bring up a lot of this lost ocean wealth."

"Well, every so often an inventor, or some one who calls
himself that, crops up with a new proposal for cleaning up the
untold millions on the floor of the Atlantic or the Pacific,"
replied Tom. "Mind you, I'm not saying it isn't there. Everybody
knows that hundreds of ships carrying gold and silver have gone
down in storms or been sunk in war. And some of the gold and
silver has been recovered by divers--I admit that. In fact, if
you recall, my father and I perfected a new style diving dress a
few years ago that was successfully used in getting down to a
wreck off the Cuban coast. A treasure ship went down there, and I
believe they recovered a large part of the gold bullion--or
perhaps it was silver.

"But this diving bell stunt isn't new, and it hasn't been
successful. Of course a man can go down to a greater depth in a
thick iron diving bell than he can in a diving suit. That's
common knowledge. But the trouble with a diving bell is that it
can't be moved about as a man can move about in a diving suit.
The man in the bell can't get inside the wreck, and it's there
where the gold or silver is usually to be found."

"Can't they blow the wreck apart with dynamite, and scatter the
gold on the bottom of the ocean?" asked Ned.

"Yes, they could do that, but usually they scatter it so far,
and the ocean currents so cover it with sand, that it is
impossible ever to get it again. I admit that if a wreck is blown
apart a man in a diving bell can perhaps get a small part of it.