CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
THE LAST.
One day Joe Baldwin, assisted by his old friend, Rooney Machowl, wasbusily engaged down at the bottom of the sea, off the Irish coast,slinging a box of gold specie. He had given the signal to haul up, andRooney had moved away to put slings round another box, when the chain towhich the gold was suspended snapt, and the box descended on Joe. If ithad hit him on the back in its descent it would certainly have killedhim, but it only hit his collar-bone and broke it.
Joe had just time to give four pulls on his lines, and then fainted. Hewas instantly hauled up, carefully unrobed, and put to bed.
This was a turning-point in our diver's career. The collar-bone was allright in the course of a month or two, but Mrs Baldwin positivelyrefused to allow her goodman to go under water again.
"The little fortin' you made out in Chiny," she said one evening whileseated with her husband at supper in company with Rooney and his wife,"pays for our rent, an' somethin' over. You're a handy man, and can doa-many things to earn a penny, and I can wash enough myself to keep usboth. You've bin a 'ard workin' man, Joe, for many a year. You've binlong enough under water. You'll git rheumatiz, or somethin' o' thatsort, if you go on longer, so I'm resolved that you shan't do it--there!"
"Molly, cushla!" said Machowl, in a modest tone, "I hope you won't clapa stopper on my goin' under water for some time yit--plaze."
Molly laughed.
"Oh! It's all very well for you to poke fun at me, Mister Machowl,"said Mrs Baldwin, "but you're young yet, an' my Joe's past his prime.When you've done as much work as he's done--there now, you've done it atlast. I told you so."
This last remark had reference to the fact that young Teddy Machowl,having been over-fed by his father, had gone into a stiffblue-in-the-face condition that was alarming to say the least of it.Mrs Machowl dashed at her offspring, and, giving him an unmercifulthump on the back, effected the ejection of a mass of beef which hadbeen the cause of the phenomena.
"What a bu'ster it is--the spalpeen," observed Rooney, with a smile, ashe resumed the feeding process, much to Teddy's delight; "you'll niverdo for a diver if you give way to appleplectic tendencies o' that sort.Here--open your mouth wide and shut your eyes."
"Well, well, it'll only be brought in manslaughter, so he won't swingfor it," remarked Mrs Baldwin, with a shrug of her shoulders. "Now,Joe," she continued, turning to her husband, "you'll begin at once tolook out for a situation above water. David Maxwell can finish the jobyou had in hand,--speakin' of that, does any one know where David isjust now?"
"He's down at the bottom of a gasometer," answered Joe; "leastwise hewas there this afternoon--an' a dirty place it is."
"A bad-smellin' job that, I should think," observed Rooney.
"Well, it ain't a sweet-smellin' one," returned Joe. "He's anadventurous man is David. I don't believe there's any hole of dirtywater or mud on the face o' this earth that he wouldn't go down to thebottom of if he was dared to it. He's fond of speculatin' too, eversince that trip to the China seas. You must know, Mrs Rooney, if yourhusband hasn't told you already, that we divers, many of us, have ourpet schemes for makin' fortunes, and some of us have tried to comeacross the Spanish dubloons that are said to lie on the sea-bottom offmany parts of our coast where the Armada was lost."
"It's jokin' ye are," said Mrs Machowl, looking at Joe with a slytwinkle in her pretty eyes.
"Jokin'! No, indeed, I ain't," rejoined the diver. "Did Rooney nevertell ye about the Spanish Armada?"
"Och! He's bin sayin' somethin' about it now an' again, but he's such aman for blarney that I never belave more nor half he says."
"Sure ain't that the very raison I tell ye always at laste twice as muchas I know?" said Rooney, lighting his pipe.
