CHAPTER VIIDiamonds are Trump
LIGHT! The glorious sunlight of the world! Voices, too; the friendly voices of his old chums aboard theNemo. These were the evidences of returned life to Jay Thacker as he lay on the deck of theNemolooking up into the sky. It was like a dream and his befagged brain could scarce comprehend the situation.
"Jay, old boy, look at me. Do you know me? Speak to me, pal, and tell me you are all right again."
It was the voice of Dick. He was bending over chafing the wrists of his comrade in school and in arms. Tears were coursing down his cheeks. But now he was happy because Jay had opened his eyes again and smiled feebly through flickering eyelids.
For some time the rescued diver lay in a stupor. The heavy diving armor and shoes had been wrenched off. Several members of crew were rubbing his wrists and ankles, An oxygen tank had been used with successfulresults. The tiny spark of life remaining had been fanned again after a grim battle between science and nature. And science had turned the ally of nature.
"Do you know me now?" faltered Dick.
For answer Jay opened his eyes again, and this time he recognized his chum.
"Where have I been? What happened to me?" he began.
"Don't you remember? You were down there working on theDominion. You got all tangled up in something and we just pulled you up in the nick of time."
And then it all came back to Jay; the terrible struggle for life on the bottom of the sea. Those twisted air lines! He seemed to be living it all over again. And that mass of débris that held him fast!
"Pull it off of me, Dick; cut me free," he moaned feebly.
"You are all right again, old boy; you're right here on the deck of theNemo," reassured Dick in soothing tones.
Slowly but surely the iron constitution of the Brighton boy responded to resuscitation measures. Good fresh air flowed again into his lungs, clearing his brain and setting his circulation going anew.
"Where is Weddigen?" asked Jay, with a startled expression.
"He's here on the aft deck, pretty well tuckered out, but fine and dandy, nevertheless," Dick told him.
"And the diamonds—did he send them up?" inquired Jay.
"You bet your boots he did; all here safe and sound," was his chum's rejoinder. "A nice day's work, too; but what would we have cared for the stones if your life had been forfeit in the deal."
The diamonds! How did Jay know about them?
"How did you know Weddigen landed any diamonds?" asked Dick, bending over his chum.
"I saw them," came the answer.
"But Weddigen says he landed them all alone and didn't see a trace of you all the time he was down. How's that?" Dick was nonplussed.
"Tell you after a bit," whispered Jay.
They made him as comfortable as possible on deck, preferring to leave him out in the fresh air and sunshine rather than carry him below. Dick took complete charge of him, and a capable physician he proved as he ministered to the needs of his chum.
Now that Jay had been rescued, the men of theNemowere celebrating hilariously the salvage of the precious jewels, knowing the contents of the chest must be worth many thousands of dollars. Under the direction of Captain Austin the strong box was carried below, not to be opened until theNemoreturned to her base at Bridgeford.
Weddigen still reclined on deck. It had been a long, hard fight under water and he, too, had somewhat overstayed his time limit.
His friends in the crew were fêting him. They crowded about, patting him on the back and congratulating him for his plucky and successful efforts to get at the lost treasure.
"Wait till we get back to Bridgeford—the swellest time you ever had in your life," shouted one enthusiast.
All of this adulation pleased Weddigen. The rôle of the hero appealed to him and he was enjoying the situation immensely.
Meanwhile Jay was slowly but surely returning to life. The oxygen tank had performed yeoman service. Color was coming back into the face and circulation had been restored. A stimulant was offered, but the stout-hearted lad declined it, smilingly preferring to keep the temperance pledge thathe had taken before he had left home to go to school.
"Thanks, Cap, but I'm coming back in fine shape," he mumbled, while Dick fairly beamed over the recovery of his chum.
In a few minutes Jay was able to sit up. He drank eagerly the cup of hot black coffee that was offered him. He was very weak from his trying ordeal, and no one ventured to ask him about his hazardous trip to theDominionand his narrow escape from death.
By and by Jay motioned Dick to come closer.
"Did Weddigen land any treasure?" he asked with an inquisitive look.
Dick launched into the story, telling how the strong box had been hauled over the side amid wild jubilation and taken below into Captain Austin's quarters.
"Are you sure there were diamonds in the chest?" persisted Jay.
"Sure, Mike," responded his chum. "Oodles of them worth thousands of dollars. Glittering cut stones; a young fortune big enough to put us all on easy street for the rest of our lives if they belonged to us."
Jay pondered the situation for a moment. In his eyes was a queer look that neitherDick nor Larry Seymour, who had joined the group, could fathom.
"Is Weddigen still on deck?" persisted Jay.
"Still back there resting up while the crew make a fuss over him," replied Larry.
"All right, now, Larry, do what I tell you, please," said Jay. "Just stroll back there casually and look him over without arousing suspicion. See if you don't notice a narrow slit of a pocket on the inside of the right leg of his armor suit, buttoned over with a flap. When he gets up to take off his diving suit just manage to accidentally flip that pocket open and then keep your eyes on it."
"Why, what do you mean?" offered Larry, perplexed by the directions given him by Jay.
"Remember, I never fooled you in my life, old friend," answered the latter. "Just do what I tell you, and perhaps you'll have a bit of a surprise party."
Jay was weakened by the exertion of talking and sank back to rest again with closed eyes. Withdrawing a few paces, Dick and Larry discussed the suggestions made by Jay.
"Think he is still a little dippy as a result of his experience?" questioned Larry.
