The Green caldron - University Library

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The Green Caldron
my cord, and felt myself being lifted from the bottom of the lake. We had
decided that each one of us would stay down only fifteen minutes, thus to
avoid any possible ill effects from the pressure. My time was up, and I was
being pulled to the surface. My first venture in diving was ending too soon.
During that day three of us—George, Jim, and I—made two dives each
before we finally found the Genevieve. It had been washed fifty feet away
by an underwater current. Rupe, who had a weak heart and felt that he
shouldn't dive, stayed above and manned the pump.
Early the next morning we again took up our position and began work.
As it was my turn to go down, I jumped into the water, and after the helmet
had been lowered onto my shoulders, I slid down the guide rope which Jim
had fastened to the wreck the day before. Fastened to my belt was a chain
which I was to attach to the bow of the Genevieve. I had become accustomed
to diving now and had overcome some of the awkwardness of my first dive.
It was only a matter of minutes before I had found the mooring ring on
the bow of the boat and snapped the chain into place. Four pulls on the
signal cord and I was on my way up.
George went down next to fasten a chain to the stern. Up above, we
were watching George's exhaust bubbles lazily breaking the surface of the
placid water. Suddenly they stopped, and then suddenly they erupted—in
one huge bubble! All was still. We knew that only one thing could have
happened—the air had left George's helmet ! Anxiously we looked for signs
of him. Seconds later two frantically waving hands broke the surface, and
up came George, looking as if he had seen a ghost. We pulled him aboard
and learned, between his gasps for breath, that he had leaned over too far in
attaching the chain and his helmet had fallen off. Aside from a severe head-
ache for a few hours, George suffered no ill effects. Needless to say he didn't
dive again for the rest of that day.
During its year's rest on the bottom of the lake, the Genevieve had
become almost completely covered with mud and silt. Our next job, there-
fore, was to dig the boat out. Armed with a spade, we took turns shoveling
away the loose mud. This proved to be a very slow and tiring task, for
working under pressure and in water slows one considerably. But finally
after a day and a half of hard digging, we succeeded in making the boat
ready for raising. The Genevieve was at last ready to be pulled ashore.
After a day of rain and bad weather had delayed us, we again assumed
our positions, and by tugging and pulling on the chains, finally raised the
Genevieve to approximately half the distance from the bottom. One boat
following the other, we rowed toward shore. About fifty feet from land the
Genevieve touched the bottom, and we again pulled on the chains until we
could make out the shape of the wreck about four feet beneath the surface.
From here it was a simple task. We dragged the boat ashore, loaded it onto
a truck, and took it home.
Our job was done. We were a world richer in experience.