Drowned Gold/Chapter 19

HE end of the war came so suddenly and unexpectedly that men were taken unawares and readjustments were made with extreme difficulty. The unconditional surrender of the Central Powers was so complete, its enforced disarmament so quickly executed, that the Peace Council had barely signed the covenants before we men of the Naval Reserve were out of service, leaving the regular navies of the Allies to complete the work. The specialists and the inventors had been released weeks before, and hence it was that, landed in New York, I hastened to meet Jimmy, intent upon taking up the broken threads of our lives and fortunes. His appearance was unchanged. His first words betokened the old gruff Jimmy.

"If the cursed war hadn't ended when it did, if it had been prolonged for even a month, I should have been able to do my share, and to have helped drown some of the cursed Huns!" he declared savagely. "Just my luck! I was actually assembling a model when the news came. It worked more flawlessly than the old one. It's over there in that steel vault. I threw that cursed tin trunk away. But now we are just where we were, except that we're busted."

"How about the salvage mechanism," I asked.

"That's big. And it's our great hope." He brightened up, and before I could check him had launched volubly into a mass of enthusiastic descriptions that would have baffled a greater technician than I to follow. "We must try to get some one to finance us," I said at last. "And the unfortunate part of it is that we have no friends with money."

"By the way," he said, "I forgot to tell you. Old Périgord is here in town. Came up from Maracaibo and is waiting to see you before he goes to France. Funny old cuss. I've got so I rather like him—all but his clothes. He's—he's a little too silk-hatty and patent-leathery for me. But he's mighty fond of you, Tom. Let's walk over to his hotel; because he'd never forgive you if you were in town an hour before looking him up."

Remembering how I had been one of the instruments in his financial undoing, but recalling his great trust and kindliness in detail, I was eager to see him again.

We found him in his apartments, and there I was again made aware of his greatness. We had talked nearly an hour before he somewhat delicately questioned me as to my intentions for starting life over again from the bottom rungs of the ladder. I had no hesitancy in telling him of my situation, and finally, almost in desperation because of Jimmy's and my own lack of financial resources, asked him if he knew of any financiers who might modestly back us in our enterprise. His reply came like a welcome thunderbolt from the skies of hope:

"Why, I thought that was understood," he said, as if hurt. "Of course I shall furnish the funds if they are not excessive."

"But—but," I protested, "I thought you were practically ruined through the Esperanza's loss!"

"For ready cash, yes," he said, with a faint smile. "But I have lands which we can mortgage. How much is required?"

"An enormous sum. Between two and three hundred thousand dollars," I said, feeling again hopeless.

"And with that you would— Explain how the inventions of which you spoke could be applied in order to profit from them?"

"With that amount of money we would buy a submarine and have it altered to suit our needs. We'd put in a submarine searchlight and a salvage mechanism I have invented, and could salvage ships if they were full fifty fathoms deep; something that never has been done by any man before. We could recover the Esperanza herself and get back your gold; for Tom here says she lays but twenty fathoms down!" roared Jimmy.

The count looked incredulous, almost amused, and shifted his eyes to me interrogatively for confirmation.

"I believe it true, sir," I said without hesitation. "I have been given little information concerning the mechanism my friend refers to, but know of the light, for I have seen it work."

And there I was compelled to stop, because I could give no details, these having never been confided to me by the inventor.

"We'd have to have a submarine specially fortified to withstand enormous pressures," said Jimmy eagerly. "With that I can do the rest. I know I can! Why, sir, there's not a salvage company in existence that could even compete with us. Your share in it would make you rich, sir."

"My share? My share?" said the count, lifting his hands deprecatingly, and then turning to address me. For a moment he paused as if reflecting over something, and then said: "The time has come for the utmost free speech between friends. Being a very lonely and disappointed old man, Captain Hale, I intrusted you with what to me was a great enterprise, which I affirm you carried to success. You understand what I mean. It is true that you lost my gold and your ship. The loss of the gold was, after all, but little to me. The loss of your ship was much to you. I conceived a plan of compensating you, because there in Maracaibo you refused direct reward. Did you think I was so foolishly impatient to return to France that I actually wished a ship for that purpose? Poof! That was all assumed. What I really desired was to purchase a better ship than the Esperanza with the full intention of eventually giving her to you, because you had laid me under a bond of gratitude that, being a question of honor between gentlemen, could not be paid by a direct passing of money. I proposed at least to see that you, as a young man who had endeared himself to me, should not suffer financially. It was the least I could do."

I felt embarrassed by his generosity. Jimmy Martin was actually clutching the arms of his chair in suspense and surpirse [sic].

