Instantly there was a great hubbub on deck, members of the crew jostling about just as a crowd collects on a public thoroughfare at the least sign of a commotion. It was not the first time that Diver Weddigen was thus confronted by one of the Brighton boys. Sailors of the _Nemo_ recalled on the instant the scene after the recovery of the diamonds from the _Dominion_. "You are a spy in the service of the German secret service and a cowardly villain to the very core of your heart." Dick Monaghan was fairly railing at the cowering diver. By now Captain Austin had edged up closer with Jay Thacker right at his heels. "Captain Austin, this man Weddigen recovered that chest of government plans from the U-boat; but he was trying to get rid of them again. He knew that Jay Thacker and I would stay here as long as you would let us in an attempt to reclaim them, and that in the event of our failure to salvage them the U. S. Navy would have persisted until it had gotten them back again. And so he tried to do away with them when he realized that it was impossible now ever to get these plans out of this country." Captain Austin stepped away aghast with rage. "What! Do you mean----" Like a human machine gun Dick rattled off the story of what had happened on the floor of the ocean; how he had come upon Weddigen tugging away at the chest; how he had stood watch while the diver made ready to bury the precious documents, and how he had intervened just in the nick of time. Through the whole recital Weddigen cringed like an animal afraid. His face was ghastly white, but with it all he endeavored to keep quiet and self-possessed, ready to take advantage of any opening. "I've suspected him from the very beginning," Dick was saying. "The first day you broached this proposition to us, Mr. Thacker found him spying at the keyhole of your office. Only yesterday, when Mr. Thacker was telling you how he planned to get into the U-boat, this chap Weddigen bobbed up unexpectedly." Captain Austin was nodding in a knowing way. At this juncture some one else took a hand in the proceedings. Jay Thacker stepped forward. "Captain Austin, I'm neither a quitter nor a squealer," he began. Just for a moment he paused, and then resumed. "You recall the scene on the day that we came back with the diamonds from the _Dominion_--or rather, when Weddigen came back with the diamonds. Weddigen was accused by Larry Seymour of having stolen some of the glittering gems and secreted them in a slit pocket in the side of his diving suit. Weddigen explained that the chest had come open and that he had slipped some of the jewels into his pocket only when they were in danger of being lost." The captain of the _Nemo_ remembered it all.