Gold on the Adomar

Originally Aired: January 19, 1953 Suspense #496, "Gold on the Adomar," presents the story of Nick, a recently retired Navy diver who has left the service seeking better pay in the civilian salvage world. His plans take an unexpected turn when Carl Foster approaches him with a tantalizing proposition: dive to recover three million dollars in gold from the Adamar, a ship that sank in 1911 and has never been located. Foster offers Nick one-fifth of the treasure, claiming he has finally found the wreck resting in 24 fathoms of water. Though initially skeptical of what sounds like another treasure hunt scheme, Nick agrees to make one exploratory dive to verify Foster's discovery. As Nick descends into the cold, black depths toward the barnacled hulk, he battles his paralyzing fear of the deep while contemplating his lust for gold that brought him to this moment. The stakes are high and time is limited—Foster insists they have only one week to complete the job before he departs for a five-year contract in South America. With Foster's heart condition preventing him from diving and the ship's position in a gully complicating matters, Nick must determine whether this wreck is truly the Adamar and if its strongroom still holds its fortune.