"I will furnish the funds you and Monsieur Martin require, not only to purchase the vessel for your proposed attempt, but also to equip it as you wish. You two men will then salvage the gold that was lost in the Esperanza. If you succeed you shall have one half. This is about what any ordinary salvage company would demand for such a task, provided she lay in deep water. How is that for a business proposition?"

"But," I objected, "suppose we don't succeed? Then you would lose somewhere between two and three hundred thousand dollars at the least. Submarines have been worth more than double that sum up to now."

"That's my lookout," he declared. "I have gambled bigger sums before. I shall put more than three hundred thousand at your disposal in the hope of being able to regain my share of the gold that was lost, and if you succeed I make a million dollars profit, and at the same time give you two an opportunity, not only of testing the merits of Mr. Martin's invention, but also for a profit that should enable both of you to step confidently into future operations."

"And you are not asking me any share in my invention?" inquired Jimmy, with bulging eyes. He leaned forward and stared at Monsieur Périgord as if the latter were some new type of fairy godmother.

"No, certainly not. I have other things to think of. I don't wish to be bothered by additional burdens of mind. I make what I consider a liberal business proposition, nothing more. You are not to be bound, either of you, by anything further than your attempt to recover a portion of what I have lost. Is that fair enough?"

Jimmy dug his knuckles into his eyes, and I am not sure that he did not pinch himself lest he be dreaming at such unexpected and unsolicited generosity. Of course we accepted it! There was nothing else to do as far as I was concerned, and Jimmy was so elated that I feared he might attempt to sing as we passed down the corridor after leaving Monsieur Périgord's apartments that afternoon.

Our chief fear now lay in the danger that some other salvage company might beat us to the Esperanza before we could prepare ourselves; but, as if Fate had at last turned a smiling face upon us, that very night a newspaper contained in its marine review the following:

My inquiries on the following day, discreetly made through a marine reporter I had known in former years, evinced the fact that the firm referred to was the Bellairs Submarine Company, an offshoot corporation of the Merrimac Steel Shipbuilding Company, up on the Connecticut coast, and also that I might find it difficult to induce the management to display their secretly built marvel-boat. "They will not talk to any one unless he can prove that he has ready hard cash," cynically remarked the marine reporter. "Besides, what on earth do you want a submarine for? Going to try to dredge oysters with one, or going pearl-fishing? Chuck it! You'll get nowhere and wish you were back aboard one of the old sail packets you people used to own." But he had given me a caution that I lost no time in profiting by, and that was regarding my financial backing. And this, Monsieur Périgord smilingly assured me, should be made satisfactory immediately. Hence, it was but a few days later, in a bright forenoon, that I arrived at the Bellairs Works and sought their offices. I had some trouble in gaining audience with the general manager in person, who seemed to begrudge me a few minutes' conversation. I put my case to him very bluntly.

"Mr. Seymour," I said, "I came to see you concerning a paragraph I read in a newspaper yesterday."

I took the cutting from my pocket, handed it to him, and he read it with a frown, and then handed it back.

"Well?" he asked brusquely.

"If the statement made in that is correct, you doubtless have a submarine boat nearing completion which you wish to dispose of. Your market is now extremely limited, no doubt, with even a possibility of having the boat left on your hands. If this boat will do what is indicated in this cutting, and can be completed within a reasonable length of time, and is within my means to purchase, I am in the market for her."

Instantly I knew that I had him, for he could not conceal the look of relief and interest that came into his eyes. Also there was an instant change in his manner, for he became as courteous and hospitable as any salesman could be to a prospective customer.

"May I ask if you represent any Government?"

Assuredly not," I replied, "but I am an ex-naval man of the United States Navy, who has had much experience with submarines, and who is now in a position to gratify what may be a whim. I am thinking of buying a submarine for my own use."

"Oh, I see," he said; "I suppose that possibly you are a scientist interested in sub-ocean studies?"

It was my cue, and I think I may be forgiven under the circumstances for misleading him. Yet he was extremely cautious, and said that he felt entitled to be assured not only of my responsibility, but also of the value of my word as to the maintenance of silence concerning his craft before its secrets were intrusted to me.

It was a very easy matter for me to give him the required references, which had already been established not only through my own bank, but also through the bankers with whom Monsieur Périgord did business; hence it was my own suggestion that he use the telephone to New York while I strolled around and amused myself as best I could for an hour or two. The fact that he jumped at this offer was further proof to my mind that he was extremely anxious to find a purchaser, and when I left him I was surprised at the ease with which I had accomplished the first steps of my mission.

Shipyards have always interested me, so I had no tedium in the wait, but wandered through the great works where ships in all stages of construction were on the ways, enjoying the staccato clang of the steel riveters, and watching the huge traveling cranes that moved steadily backward and forward in their massive tasks. My references must have been very satisfactory, for when I returned at the appointed hour I found Mr. Seymour not only ready but eager to talk, as well as to conduct me to the boat which I wished to purchase.

