"Little girl!" exclaimed Captain Jules in such a strange voice that Madge was startled, "I promise you that I'll help you find him." Then in a calmer tone of voice he said: "I told you that I would show you my diver's suit. If you will wait on my porch I will go around inside the house to see if I can find it." He rose hastily and disappeared into the house, leaving Madge to wonder why the few words she had spoken concerning her father had affected the old sea captain so strangely. Chapter XIII TANIA'S NEMESIS Captain Jules was gone a long time, but Madge did not mind waiting for him. She loved the odd house with its roof shaped like three sails and its restful name, "The Anchorage." When Captain Jules came back with the great suit his face was pale, almost haggard, but he was smiling good-humoredly. "Come, stand over here by this window while I show you my old togs. I haven't looked at this diving suit myself for several years." Madge was too much interested in the diving dress to glance in at the captain's window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the inside of the snug little house that she had not yet been invited to enter. The diving suit was much lighter than she had expected to find it. It weighed only about twenty pounds. It was made of water-proof material and had a large helmet of copper with great circular glasses in front that looked like goggle eyes. Captain Jules explained that there were two lines with which the diver communicated with the outside world. The one was the air line, and it was used to pump air down to the man below in the water. The life line was usually hitched around the diver's waist. This line was let out to any depth the diver required, and by pulling on it the diver could signal to the men who followed his course: one jerk, pull up; two, more air; three, lower the bag. Madge was utterly fascinated with the netted bag, made of rope, that Captain Jules showed her. He told her that the pearl-diver always carried a bag to hold the treasures that he finds at the bottom of the sea. To her vivid imagination, the empty bag was even now filled with shining pearls, the rarest treasures of the sea. The young girl persuaded Captain Jules to let her dress up in his diver's suit, when she stumbled about the veranda in it, her gay laughter mingling with the captain's deep chuckles of delight. "O Captain Jules!" she pleaded, "do take me down to the bottom of the sea with you. I have always wanted to be a mermaid, and this may be the only chance I shall ever have. 'Only divers know of things below, of water's green and fishes' sheen,'" she chanted gayly. The old sea captain gazed at Madge, breathing a deep sigh of satisfaction. "I believe you have the courage to do it if I were to let you try," he murmured. "It comes nearer to convincing me than anything else."