Slowly Amos Fearless nodded. His lips moved slightly, but no intelligible sound came from them. "Don't try to talk," went on the boy. "Take it easy and you will be yourself in a few days." Again Mr. Fearless nodded, and then fell back, to doze off again. The next day he was strong enough to sit up. The storm was now over and the _Swallow_ was proceeding on her way to the island at which she was to stop. "You are better now, surely," said Dave, speaking as cheerfully as he could. For answer, Amos Fearless pointed to his mouth and then made a motion as if writing on paper. A sudden horror seized Dave, causing a cold chill to run down his backbone. "What is it?" he cried. "Oh, father, can't you speak?" Again the old diver made a motion as if writing, and Dave hurriedly brought him a pencil and a writing pad. Quickly Amos Fearless set down the following: "My tongue is paralyzed and I cannot talk." As Dave read the words, his very heart seemed to stop beating. His father had become a mute! The shock was an awful one. He turned to the doctor, who had just come in. "See what my father has written!" he cried. "Oh, doctor, cannot something be done?" "It is what I feared," replied Doctor Barrell, gravely. "I have known of such cases before. I had such a case to treat in Richmond, about six years ago." "And the sufferer--does he talk now?" was Dave's eager question. Doctor Barrell shook his head, slowly. "I am sorry to say he does not, although in every other respect he is a perfectly healthy man." "But my father--cannot you give me some hope?" "Let us hope for the best, David." "You will do all you can for him?" "To be sure I will." The day was a perfect one, but Dave was utterly downcast and refused to be comforted. The thought that his parent might remain a mute forever almost unnerved him. "I'd rather lose the sunken treasure," he groaned to himself. At nightfall the _Swallow_ came in sight of the island of San Murio, and dropped anchor in a little bay surrounded by palms and other tropical trees. The scene was a beautiful one, and had Dave's mind been free from care he would have enjoyed it thoroughly. Amos Fearless was brought on deck and made comfortable in a steamer chair. He was gaining strength rapidly, and the doctor expected the old diver to be around again in a week or ten days. But he could not use his tongue for talking purposes, although he had little trouble in swallowing food. Early the next morning some of the sailors from the _Swallow_ were sent ashore for water. "I wouldn't mind going," said Dave, in reply to a question from Captain Broadbeam. "But I hate to leave father." Amos Fearless overheard this and at once wrote on a pad: "Go, Dave, and have a good time. I'll be all right. This will be your last chance to stretch your legs on shore for many weeks to come."