley. "How can we hunt over the whole of
this sea? It would be madness."
"I meant get to work with the apparatus," said Dutch, smiling.
"What are you laughing at?" said Mr Parkley, impatiently.
"At your despondency," replied Dutch. "Old Oakum was right. The
schooner's lying right athwart the galleon."
"What!" cried Mr Parkley, excitedly. "Nonsense!--you are half-mad."
"Over some things, perhaps," said Dutch, gloomily; "but sane enough over
this. Mind, I don't say that there is any treasure there, but the old
fellow has anchored us right across an old wreck."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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