Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-06-29

deck, the doctor arguing and enforcing
his reasons With energetic gestures and
the captain nodding a continuous APP
proval to his friends words He did
not in reality require to be convinced
afresh, but the process was none the
less comforting.
ALAN, " said Miss Colepepper pres.
emily as she watched the two, sis it a
very foolhardy quest, this of ours2 Fa-
Their seems to be strangely uneasy, and
even DR.. Tring isn't quite himself I
don't think / quite realized till now
that we really had to take this awful
dive.
Guthrie said nothing, but edged a
little nearer to the girl and kept his
eyes fixed in kind Of fascination on
the water beneath
ITS all down there, / suppose-the
gold which is to make us rich, Dolly
went on "Do you know. I've a focling
as though we could see it, and perhaps,
too, the dead Spaniards who guard it,
if only we stared hard enough. It's a
silly thought, isn't it?''
perhaps it L." returned Guthrie;
but strangely enough, have just such
feeling myself Shall we try"
mo, retorted Dolly sharply; 1--WE
won't! 1t is silly. We'ltso and talk to
father and DR.. firing in Cad. | want
to ask the doctor what we shall see
when we 20 into the depths below. III
make him draw a picture to us Of the
world beneath the waters, and after
ward, when we are down there we can
compare the reality with his prophecies
tonight and point out his mistakes
do so love to score off DR.. Tring" che
added with a laugh. But he is SO fear
fully exact that 1 don't often have a
Chonce. -
Presently Captain Colepepper and the
doctor finished their deck pacing and
the captain went to the helm. The
ketch was worked up some two miles
20 windward Of the spot where the cal
culations had said that the Santa Gaia
rina lay, and then she was hove to for
the night.
That evening the two promoters of
the enterprise sat on the after skylight,
under the stars and played duets. By
the terms of the agreement DR.. Tring
would have the command tomorrow,
for he was Commander below the sur
face It was the end Of the captain )
term of Office therefore, and he did not
play second violin once during the even
ing he fddled the air. The doctor was
content with the secondary position and
footed obllgato Accomplishments. They
did not mean their music 10 be melan-
choly, but unintentionally it was so. If
they started Scots Wha Haze, it verg-
ed insensibly into minor key and ended
In the Land O. the Leal " ana Home,
Sweet Home, which they tried next,
started in wall and ended as dirge.
The younger pair full of the excite
ment of anticipation, could not under
stand the others gloom and were even
slightly depressed by it themselves. for
there is something peculiarly catching
about an apparently causeless melan-
choly. But presently Guthrie, by fol-
lowing the glances Of the two musicians,
was able to guess what troubled them.
He saw that they We're constantly cast
ing furtive looks at Dolly, and after
awhile it dawned upon him that she
was the cause of their anxiety. A re-
mark Of the doctor which the young
man heard in the pause while the cap
tain was tighter ng his f string made
this certain.
IF you like, we can put IN at one Of
the islands and drop her there till we
are ready to 90 back"
"No. no, replied the captain decid-
| eddy and then added more in a low
tone, of which Guthrie could just dis
tinguish the words, "Plucky to the
ends of her fingers; fret herself to death
if we old.
And to this the doctor replied with
an air of relief: Il think you are right
She deserves to come. And l don't be-
lieve there's so very much risk after
all, at any rate for her.
And then the captain said his fiddle
was in tune now. So they started their
playing again and ratified through For
He S Jolly Good Fellow and the "Sol-
diers' March from Faust" with an
amount of vigor which bore evidence
to their pleasure at the decision.
By daylight next morning all hands
were busily engaged in getting the Eu
/ reIa in trim for the great ATTEMPT. The
/ matches We're taken off and boat and
scuttle butt passed down below, and
then the matches. which were of sheet
iron, We're replaced and riveted secure.
ly into their places. All the canvas was
. ,,,ban+ an6 s+oup1 bplou- ba y,
companion and skylight were unshipped
and replaced with iron plates securely
bolted down, and the ketch was made
tight as bottle all over. Every prepa-
ration for this had been made by ship.
wrights before she left Bristol, and the
doing of it had absorbed all the availa-
Bile capital, already much bitten into by
the purchase of the vessel herself and
| the necessary stores. some of which, as
they We're special inventions of Dr.
Things, Were naturally very costly.
Though outwardly little changed, the
Eureka was in her new trim probably
/ the strangest vessel that had ever drop
ped down Bristol channel, Her hull had
been of steel to start with, and of I'M
usually massive construction, and her
internal structure had been added to till
she was of immense strength and ca
pable of enduring enormous compress
sive pressure, The engines and boilers
with which she had been originally fit
ted We're taken completely away, and a
smaller crew was substituted for the one
which she formerly carried, and an in