On the way to her berth, and while inspecting her, he gave me a vast amount of technical information, which, even though I discounted it somewhat, convinced me that if his expectations were fulfilled the new boat would prove to be a most decided improvement over anything hitherto constructed. The one distressing feature to me was that she could not be completed for nearly a month. Otherwise, as far as I could judge, she should prove eminently satisfactory for my purpose. We returned to the office, and for the first time I broached the subject of terms. His initial price I considered exorbitant, and it took much argument and persuasion to induce him to come to figures that I thought reasonable, but which he declared Would result in a considerable lose to his company. Yet, finding me obdurate, he came to these terms with the frank ad- mission that in any event his company was threatened with a much greater loss, and he laid upon me but one imposition, that I report to him any difficulties I thought might be overcome and give him suggestions as to improvements, while at the same time maintaining secrecy concerning her mechanism until patents could be obtained. To all of this I acceded, and we drew up a memorandum of agreement, by which in case her tests proved up to a certain stipulation, she was to become mine upon payment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash. As her prospective owner I was given a pass to the shipyards, with the privilege of bringing with me, at any time, two men for whom I personally vouched, and that night I returned to New York considerably elated over my success. On the following day I took Monsieur Périgord and Jimmy for an inspection, and their attitudes were very different. Monsieur Périgord seemed abstracted and bored but Jimmy was vastly interested in even the most intricate and minute details. Strangely interested, I thought at the time, but justly so I discovered that night when he gave me his reasons. It was after Monsieur Périgord, tired by his day's outing, had retired to his own apartments that Jimmy came to my room with some crude drawings.

"These," he said, "are the alterations which will be necessary for our work. Do you think you can trust that general manager up there to keep our secret as well as he can trust you to keep his?"

I had made inquiries on this very subject, and was convinced I was dealing with an honest man, so had no hesitancy in assuring Jimmy that I believed we should be safe in at least getting him to give us an estimate on what the charges would cost and making the alterations in accordance therewith.

Another week went by, in which time I saw but little of Jimmy, who was absorbed in perfecting his drawings to working scales, and I had nothing to do beyond companioning Monsieur Périgord on his various expeditions. In a measure he seemed slightly bored whenever I began to dwell upon our project; but his confidence in me was assured by his announcement that he had arranged a credit for me to the extent of five hundred thousand dollars, and did not wish in the future to be bothered with any of the details of our enterprise. Finally convinced that he could do no more, he succeeded in booking a passage on one of the first regular liners to sail for Cherbourg. Both Jimmy and I went to see him sail, and his joy was such that he almost upset my self-poise by kissing me on both cheeks at the head of the gangplank when we were going ashore. Strange it is how different are the customs of different people! Well, after all, he was French, and did what would have been natural to a Frenchman had he been parting with an only son. I did not even then realize how great a hold I had gained in my benefactor's affections, for I cannot speak of him otherwise than as a benefactor, unsought, unexpected, and gained by accident. Jimmy and I moved from New York to the city on the shores of the Sound, where we could be in constant touch with the progress of our purchase. When the proposed alterations were submitted, we were confronted with another annoying delay, for it required more than a month to construct the new mechanisms and to finish the submarine. In the meantime Jimmy had, by various subterfuges, such as having one part made in Chicago, another in Boston, another in New York, and another in Philadelphia, reconstructed his searchlight, which we could ourselves install if our new boat satisfied the demands made upon it. And then, at last, we came to the day when the first test of our submarine was made.

The Bellairs Works had a modern Laurenti testing dock, the invention of that great Italian, by which a submarine is thrust into an enormous tube capable of withstanding terrific pressure, is surrounded by water, and then compelled to undergo the severest tests of all. I think that the general manager, Seymour, must have been somewhat doubtful and felt a wavering confidence in his craft, from the fact that it is customary in the Laurenti tests to put two technical experts into the submarine which is to undergo this enormous pressure, they being connected by telephone with those outside the cylindrical steel shell, and to report at frequent intervals their observations as to what is taking place; for on the first test of our new boat there were no men inside. We stood there by this ungainly structure, hearing the throb of enormous pumps behind us and watching the gauges until, in a state bordering on almost feverish suspense, we saw the indicators crawl to a strain—and for the benefit of the sceptical I assert that this is true—of 148.77 pounds per square inch, which, by engineering standards of .435 pounds pressure per square inch for each vertical foot of submergence, would show that the hull of our craft was enduring as much as if she had been sunk in fifty-seven fathoms of ocean water, or three hundred and forty-two feet depth!

