"Guess you're right, pal," confirmed Dick. "A derelict loose in the
pathway of ocean traffic. Some one of the vessels belonging to the
allied nations probably sunk by one of the German submarines during the
war. Gone to her last resting-place in the salty brine."
After studying the derelict for several minutes the two ensigns hurried
off to the executive officer of the _Leviathan_ to report their find.
They found him, too, with glasses examining the derelict.
"Beg pardon, sir, but we thought perhaps you hadn't seen it," said Jay
deferentially.
The officer nodded a smiling assent. He was busy taking the latitude
and longitude of the wreck to report to maritime quarters in New York
and London by wireless. No use stopping, for nothing could be done; the
derelict would float until some salvage crew came to blow it up or take
it in tow--a menace to all shipping traveling this way.
Back to the rail hurried the two young officers, intent on studying
the wreck as long as it remained within vision. Their discussion fell
naturally into the number of grand old ships that had gone down during
the war--the "wind-jammers" of earlier days, the sailing craft that had
been drafted for service in the transportation of supplies, and the
still more modern steam craft--all of them victims of the submarine's
merciless hunger for tonnage through four years of frenzied world war.
"Many gallant old ships down there under the waves," remarked Jay as
he peered thoughtfully over the rail into the swirling waters that
were churned into a mad rapids by the massive propeller blades of the
_Leviathan_.
Dick slung the glasses over his shoulder and fell into the speculative
mood of his old Brighton roommate.
"Right you are, Jay; good old ships of the line that have anchored for
the last time on the bottom of the sea. Imbedded in silt or wasting
away on their rocky beds. Gone but not forgotten."
Jay stirred from his revery.
"Not so sure about that 'gone but not forgotten' stuff," was his
observation. "Science will never let all those ships stay there for
keeps--not on your tin cup. Think of all the ships sunk! Think of the
billions of cargo that went down with them--billions of dollars' worth
of valuable stuff of all kinds."
"Yes, and most of it perishable like foodstuffs, grain and the like
that by this time has crumbled into decay deep down in Davy Jones'
locker," broke in Dick.
"Yes, I know," continued Jay, "but how about all the coal that could
be reclaimed? Think of the ores and the steel and the guns and shells
and stuff like that; they would still be good should they ever be
reclaimed. And oh, boy, think of all the gold bullion and the silver
and all the priceless stuff that's still as good as the day it first
saw the rays of the sun. Man alive!"
Jay's eyes sparkled at the thought of the treasure deep down in the
fathoms--ransoms big enough to buy whole countries of the earth!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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