Tom Swift and His Undersea Search

Victor Appleton

Description

Tom Swift and His Undersea Search is the 23rd book in the original Tom Swift series. "Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a bright, ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most interesting kind of reading." "These spirited tales convey in a realistic way, the wonderful advances in land and sea locomotion and other successful inventions. Stories like these are impressed upon the memory and their reading is productive only of good." This series of adventure novels starring the genius boy inventor Tom Swift falls into the genre of "invention fiction" or "Edisonade".

Sujets

• Children's

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775413097
• Langue: English

Extrait

TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
OR, THE TREASURE ON THE FLOOR OF THE ATLANTIC
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VICTOR APPLETON
 
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Tom Swift and His Undersea Search Or, The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic First published in 1920.
ISBN 978-1-775413-09-7
© 2008 THE FLOATING PRESS.
While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike.
Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Chapter I - Untold Millions Chapter II - A Strange Offer Chapter III - Thinking it Over Chapter IV - Against His Will Chapter V - Busy Days Chapter VI - Mary's Odd Story Chapter VII - The Trial Trip Chapter VIII - The Mud Bank Chapter IX - Ready to Start Chapter X - Startling Revelations Chapter XI - Barton Keith's Story Chapter XII - In Deep Waters Chapter XIII - The Sea Monster Chapter XIV - In Strange Peril Chapter XV - Tom to the Rescue Chapter XVI - Gasping for Air Chapter XVII - Where is It? Chapter XVIII - A Separation Chapter XIX - The Serpent Weed Chapter XX - The Devil Fish Chapter XXI - A War Reminder Chapter XXII - Studying Currents Chapter XXIII - An Undersea Collision Chapter XXIV - The Treasure-Ship Chapter XXV - The Steel Box
Chapter I - Untold Millions
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"Tom, this is certainly wonderful reading! Over a hundredmillion dollars' worth of silver at the bottom of the ocean! Morethan two hundred million dollars in gold! To say nothing of fiftymillions in copper, ten millions in—"
"Say, hold on there, Ned! Hold on! Where do you get that stuff;as the boys say? Has something gone wrong with one of the addingmachines, or is it just on account of the heat? What's the bigidea, anyhow? How many millions did you say?" and Tom Swift, thetalented young inventor, looked at Ned Newton, his financialmanager, with a quizzical smile.
"It's all right, Tom! It's all right!" declared Ned, and itneeded but a glance to show that he was more serious than was hiscompanion. "I'm not suffering from the heat, though thethermometer is getting close to ninety-five in the shade. And ifyou want to know where I get 'that stuff' read this!"
He tossed over to his chum, employer, and friend—for Tom Swiftassumed all three relations toward Ned Newton—part of a Sundaynewspaper. It was turned to a page containing a big illustrationof a diver attired in the usual rubber suit and big helmet,moving about on the floor of the ocean and digging out boxes ofwhat was supposed to be gold from a sunken wreck.
"Oh, that stuff!" exclaimed Tom, with a smile of disbelief ashe saw the source of Ned's information. "Seems to me I've readsomething like that before, Ned!"
"Of course you have!" agreed the young financial manager of thenewly organized Swift Construction Company. "It isn't anythingnew. This wealth of untold millions has been at the bottom of thesea for many years—always increasing with nobody ever spending acent of it. And since the Great War this wealth has beenenormously added to because of the sinking of so many ships byGerman submarines."
"Well, what's that got to do with us, Ned?" asked Tom, as helooked over some blue prints and other papers on his desk, forthe talk was taking place in his office. "You and I did our partin the war, but I don't see what all this undersea wealth has todo with us. We've got our work cut out for us if we take care ofall the new contracts that came in this week."
"Yes, I know," admitted Ned. "But I couldn't help calling yourattention to this article, Tom. It's authentic!"
"Authentic? What do you mean
"Well, the man who wrote it went to the trouble of getting fromthe ship insurance companies a list of all the wrecks and lostvessels carrying gold and silver coin, bullion, and othervaluables. He has gone back a hundred years, and he brings itright down to just before the war. Hasn't had time to compilethat list, the article says. But without counting the vessels theGermans sank, there is, in various places on the bottom of theocean today, wrecks of ships that carried, when they went down,gold, silver, copper and other metals to the value of at leastten billions of dollars!"
Tom Swift did not seem to be at all surprised by the explosiveemphasis with which Ned Newton conveyed this information. Hegazed calmly at his friend and manager, and then handed the paperback.