"Well, my dear," continued Joe, "the short an' the long of it is, thatabout the year 1588, the Spaniards sent off a huge fleet of big ships totake Great Britain and Ireland by storm--once for all--and have donewith it, but Providence had work for Britain to do, and sent a series o'storms that wrecked nearly the whole Spanish fleet on our shores. Manyof these vessels had plenty of gold dubloons on board, so when divin'bells and dresses were invented, men began to try their hands at fishin'it up, and, sure enough, some of it was actually found and brought up--especially off the shores of the island of Mull, in Scotland. They evenwent the length of forming companies in this country, and in Holland,for the purpose of recovering treasure from wrecks. Well, ever sincethen, up to the present time, there have been speculative men amongdivers, who have kept on tryin' their hands at it. Some have succeeded;others have failed. David Maxwell is one of the lucky ones for the mostpart, and even when luck fails, he never comes by any loss, for he's ahard-workin' man, an' keeps a tight hold of whatever he makes, whetherby luck or by labour."
"But what about the bad-smellin' job he's got on hand just now?" askedRooney.
"Why, he's repairin' the bottom of a gas tank. He got the job throughrecoverin' some gold watches that were thrown into the Thames by somethieves, as they were bein' chased over London Bridge. David found tenof 'em--one bein' worth fifty pounds. Well, just at that time anexperienced and hardy fellow was wanted for the gas-work business, soDavid was recommended. You know a gas tank, as to look an' smell, ishorrible enough to frighten a hippopotamus, but David went up to theedge of this tank by a ladder, and jumped in as cool as if he'd binjumpin' into a bed with clean sheets. He stopped down five hours. Ofcourse, in such filthy water, a light would have been useless. He hadto do it all by feelin', nevertheless, they say, he made a splendid jobof it,--the bed of clay and puddle, at the bottom, bein' smoothed asflat a'most as a billiard table,--besides fixin' sixteen iron-plates forthe gas-holder to rest on. He was to finish the job this afternoon, Ibelieve." [See Note 1.]
"Ah, he's a cute feller is David," observed Rooney, reflectively, as hewatched a ring of smoke that rose from his pipe towards the ceiling."What d'ee intind to turn your hand to if you give up divin', Joe?"
"If!" said Mrs Baldwin, with a peculiar intonation.
"Well, _when_ you give it up," said Rooney, with a bland smile.
"I'm not rightly sure," replied Joe. "In the first place, I'll watchfor the leadings of Providence, for without that, I cannot expectsuccess. Then I'll go and see Mr Berrington, who has just returned,they say, from his wedding trip. My own wish is to become a sort ofmissionary among the poor people hereabouts."
"Why, Joe," said his friend, "you've bin that, more or less, for yearspast."
"Ay, at odd times," returned Joe, "but I should like to devote _all_ mytime to it now."
In pursuance of his plan the ex-diver went the following morning to thesea-shore, and walked in the direction of Sea Cottage, following theroad that bordered the sands.
Near to that cottage, about two hundred yards from it, stood a small butvery pretty villa. Joe knew its name to be Sea-beach Villa, andunderstood that it was the abode of his former master and friend, EdgarBerrington. There was a lovely garden in front, full to overflowingwith flowers of every name and hue, and trellis-work bowers here andthere, covered with jessamine and honeysuckle. A sea-shell walk led tothe front door. Up this walk the diver sauntered, and applied theknocker.
The door was promptly opened by a very small, sharp-eyed domestic.
"Is your master at home, my dear?" asked Joe, kindly.
"I ain't got no master," replied the girl.
"No!" returned Joe, in some surprise. "Your missus then?"
"My missus don't live 'ere. I'm on'y loaned to this 'ouse," said thesmall domestic; "loaned by Miss Pritty for two days, till they find aservant gal for themselves."
"Oh!" said Joe, with a smile, "is the gentleman who borrowed youwithin?"
"No, 'e ain't," replied the small domestic.
At that moment Mr Hazlit walked up the path, and accosted Joe.
"Ah, you want to see my son-in-law? He had not yet returned. I expecthim, however, to-day. Perhaps, if you
call in the afternoon, orto-morrow morning, you may--"
He was interrupted by the sound of wheels. Next moment a carriagedashed round the corner of the garden wall, and drew up in front of thehouse. Before the old gentleman had clearly realised the fact, he foundhimself being smothered by one of the prettiest girls in all England,and Joe felt his hand seized in a grasp worthy of a diver.
While Aileen dragged her father into the villa, in order to enable himto boast ever after that he had received the first kiss she ever gaveunder her own roof, Edgar led Joe to a trellis-work arbour, and, sittingdown beside him there, said:--
"Come, Joe, I know you want to see me about something. While these twoare having it out indoors, you and I can talk here."
