CHAPTER I
UNTOLD MILLIONS
"Tom, this is certainly wonderful reading! Over a hundred million
dollars\' worth of silver at the bottom of the ocean! More than two hundred
million dollars in gold! To say nothing of fifty millions in copper, ten
millions in--"
"Say, hold on there, Ned! Hold on! Where do you get that stuff; as the
boys say? Has something gone wrong with one of the adding machines, or
is it just on account of the heat? What\'s the big idea, anyhow? How many
millions did you say?" and Tom Swift, the talented young inventor, looked
at Ned Newton, his financial manager, with a quizzical smile.
"It\'s all right, Tom! It\'s all right!" declared Ned, and it needed but a
glance to show that he was more serious than was his companion. "I\'m not
suffering from the heat, though the thermometer is getting close to ninetyfive
in the shade. And if you want to know where I get \'that stuff\' read
this!"
He tossed over to his chum, employer, and friend--for Tom Swift
assumed all three relations toward Ned Newton--part of a Sunday
newspaper. It was turned to a page containing a big illustration of a diver
attired in the usual rubber suit and big helmet, moving about on the floor
of the ocean and digging out boxes of what was supposed to be gold from
a sunken wreck.
"Oh, that stuff!" exclaimed Tom, with a smile of disbelief as he saw
the source of Ned\'s information. "Seems to me I\'ve read something like
that before, Ned!"