"I haven't time to look at it now," said Tom. "But is thereanything new in the story? I mean has any of the wealth beenrecovered lately—or is it in a way to be?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Ned. "It is! A company has been formed inJapan for the purpose of using a new kind of diving bell,invented by an American, it seems. The inventor claims that inhis machine he can go down deeper than ever man went before, andbring up a lot of this lost ocean wealth."
"Well, every so often an inventor, or some one who callshimself that, crops up with a new proposal for cleaning up theuntold millions on the floor of the Atlantic or the Pacific,"replied Tom. "Mind you, I'm not saying it isn't there. Everybodyknows that hundreds of ships carrying gold and silver have gonedown in storms or been sunk in war. And some of the gold andsilver has been recovered by divers—I admit that. In fact, ifyou recall, my father and I perfected a new style diving dress afew years ago that was successfully used in getting down to awreck off the Cuban coast. A treasure ship went down there, and Ibelieve they recovered a large part of the gold bullion—orperhaps it was silver.
"But this diving bell stunt isn't new, and it hasn't beensuccessful. Of course a man can go down to a greater depth in athick iron diving bell than he can in a diving suit. That'scommon knowledge. But the trouble with a diving bell is that itcan't be moved about as a man can move about in a diving suit.The man in the bell can't get inside the wreck, and it's therewhere the gold or silver is usually to be found."
"Can't they blow the wreck apart with dynamite, and scatter thegold on the bottom of the ocean?" asked Ned.
"Yes, they could do that, but usually they scatter it so far,and the ocean currents so cover it with sand, that it isimpossible ever to get it again. I admit that if a wreck is blownapart a man in a diving bell can perhaps get a small part of it.But the limitations of a diving bell are so well recognized thatseveral inventors have tried adjusting movable arms to the bell,to be operated by the man inside."
"Did they work?" asked Ned.
"After a fashion, yes. But I never heard of any case where thegold and silver recovered paid for the expenses of making thebell and sending men down in it. For it takes the same sort ofoutfit to aid the man in the diving bell as it does the diver inhis usual rubber or steel suit. Air has to be pumped to him, andhe has to be lowered and raised."
"Well, isn't there any way of getting at this gold on the floorof the ocean?" asked Ned, his enthusiasm a little cooled by thepractical "cold water" Tom had thrown.
"Oh, yes, of course there is, in a way," was the answer of theyoung inventor. "Don't you remember how my father and I, with Mr.Damon and Captain Weston, went in our submarine, the Advance, anddiscovered the wreck of the Boldero?"
"I do recall that," admitted Ned.
"Well," resumed Tom, "there was a case of showing how muchtrouble we had. An ordinary diving outfit never would haveanswered. We had to locate the wreck, and a hard time we haddoing it. Then, when we found it, we had to ram the old ship andblow it apart before we could get inside. Even after that we justhappened to discover the gold, as it were. I'm only mentioningthis to show you it isn't so easy to get at the wealth under thesea as writers in Sunday newspaper supplements think it is."
"I believe you, Tom. And yet it seems a shame to have all thosemillions going to waste, doesn't it?" And Ned spoke as a bankerand financial man, who is not happy unless money is earninginterest all the while.
"Well, a billion of dollars is a lot," Tom admitted. "And whenyou think of all that have been sunk, say even in the lasthundred years, it amazes one. But still, all the gold and silverwas hidden in the earth before it was dug out, and now it's onlygone back where it came from, in a way. We got along before mendug it out and coined it into money, and I guess we'll get alongwhen it's under water. No use worrying over the ocean treasures,as far as I'm concerned."
"You're a hopeless proposition!" laughed Ned. "You'd never makea banker, or a Napoleon of finance."
"That's why my father and I got you to look after our financialaffairs," and Tom smiled. "You're just the one—with yourinterest-bearing mind—to keep us off the shoals of businesstrouble."
"Yes, I suppose I can do that, while you and your father go oninventing giant cannons, great searchlights, submarines, andairships," conceded Ned. "But this, to me, did look like an easyway of making money."
"How's that, Ned?" asked Tom, a new note coming into his voice."Were you thinking of going to Japan and taking a hand in theundersea search?"
"No. But stock in this company is being sold, and shareholdersstand to win big returns—if the wrecks are come upon."
"That's just it!" exclaimed Tom. "If they find the wrecks! Andlet me tell you, Ned, that there's a mighty big 'if' in it all.Do you realize how hard it is to find anything on the ocean, tosay nothing of something under it?"
"I hadn't thought of it."
"Well, you'd better think of it. You know on the ocean sailorshave to locate a certain imaginary position by calculation, usingthe sun and stars as guides. Of course, they have navigation downpretty fine, and a good pilot can get to a place on the surfaceof t