"First, Mister Eddy," said Joe, holding out his big horny hand, "let mecongratulate you on comin' home. May the Lord dwell in your house, andwrite His name in your two hearts."
"Amen!" returned Edgar, again grasping the diver's hand. "My dear wifeand I expect to have that prayer answered in our new home, for we put upa similar one before entering it. And now, Joe, what is it that youwant?"
"Well, sir, the fact is, that my old woman thinks since I smashed myshoulder, that it's high time for me to give up divin', and take tolighter work; but I didn't know you were comin' home to-day, sir. Ithought you'd been home some days already, else I wouldn't have come toyou, but--"
"Never mind, Joe. There's no time like the present--go on."
Thus encouraged, Joe explained his circumstances and desires. When hehad ended, Edgar remained silent for some minutes.
"Joe," he said at length, "you used to be fond of gardening. Have youforgotten all about it?"
"Why, not quite, sir, but--"
"Stay--I'll come back in a few minutes," said Edgar, rising hastily, andgoing into the house.
In a few minutes he returned with his wife.
"Joe," said he, "Mrs Berrington has something to say to you."
"Mr Baldwin," said Aileen, with a peculiar smile, "I am greatly in wantof a gardener. Can you tell me where I am likely to find one, or canyou recommend one?"
Joe, who was a quick-witted fellow, replied with much gravity:--
"No Miss--ma'am, I mean--I can't."
"That's a pity," returned Aileen, with a little frown of perplexity; "Iam also much in want of a cook--do you know of one?"
"No, ma'am," said Joe, "I don't."
"What a stupid, unobservant fellow you must be, Joe," said Edgar, "notto be able to recommend a cook or a gardener, and you living, as I maysay, in the very midst of such useful personages. Now, Aileen, _I_ canrecommend both a cook and a gardener to you."
"You see, ma'am," interrupted Joe, with profound gravity, and anearnestness of manner that quite threw his questioners off their guard,"this is an occasion when you may learn a valuable lesson at the outsetof wedded life, so to speak--namely, that it is much safer an' wiser,when you chance to be in a difficulty, to apply to your husband forinformation than to the likes of me; you see, he's ready with what youwant at a moment's notice."
Aileen and Edgar were upset by this; they both laughed heartily, andthen the former said:--
"Now, Mr Baldwin, we won't beat any longer about the bush. We have notsucceeded in getting a cook, being in the meantime obliged to contentourselves with a temporary loan of the green-grocer's wife, and of MissPritty's small domestic; therefore I want to engage _your_ wife, who isat present, I believe, open to an engagement. We are also unprovidedwith a man to tend our garden, look after our pony, and help me in themissionary work, in which I hope immediately to be engaged in this town.Do you accept that situation?"
Aileen said this with such an earnest irresistible air, that Joe Baldwinstruck his colours on the spot, and said, "I do!" with nearly as muchfervour as Edgar had said these words six weeks before.
The thing was settled then and there, for Joe felt well assured that hisamiable Susan would have no objection to such an arrangement.
Now, while this was going on in the bower, Mr Hazlit, observing thathis children were occupied with something important, sauntered down thesea-shell road in the direction of his own cottage. Here he met MissPritty.
The sight of her mild innocent face called up a thought. Dozens ofother thoughts immediately seized hold of the first thought, andfollowed it. Mr Hazlit was sometimes, though not often, impulsive. Hetook Miss Pritty's hand without saying a word, drew her arm within hisown, and led her into the cottage.
"Miss Pritty," he said, sitting down and pointing to a chair, "you havealways been very kind to my daughter."
"She has always been very kind--_very_ kind--to me," answered MissPritty, with a slight look of surprise.
"True--there is no doubt whatever about that," returned Mr Hazlit, "butjust now I wish to refer to your kindness to her. You came,unselfishly, at great personal inconvenience, to China, at my selfishrequest, and for her sake you endured horrors in connection with thesea, of which I had no conception until I witnessed your sufferings. Iam grateful for your self-sacrificing kindness, and am now about to takea somewhat doubtful mode of showing my gratitude, namely, by asking youto give up your residence in town, and come to be my housekeeper--mycompanion and friend."
