CHAPTER XXVIII
THE DEMONS OF THE DEEP
As early in the day as possible Captain Broadbeam made another astronomical calculation and worked out the position of the Swallow on his set of charts.
It was found that the ship lay about one hundred yards to the westward of where the Happy Hour was reported to have gone down.
This was not much, but the captain immediately gave orders that the ship be brought to the correct position.
"You'll have work enough locating her as it is," said the captain. "More than likely the ocean current has shifted her considerably."
Luckily Amos Fearless was now feeling much better, having quite recovered from his experience at the time of the fire on the ship.
With the Raven on the scene, it was decided by father and son that the diving bell should be taken directly to the ocean's bottom, if the thing could be accomplished.
"I know we are running a risk," said the old diver, in his sign language, "but we must be the first to discover the Happy Hour, no matter what the cost. To suffer defeat would kill me."
By ten o'clock in the morning the diving bell was over the side and father and son had entered it.
Those on the Raven were also getting out a diving bell, and Vixen and Walton were busy overhauling their deep-sea outfits.
It was indeed to be a race for the treasure.
Soon Dave and his parent had left the outside world behind and were going down and down into the mighty ocean's depths.
On this occasion it had been agreed not to look for anything but the sunken treasure ship; consequently, the fish net and several other similar appliances had been left behind.
In their places the diving bell contained several tools for digging and hauling and also several under-water firearms, for use against a possible enemy. In addition to the firearms, father and son had provided themselves with long and sharp knives.
"There is no telling what we may run across away down there," said Amos Fearless, in his sign language. "We are taking our lives in our hands, to my way of thinking."
And what he said was true—as events speedily proved.
Soon they passed through the darker portion of the ocean and knew that the first mile of the downward journey had been covered.
Then those above lowered more slowly and watched keenly for the first signal that danger might be encountered by those below.
"See, it is growing lighter," said Dave, presently, and turned off the electric lights.
His father had his hand upon the glass side of the diving bell.
"It is also growing warmer," motioned the parent, in his sign language.
A mile and a half had been covered and now the waters of the ocean were so clear and light that they could see for a hundred feet about them.
The water glistened and sparkled like diamonds as it washed against the sides of the diving bell.
"The light is growing brighter," observed Dave, presently. "Isn't it wonderful!"
They now felt they were approaching the bottom of the Pacific, for the diving bell was moving very slowly. Soon they saw great, ribbon-like grasses, the ends floating upward past the diving bell.
At this Amos Fearless shook his head.
"We don't want to get caught in those grasses," he signed. "They may prove worse than ropes of wire."
Suddenly a slight jar on the bottom of the diving bell told them that the machine had struck something. It no longer descended, but wabbled from side to side.
At once Amos Fearless signaled through the air-tube to stop lowering. Then a small glass trap was opened in the diving bell's bottom.
Through this they saw what had caused the machine to stop. It was caught in the top-most branches of a submarine tree. Below them, upon all sides, was a regular submarine forest.
The trees were two to three hundred feet tall, twisted and gnarled in all directions, with branches stretching out of their sight.
Some of the trees boasted of most gorgeous flowers, while from others floated what looked like luscious fruits.
Below the trees could be seen strange mosses and sponges, of every imaginable hue and shape, and between them bushes and creeping vines.
"This is a submarine paradise!" whispered Dave. "Did you ever dream of anything so lovely?"
"Lovely—and dangerous!" came from Amos Fearless. And then he added: "I see nothing of the Happy Hour."
He was right—there was no sign of a sunken ship anywhere.
"Let us take the diving bell in a grand circle around this spot," suggested Dave.
His father agreed, providing the thing could be accomplished without positive danger.
To move around, they had to pull the machine along from one tree-top to another by means of the crab-like claws attached to the bottom.
The diving bell worked like a charm and soon a distance of several hundred yards had been covered.
Sometimes the crab-like claws would slip on the tree-tops and at others the trees would break off with a dull, snapping report. When this would happen the sap flowing from the tree would be pure yellow in color.
In order to see at a great distance Amos Fearless now adjusted a powerful light which had been brought along, using a small reflector behind it.
Suddenly Dave let out a cry:
"The rival divers!"
He was right. At a great distance he had seen the other diving bell coming down.
It contained Vixen and Walton. Bart Hankers had said he was coming down with them, but had backed out at the last moment, much to the divers' satisfaction, for they had counted that he would only be in their way.
As swiftly as the other diving bell had come into view, it now faded from sight beyond another portion of the great submarine forest.
"They are close upon our heels," muttered Dave, and again Amos Fearless shook his head, doubtfully.
At last the diving bell gained the edge of the forest and came to a rest upon one of the banks of moss of many colors.
A short distance away the bank sloped downward into a sort of valley.
Here it was darker, and what there was at the bottom of the valley there was no telling without an investigation.
Should they leave the diving bell upon an exploring tour?
They debated the subject for several minutes.
It would be a risky thing to do, although as yet they had encountered no strange fish or marine monsters at this great depth.
With care they adjusted their diving suits and then armed themselves with their knives and submarine guns.
Then the door of the bell was opened slowly.
The pressure of the water became enormous and their suits of steel creaked as if to crash in upon them, as a shell can squeeze in upon the inside of an egg.
But they had calculated upon all this, and the suits held as expected.
When they stepped out upon the moss they found it as soft and yielding as a thick velvet carpet.
They advanced with caution toward the edge of the slope before them, casting their eyes continually upon all sides for the first sign of danger.
They had thus gone a distance of two hundred feet when Dave pointed to a mound to their right.
He had seen something strange moving among the moss.
Of a sudden the moss was uplifted like a blanket and the young diver fell back in amazement.
Before him stood a monster as startling as it was horrible.
Whether it was fish, beast, or demon, he could not tell, but it was certainly so awful that his very heart appeared to stop beating as he gazed upon it.
It had a long, round body, fat and blubbery, with two legs in the center, two arms near the neck, and at the end the tail of a fish.
The head was shaped like a huge pear, with eyes blinking savagely from either side of a nose which was as long and pointed as a cow's horn.
The mouth of the demon was wide open, showing a double row of sharp, bluish teeth and a tongue covered with yellow slime.
All told, the creature was at least ten feet long, and when it stood up it towered well over the heads of the two divers.
On the instant Dave raised his gun, but his father was before him, and a bullet from Amos Fearless' submarine gun took the demon squarely in the breast.
Hardly had the bullet reached its mark than the demon uttered a roar which rang in the divers' ears like thunder.
As if by magic the roar was answered from half a dozen near-by places and the moss was flung right and left.
The demons of the ocean's bottom had been sleeping, and the roar had aroused them to a sense of danger.
They came walking and swimming up from every direction, and in a twinkle Amos Fearless and Dave found themselves surrounded and hopelessly cut off from the diving bell!