"A good share of it would," answered Tom. "That is usually the
chief difficulty--locating the wreck. Nearly always they are
anywhere from one to five miles from where the persons seeking
them think they are. And five miles, or even half a mile, is a
good distance on the bottom of the ocean."

"Exactly," echoed Mr. Hardley. "Then if I could give you the
exact location of a sunken treasure ship, and prove to you that
the owners had given up the search for it, leaving it open to
salvage on the part of whoever wished to try--would that be any
inducement to you to make an attempt, Mr. Swift?"

"I should want to hear more about it before I gave an answer,"
replied Tom. "As perhaps Mr. Damon has told you, I once went on a
hunt for treasure in my submarine. We found it, but only after
considerable trouble, and then I declared I'd never again engage
in such a search. There wasn't enough net profit in it."

"But there are millions in this, Tom! Bless my gold tooth, but
there are millions!" cried the excitable Mr. Damon. "Hurry up and
tell him!" he urged his friend.

"I will," assented Mr. Hardley. "I can readily believe," he
went on, "that the cost of hunting for undersea treasure is
great. I have taken that into consideration. Now, in brief, my
plan is this. I will join forces with you, and bear half the
expense if I am allowed to share half the proceeds. That's fair,
isn't it?" he asked Tom.