Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 47: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

TEN FATHOMS DOWN.. dered for a moment if what he had seen in it was the responsible factor for the saving clause when he answered Fitz’s first ques- tion. His own thought had been: “ It’s useless; I’m sick of trying.” Dimly, Dunn began to realize the battle the girl was fighting for him. His faults were slowly making themselves felt. He was faintly aware of what he should be, and was not. By the time they had reached the Olympia he found the new perspective clearer and more distinct. Fitz’s own en- thusiasm communicated itself to him. Only Florence remained silent. It was a silent Bill Dunn that sat at the dinner table that night. He ate me- thodically, his mind far away; Fitz sensed the spirit of change in him, and looked to his sister. What he saw caused him to wonder vaguely. Once, Dunn caught her gaze fixed on him at the conclusion of the meal. They seemed to plead, entreat, to sue. He rose abruptly and went out, her eyes following him with the faintest sug- gestion of a tear in them. Bill Dunn, the idealist, the dreamer, was awakening. Slowly, but surely, this girl was clearing the way, sweeping aside the veil. Ah Jung had not looked for the cause; he merely guided his master through. The girl was digging, ripping at the roots of his weakness. They retired early, both Dunn and Ah Jung worn out with the day’s labor of bucking against the strong current and lift- ing their heavy, lead-soled feet. Early next morning they returned to the reef, anchoring the Ymotor-sajler a cable length to the northwestward. This would prevent the divers from dragging great lengths of line behind them. Again Dunn and Ah Jung went below. They fought against the current, avoiding the patches of marine growth and stumbling on through the ooze. To-day Dunn was driving himself on- ward. Yet when a half hour’s searching revealed nothing, he began again to lose hope. Some force, however, heretofore un- known to him, seemed to battle with him to continue. It drove him on in spite of the old easy way that threatened to take hold of him. Ah Jung had taken the lead BYE through the kelp and seaweed. Dunn fol- lowed behind, his body reacting to the new, stronger spirit. He almost collided with Ah Jung on his knees, cutting at a mass of seaweed. Then he noticed that their reef shelved suddenly downward. He saw that Ah Jung was lean- ing against a hull, resting on the very edge of the reef. For a moment he thought they had traveled in a circle and returned to the Defender. His heart gave a leap when he recognized it as the hull of the Moon Glow, covered with seaweed, their tentacles seeming to hold the vessel in posi- tion. Immediately Dunn’s mind began functioning again. It was that way; with success in his grasp that he was the self- confident Bill Dunn always. His nautical mind solved the riddle easily. Of course, the strong current and shifting sands had gradually moved the hull toward the direc- tion of the current’s drift. She barely rest- ed on the edge, no doubt held there by the seaweed that had grown up around her while she rested and resisted further move- ment in a little depression. Ah Jung had been slashing and cutting at the weed. Dunn knelt too, and lent a hand. Ah Jung crawled out on to the hull and began searching for a way into the ves- sel’s interior. He found it, and slowly low- ered himself into the opening. Suddenly Dunn gave a shout which died in the helmet. The vessel was shifting. The force of the current, as if defying any- thing to stop it, slowly moved the hull. Dunn aitempted a sudden leap toward Jung, trying to tap his helmet to warn him. Before he had taken two steps the vessel gave a lurch, leaned slowly away, toward the bottom beneath the shelf, and then dis- appeared in a swirl of muddy water. Jung’s aid line tautened, throwing Dunn’s foot aside. Dunn felt a rapid jerk- ing on his signal line. It was Fitz on the surface, his face writhing in agony. He had seen the air line tauten and had quickly thrown overboard the slack. He felt Dunn signal for slack on his own line. “ Give it to him! For God’s sake, give it to him!” he cried. For one bare second Dunn stared as if oO GCOMIGIOOKS=co