The greased hose had been recoiled in the tubs and the boys proceeded to overhaul them, foot by foot, searching them closely for cracks or punctures.
Walter was puzzled to comprehend his chum's plan. After what he had discovered, surely he did not intend to risk using the dangerous things, but he was well enough acquainted with Charley's shrewdness to hold his tongue and keep his face from betraying his uneasiness. He felt sure that there was a good reason for his chum's actions. He had but just reached this decision when he came upon a gapping hole in the hose. It looked much as though it had been cut in two with a sharp knife.
"Here's a bad place," he announced. "It's lucky I found it. Air can't be pumped through this thing."
"And here's a hole in mine, too," Charley declared in accents so surprised that no one would have dreamed that he had made both slits the night before to serve as an excuse for the rejection of the dangerous hose. "We can't use either one of them, we'll have to get out the new hose."
Manuel's face for a second was a picture of bewilderment and baffled rage, but in a moment he was again suave and smiling. "I don't see what can have made those cuts," he declared. "They can be patched in a few minutes, however. It would be a pity to throw away such hose, it is as good as new except for those two little places which can be speedily fixed."
"NO patched hose for me," Charley said, decidedly. "If the divers want to risk using it, they can."
It was not just the reply the wily Greek had expected and he hastened to answer.
"You are right, it does not pay to take risks. I will get the new hose and put it on."
But Charley was ahead of him. He did not intend to give the wily Greek any chance to play tricks with the new hose. He brought it out from the lockers in which it was kept and, after examining it carefully connected it to the air pumps and helmets. Before putting on his head-piece, he tried the air pump also. It proved to be in perfect working order and sent the air gushing through the hose. Manuel fastened the life-line below his arms, but Charley called the captain to adjust the heavy helmet over his head.
As soon as his feet touched the bottom, Charley moved forward for the wreck, Walter at his side. Neither lad wished to remain below a second longer than was necessary for they fully realized that they were running a terrible risk in descending at all. They found the box they had discovered the day before entirely empty, the divers had brought another out from the wreck's hold and broken it open. The gold was in twenty dollar pieces and in a few minutes the lads had transferred several hundred dollars from the box to the baskets. It was hard to resist taking more but the risks were too great to permit it. Quickly hastening back to the patch of sponges, they tore up several baskets full of the mud and covered fungus and, making a slit in each with their sheaf knives, stuffed in the coins. It was the very plan the divers had followed but Charley had decided that they would not be looking for the adopting of their own trick. As soon as the last coin was hidden and the loaded sponges placed in the basket with others on top of them to complete the load, Charley signed to Walter to ascend and stood watching him until he had been drawn to the surface, then he gave the signal to be drawn up himself. He was raised a few feet up from the bottom then he sank quickly back to the place from which he had risen and he saw the end of the life-line dangling in the water twenty feet above his head. _It had been pulled loose from his body._