Nevertheless, he managed to get to the door that had caused all the trouble. Feeling round, he found one of the valves open and succeeded in closing it. Then he investigated the door and found that before he could close it he would have to take up a couple of rails that were obstructing the entrance. Away down in the bowels of the earth in that flooded tunnel, far from help, relying upon his own strength and courage alone, he struggled with the rails and managed to get one free. The other baffled all his efforts, and reluctantly he turned round and made his slow way out of the tunnel, after being away for an hour and a half. He was drawn up with Fluess, and directly their helmets were unscrewed the inventor turned to Lambert. “How far did you get?” he asked. “Right up to the door,” said Lambert. “It’s wedged open by two rails. I managed to get one away, and to close one of the valves. I think, if I take a crowbar along, I shall be able to manage it all right.” Sure enough, he went down and fought his way along the flooded tunnel again. After a struggle, he levered the other rail up and succeeded in passing beyond the door to close another valve, afterwards shutting the door that had caused all the trouble. Before returning, he knew that one more valve must be screwed up to keep the water back. The tips of his fingers slid over the surface of the door like those of a blind man until he found the valve, then he screwed it round until it would screw no more. He little knew, as he screwed away, that he was screwing the valve open, but so it was. That valve, instead of following the usual rule and screwing up to the right, actually screwed up to the left. Whether any one knew of this variation, or whether the engineers forgot it in their fight to free the tunnel of water, the fact remains that no one told Lambert, who unconsciously screwed the valve open, with the result that the tunnel took longer to pump out, because the water still poured through this valve. Not until the water was overcome was the mystery of the open valve solved. The diver who performed this brilliant feat salved many fortunes from the seabed, and was perhaps the greatest hunter of sunken treasure who ever struggled into a diving dress. Even the experts, however, thought little of his chances when he went out to try to salve the treasure of the _Alphonso XII._, which was down in 160 feet of water off Point Gando in the Grand Canary. “Lambert has the job in hand,” said one. “He can’t do it. She’s too deep for mortal man to tackle!” came the reply.