"Sounds rather queer, doesn't it?" pondered Dick, unable to grasp the significance of Jay's remarks.
They agreed, however, there surely must be some ground for Jay talking so; and, moreover, they shared similar opinions regarding one Carl Weddigen, notwithstanding the fact that Weddigen had made a game fight for the diamonds and come off victorious.
"You stay here with Jay and I'll just stroll aft and look the old bird over," counseled Larry after a little further deliberation. "To my mind he's just the kind of a fellow who might put something over on us."
Dick agreed, and Larry accordingly hurried away, slowing down to a leisurely gait after he had passed the conning tower and approached the group of which the much-admired diver was the central figure. As he drew near, Larry could hear Weddigen recounting his experiences on the ocean bed in the hold of theDominion. And he was omitting no detail in the narration.
All smiles and apparently with all friendly intent Larry eased himself into the circle of admiring friends.
"How's Thacker?" queried Weddigen solicitously, breaking away from his story of the reclamation.
"Coming along fine," said Larry, detailing how Jay had responded satisfactorily to treatment.
"Glad of that," responded Weddigen. "I'm sorry we couldn't both have come upon the glittering goods together and yanked them out with a little teamwork. Tell him I'll be over to see him in a few minutes."
Larry hung around while other members of the crew insisted that Weddigen complete his story of the salvage expedition. But Carl was in no mood to continue the yarn and said he guessed he was feeling strong enough now to take off his diving clothes and go below for a snooze. Accordingly he struggled to his feet with the aid of several members of the crew.
Larry was now all attention. Following out the instructions of Jay he carefully examined the trousers of the big diver. Yes, there it was; the telltale little pocket on the side of the right leg. Larry edged up closer to get a better look at it. There was a certain bulge to it as though it was well filled.
"Gee, you're a regular Beau Brummel of a diver with your fancy clothes," offered Seymour facetiously as he smiled up into the face of Weddigen.
"What do you mean, fellow?" blurted the latter, turning short to survey the Bridgeford seaman whom he remembered as one of the three he had encountered the day he and Jayhad come together just outside Superintendent Brown's office.
"Why, with your pretty little side pockets," prattled Larry with a sickly grin.
With a flourish of the hand he indicated the bulging patch on the side of Weddigen's armor, and before the latter could intervene Larry swept his hand carelessly but unerringly over the pocket, giving it such a thrust that the button slipped through the stout canvas eye-hole. At the same time Weddigen clutched the pocket as though to cover it. But he was too late!
Instantly a half dozen glittering diamonds popped from the aperture and rolled on the deck of theNemo, sparkling in the morning sun like the jewels of a monarch's crown!
"What do you mean, you big stiff," growled Weddigen in dismay as the treasure that he had filched from the strong box while yet in the wreck of theDominionwas revealed.
"What do I mean? I mean that you're a rascal and a thief," shot back Larry, fully convinced now that the sparklers were part of the loot that had been recovered from the lost British liner.
Immediately there was a great hubbub among the crew as they pounced upon thescattered diamonds, eager to retrieve them before they rolled overboard or were jostled below by the roll of theNemo.
"You're a big fool and I'll break your face so soon as I get in trim again, that's what I'll do," snorted Weddigen in a rage.
But Larry was his equal in the showdown.
"You may have a little trouble smashing my face," he countered, "but you are going to have a bigger time explaining to Captain Austin and the Bridgeford Salvage Company how you came in possession of those diamonds."
Attracted by the commotion, Captain Austin came hurrying up.
"What's all the commotion about?" he demanded. There had been excitement enough on theNemofor one morning.
"It's none of your business, and I'll prove mightily easy how I came about those diamonds," Weddigen was saying as the ship's executive officer drew near.
"This man is not playing fair," denounced Larry, pointing out the diver to Captain Austin. "He's holding back a whole pocketful of diamonds on you, Captain."
The captain was so amazed he could only gaze from one to the other.
"You are making a grave accusation, Mr. Seymour, and against a man who has risked his life this morning in the recovery of thousands of dollars' worth of diamonds," the ship captain remarked slowly. There were murmurs of approval from members of the crew.
"All right, sir, I only ask that Mr. Weddigen bare the contents of that pocket on the right leg of his diving suit," retorted Larry.
All eyes were turned forthwith on the diver. But the crafty Weddigen was equal to the occasion.
"I was trying to tell this big boob I could explain everything," he countered with an air of superiority. "You see, it was this way, Captain. When I came upon that treasure chest down there I had to bang it about a bit to get it ready for the lift. You can see for yourself if you inspect it closely that the hinges were rusted. In prodding about I loosened up the lid. I thought I'd just take a peep to see if I really had the goods. There they were, all right. Some of them were lying loose, so I just scooped them up and slipped them into this vent in my suit. I didn't want to take any chances on losing them."
As he talked he stooped over and holding acupped hand over the pocket forced out a handful of the finest of diamonds, ranging in size from one- to three- and five-carat stones.
"There you are; I never had the slightest intention of keeping them," blustered Weddigen. "This fresh guy Seymour thinks he gets me in wrong, and I'll attend to him later. I was waiting until I got rested up a bit before coming to you with them."
Upon Larry he cast a murderous scowl of hatred as Captain Austin hurried the diamonds below, apparently satisfied with Weddigen's story.
But Larry, hearing the true story later from the lips of Jay Thacker, knew Weddigen's quick-witted defense was but skilled camouflage to cover his attempted theft of the pocketed diamonds. With the two Brighton youths, he formed a pact to keep a watchful eye on the surly diver in the future.