invention (and, in the Duchess's eyes, the most
attractive part of it) was an electric suction dredge,
specially designed for dragging to the surface such
objects of interest and value as might be found in the
more
accessible levels of the ocean-bed. The rights of
the
invention were to be acquired for a matter of
eighteen hundred francs, and the
apparatus for a few
thousand more. The Duchess of Dulverton was rich, as the
world counted
wealth; she nursed the hope, of being one
day rich at her own computation. Companies had been
formed and efforts had been made again and again during
the course of three centuries to probe for the alleged
treasures of the interesting galleon; with the aid of
this
invention she considered that she might go to work
on the wreck
privately and
independently. After all, one
of her ancestors on her mother's side was descended from
Medina Sidonia, so she was of opinion that she had as
much right to the treasure as anyone. She acquired the
invention and bought the
apparatus.
Among other family ties and encumbrances, Lulu
possessed a
nephew, Vasco Honiton, a young gentleman who
was
blessed with a small
income and a large
circle of
relatives, and lived im
partially and precariously on
both. The name Vasco had been given him possibly in the
hope that he might live up to its
adventuroustradition,
but he
limited himself
strictly to the home industry of
adventurer, preferring to
exploit the
assured rather than
to
explore the unknown. Lulu's
intercourse with him had
been restricted of recent years to the
negative processes
of being out of town when he called on her, and short of
money when he wrote to her. Now, however, she bethought
herself of his
eminent suitability for the direction of a
treasure-seeking experiment; if anyone could
extract gold
from an unpromising situation it would certainly be Vasco
- of course, under the necessary safeguards in the way of
supervision. Where money was in question Vasco's
conscience was
liable to fits of
obstinate silence.
Somewhere on the west coast of Ireland the Dulverton
property included a few acres of
shingle, rock, and
heather, too
barren to support even an agrarian outrage,
but embracing a small and fairly deep bay where the
lobster yield was good in most seasons. There was a
bleak little house on the property, and for those who
liked lobsters and
solitude, and were able to accept an
Irish cook's ideas as to what might be perpetrated in the
name of
mayonnaise, Innisgluther was a tolerable exile
during the summer months. Lulu seldom went there
herself, but she lent the house
lavishly to friends and
relations. She put it now at Vasco's disposal.
"It will be the very place to
practise and
experiment with the salvage
apparatus," she said; "the
bay is quite deep in places, and you will be able to test
everything
thoroughly before starting on the treasure
hunt."
In less than three weeks Vasco turned up in town to
report progress.
"The
apparatus works beautifully," he informed his
aunt; "the deeper one got the clearer everything grew.
We found something in the way of a
sunken wreck to
operate on, too!"
"A wreck in Innisgluther Bay!" exclaimed Lulu.
"A submerged motor-boat, the SUB-ROSA," said Vasco.
"No! really?" said Lulu; "poor Billy Yuttley's boat.
I remember it went down somewhere off that coast some
three years ago. His body was washed
ashore at the
Point. People said at the time that the boat was
capsized intentionally - a case of
suicide, you know.
People always say that sort of thing when anything
tragichappens."
"In this case they were right," said Vasco.