With a plan forming, Arthur began grabbing the stones and stuffing them into the thick, reinforced sleeves and torso of the antique suit, using it as a makeshift heavy-duty sack. The canvas was stiff, but it held. He worked methodically, filling the hollow legs and the chest cavity with the shimmering ore until the suit was bloated.
Once the relic was packed with his find, he dragged the weighted suit toward his net. He wrestled the canvas figure into the center of the mesh, wrapping the thick nylon cords around it and securing it tightly so nothing could slip out during the ascent. With his air running low, he left the net resting on the seabed and began his careful ascent to the surface. Minutes later, he hauled himself back onto the deck of the Silver Wake.
He scrambled to the controls and engaged the winch; the mechanical groan returned, and Arthur watched the steel cables strain as they slowly dragged the suit—and the fortune hidden within it—up from the dark.