Mr Hazlit paused, and Miss Pritty, looking at him with her mild eyesexcessively wide open, gave no audible expression to her feelings orsentiments, being, for the moment, bereft of the power of utterance.
"You see," continued Mr Hazlit, in a sad voice, looking slowly roundthe snug parlour, "I shall be a very lonely man now that my darling hasleft my roof. And you must not suppose, Miss Pritty, that I ask you tomake any engagement that would tie you, even for a year, to a life thatyou might not relish. I only ask you to come and try it. If you findthat you prefer a life of solitude, unhampered in any way, you will onlyhave to say so at any time--a month, a week, after coming here--and Iwill cheerfully, and without remonstrance, reinstate you in your oldhome--or a similar one--exactly as I found you, even to your smalldomestic, who may come here and be your private maid if you choose."
Miss Pritty could not find it in her heart to refuse an offer so kindlymade. The matter was therefore settled then and there, just as that ofthe diver and his wife had been arranged next door.
Is it necessary to say that both arrangements were found, in course oftime, to answer admirably? Miss Pritty discovered that housekeeping washer forte, and that she possessed powers of comprehension, in regard tofinancial matters connected with the payment of debts and dividends,such as she had all her previous life believed to be unattainableanywhere, save in the Bank of England or on the Stock Exchange.
Mrs Baldwin discovered that cooking was her calling--the end for whichshe had been born--although discovered rather late in life. Joe madethe discovery that gardening and stable-work were very easy employmentsin the Berrington household, and that his young mistress kept himuncommonly busy amongst the poor of the town, encouraging him to attendchiefly to their spiritual wants, though by no means neglectful of theirphysical. In these matters he became also agent and assistant to MrHazlit--so that the gardening and stable-tending ultimately became amere sham, and it was found necessary to provide a juvenile assistant,in the person of the green-grocer's eldest boy, to fill theseresponsible posts.
The green-grocer himself, and his wife, discovered that Christianinfluence, good example, and kind words, were so attractive and powerfulas to induce them, insensibly, to begin a process of imitation, whichended, quite naturally, in a flourishing business and a happy home.
The small domestic also made a discovery or two. She found that akitchen with a view of the open sea from its window, and a reasonable aswell as motherly companion to talk to, was, on the whole, superior to akitchen with a window opening up a near prospect of bricks, and thecompanionship of black pots and beetles.
At first, Aileen travelled a good deal with her husband in his variousbusiness expeditions, and thus visited many wild, romantic, andout-o'-the-way parts of our shores; but the a
dvent of a juvenileBerrington put a sudden stop to that, and the flow of juvenileBerringtons that followed induced her to remain very much at home. Thisinflux of "little strangers" induced the building of so many wings toSea-beach Villa, that its body at last became lost in its wings, andgave rise to a prophecy that it would one day rise into the air and flyaway: up to the present time, however, this remains a portion ofunfulfilled prophecy.
Mr Hazlit became rich again, not indeed so rich as at first, butcomfortably rich. Nevertheless, he determined to remain comparativelypoor, in order that he might pay his debts to the uttermost farthing.His cottage by the sea had comforts in it, but nothing that could fairlybe styled a luxury, except, of course, a luxurious army of well-trainedgrandchildren, who invaded his premises every morning with terrificnoise, and kept possession until fairly driven out by force of arms.
Rooney Machowl and David Maxwell stuck to their colours manfully. Theywent into partnership, and continued for years struggling together atthe bottom of the sea. Mrs Machowl tended the amiable Teddy during theearly, or chokable period of infancy, but when he had safely passed thatseason, his father took him in hand, and taught him to dive. He beganby tumbling him into a washing-tub at odd times, in order to accustomhim to water. Then, when a little older, he amused himself byoccasionally throwing him off the end of the pier, and jumping in tosave him. Afterwards he initiated him into the mysteries of the dress,the helmet, the life-line, the air-pipe, etcetera, and, finally, tookhim down bodily to the bottom of the sea. At last, Teddy became as goodand fearless a diver as his father. He was also the pride of hismother.