There is scarcely a layman who does not know that the human body undergoes a normal atmospheric pressure of fifteen pounds per square inch upon its surface, or about thirteen tons for the average man. Think, then, of what nearly one hundred and fifty pounds, more than nine times that pressure, means. The record submergence test ever made before that was presumably undergone by a United States submarine, F-1, in San Francisco Bay, when she attained the remarkable depth of two hundred and eighty-three feet, where for ten minutes she traveled at a rate of six knots per hour. The normal depth to which a submarine goes is one hundred feet, although the United States Navy, which has been the most exorbitant in its demands, required that a submarine, before being accepted by the Government, should undergo a submergence test of two hundred feet. It is said that the German Government in its later submarine tests demanded hulls that could endure a strain equivalent to two hundred and fifty feet in depth; but it is a matter of extreme doubt whether they ever succeeded in building a boat that would stand this submergence without a buckling of its plates, disruption of its valves, or permanent injury to the boat.

It may therefore be conjectured with what interest we heard the valves of the Laurenti dock drawn up, and waited for the discharge of the water surrounding the submarine inside this hollow cylinder, to see whether we were to look upon a crushed, useless object, or to learn that all submarines constructed theretofore had been completely outdone. Very eagerly we opened the end of the cylinder, and men made a cursory outward inspection. So far as we could observe, nothing had given. The conning-tower was opened, and we descended inside the submarine. Not a sign was there to betray the severity of the test. The valves had proven perfect also, and we knew, as we stood there, that as far as structure was concerned, we stood in the most perfect boat ever built.

"So far, so good," declared Seymour, suppressing as best he might his enthusiasm. "I propose that now we put her to another test while we remain inside."

We did so, and this time the pressure was slightly increased, and not a sign of weakness appeared. Again we stood in open air, after which, owing to the lateness of the hour, we departed.

When we came to the yards on the following morning, the boat was already afloat in the Sound, and we boarded her with a picked crew, to cruise to where we could gain depth for the final test. It was a disappointment to Seymour; for she did not register the speed, either awash or light, that he had expected. She could do but little better than twenty knots running light, whereas he had hoped for much more.

"It must be due," he insisted, "to the altered shape forward, made necessary by your changes."

"She has speed enough to suit us," I replied, much to his relief; "and it is now but a question of her being able to free herself from depths, and force the water from her balance tanks."

It was an anxious time when, after taking all precautions possible, we closed the ventilators and conning tower, and let the water into her larger ballast tanks, then into her fore and aft tanks, and waited to learn whether the latest improvements embodied in her would permit her to submerge on an even keel to a great depth; for it is customary for a submarine to submerge by starting her electric motors, and, by the aid of hydroplanes outside the hull, to drive herself under on long descending planes, until she reaches the desired depth, after which, on the horizontal plane she proceeds evenly, steering by ordinary rudders to alter her lateral courses.

I stood behind the company's expert and watched the indicators of the gauges, as they told, with marvelous precision, that we were steadily descending without the use of power. The bead of the spirit level stood as if frozen to the zero mark, showing that her keel was resting as true as if she were poised on some stationary table. Down, down we slipped until we gained the almost unprecedented depth of fifty fathoms, when I myself called a halt. I could see no sense in further risking our lives. We rested there for fully an hour, and inspected every portion of her. She was standing the strain like a thoroughbred, and now came the moment when power was turned on from the electric accumulators, and we traveled for a full half-hour at a speed of seven knots.

"Are you satisfied?" Seymour asked me; and I said, "Yes."

"Then shall we emerge?"

"Yes, if we can," I said.

There was an order given, a sudden change in the quality of the boat's vibration, and she quivered as the big centrifugals drove the air from the reserve into the tanks, and began forcing the water ballast outward into the green depths surrounding us. Our eyes were fascinated now by the guage, and I am positive that all of us were vastly relieved when we saw the indicators begin slipping backward, from fifty to forty-five, from forty-five to thirty-five fathoms, and then, ever more rapidly, begin to slide upward. The men in front of the gauge gave a great sigh of satisfaction, and pointed upward. Light was shining through the periscope. We were on the surface again. The conning-tower hatch was thrown open, and we climbed to the deck of the boat, that, inasmuch as she was nearly three hundred feet in length, was commodious. We shook hands all round, so elated were we by the knowledge that we were really on the most advanced underwater boat ever built, while some of her crew phlegmatically began rigging the steering-gear of the bridge from which she was commanded when cruising "light." She had proven her resources. She was our boat. In the afternoon of that day I drew the largest check I had ever drawn. It was for two hundred and sixty thousand dollars, and I knew that, thanks to the beneficence and trust of Monsieur Hector de la Périgord, it would be paid as promptly as if it had been for one of the little checks of ten or twenty dollars that I had been in the habit of writing. To me it was a very important occasion. I still remember the thrills that passed through me, and still wonder if my hand trembled as I signed my name!