One afternoon--a bright glowing afternoon--in the autumn of the year,Mr Hazlit sat in a favourite bower in the garden of his cottage, withAileen on one side of him, and Edgar on the other. At the foot of thegarden a miscellaneous group of boys, girls, and babies, of all ages,romped and rolled upon the turf. In front lay the yellow sands, and,beyond, the glorious glittering sea rolled away to the horizon.
Mr Hazlit had just been commenting on their happy condition as comparedwith the time when they "knew not God." The children having just rompedthemselves into a state of exhaustion, were reasonably quiet, and thesun was setting in floods of amber and gold.
"What a peaceful evening!" remarked Aileen.
"How different," said Edgar, "from that of which it is the anniversary!Don't you remember that this is the evening of the day in which weattacked the Malay pirates long ago?"
"So it is. I had forgotten," said Mr Hazlit.
"Dinner, sir," said a boy in buttons, who bore a marked resemblance tothe green-grocer's wife.
As he spoke a stout gentleman opened the garden gate and walked up thepath leading to the bower. At the same moment Miss Pritty issued fromthe house and echoed the green-grocer's boy's announcement.
They were all silent as the stout gentleman approached.
"What! _can_ it be?" cried Edgar, starting up in excitement.
"The captain!" exclaimed Mr Hazlit.
"Impossible!" murmured Aileen.
"Pirates!" cried Miss Pritty, turning deadly white, and preparing tofall into Edgar's arms, but curiosity prevented her.
There could be no mistake. The bright glittering eyes, the black beardand moustache, the prominent nose, the kindly smile, the broad chest andshoulders, revealed unquestionably the captain of the Rajah's gun-boat.
"Miraculous!" cried Edgar, as he wrung the captain's right hand. "Wewere just talking of the great fight of which this is the anniversary."
"Amazing coincidence!" exclaimed Mr Hazlit, seizing the other hand.
"Not so much of a coincidence as it seems, however," said the captainwith a laugh, as he shook hands with the ladies, "for I madearrangements on purpose to be here on the anniversary day, thinking thatit might add to the interest of my visit."
"And to come _just_ at dinner-time too," said Miss Pritty, who hadrecovered.
"Another coincidence," observed Aileen, with an arch look.
"Come--come in--here, this way, captain," cried Mr Hazlit, dragging hisfriend by the hand. "Welcome--heartily welcome to Sea Cottage."
The captain submitted to be dragged; to be placed by the side of Aileen;to be overwhelmed with kindness by the elder members of the family, andwith questions by the younger members, who regarded him as a hero ofromance quite equal, if not superior, to Jack the Giant-killer.
But how can we describe what followed? It is impossible. We can onlysay that the evening was one of a thousand. All the battles were foughtover again. The captain came out strong for the benefit of theyoungsters, and described innumerable scenes of wild adventure in whichhe had been personally engaged. And to cap it all, after dinner, whenthey went out into the garden, and were seated in floods of moonlight inthe bower, two men opened the garden gate and made for the back kitchen,with the evident intention of calling on the cook. These werediscovered to be Rooney Machowl and David Maxwell.
Of course they were made to come and shake hands with their oldcommander, the captain, and gradually got into a talk, and laughed agood deal at the recollection of old times, insomuch that the noise theymade drew Joe Baldwin to the scene, and, as a natural result, this ledthe conversation into divers channels--among others to life andadventure at the bottom of the sea, and there is no saying how long theymight have talked there if a cloud had not obliterated the moon, andadmonished them that the night was at hand.
And now, good reader, with regret we find that our tale has reached itsclose. We may not have added much to your knowledge, but if we have, inany degree, interested you in the characters we have summoned to ourlittle stage, or in the incidents that have been enacted thereon, weshall not have wrought in vain, for the subject into which you haveconsented to dive with us is not only an interesting, but a dangerousone--involving as it does the constant risking of manly lives, thewell-being of large communities, the progress of important industries,and the salvation of much valuable property to the world at large.
THE END.
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Note 1. Something similar to the "job" above mentioned was accomplishedby G. Smith, a diver on the staff of Messrs. Heinke and Davis, ofLondon.
Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters Page 27
