Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER NINE.

  TREATS OF A LEAK AND CONSEQUENT DIFFICULTIES.

  It turned out, on investigation, that, whatever the object by which thevessel had been touched, some degree of injury had been done to heriron-plating, for the pumps were found to be insufficient to prevent therising of water in the hold. This was a serious matter, becausealthough the rise was very slow, it was steady, and if not checked wouldsooner or later sink the ship. Everything that could be done wasattempted in order to discover and stop the leak, but without success.

  Fortunately it happened that the _Warrior_ had among her other goods aquantity of diving apparatus on board, consigned to a firm in Hong-Kongthat had lost valuable property in a wreck, and meant to attempt therecovery of it by means of divers. The men had gone out by a previousvessel, but their dresses, having been accidentally delayed, had beensent after them in the _Warrior_. Bethinking himself of these dresses,the captain conceived that he was justified, in the circumstances, inmaking temporary use of them; but he was disappointed to find, oninquiry, that not a man of his ordinary crew had ever seen adiving-dress put on, or its attendant air-pumps worked. In thesecircumstances he sent for the chief engineer.

  Edgar Berrington was busy about some trifling repairs to the machinerywhen the message reached him. The place being very hot, he was cladonly in shirt and trousers, with a belt round his waist--a by no meansunbecoming costume for a well-made figure! His shirt-sleeves wererolled up to the shoulders, displaying a pair of very muscular andelegantly moulded arms--such as Hercules might have been pleased with,and Apollo would not have disdained. His hands were black and oily, andhis face was similarly affected.

  Expecting to meet the captain at the entrance to his domains, Edgarmerely rolled down his sleeves, and seized a bundle of waste with whichhe hastily wiped his hands and face, thereby drawing on the latter,which had previously been spotty, a series of varied streaks andblotches that might have raised the envy of a Querikoboo savage. Butthe captain was not where he expected to find him, and on looking aft hesaw him on the quarter-deck in converse with one of the passengers.Edgar would rather not have appeared in public in such guise, but beingin haste to return to the work from which he had been called, he pulledon a light linen jacket and forage-cap, and walked quickly aft. To hishorror he saw Aileen seated on a basket-work easy-chair close to thecaptain. It was too late, however, to retreat, for the latter hadalready observed him. Fortunately Aileen was deeply engaged with abook. Edgar quickly advanced and took such a position that his back wasturned to her.

  "Excuse my appearance, sir," he said in a low voice, touching his cap tothe captain; "I am in the midst of a job that requires to be--"

  "No matter," interrupted the captain, with a laugh, "you look very wellin your war-paint. We'll excuse you."

  Attracted by the laugh, Aileen looked up at the tall form in front ofher.

  "What a _very_ handsome figure!" she whispered to her bosom-friend, whosat beside her reading.

  The bosom-friend put her book in front of her mouth and whispered--

  "Yes, _very_. I wish he would turn round and show his face."

  But her wish was not granted, for the captain walked slowly forward inconversation with the "_very_ handsome figure," which obstinately,--wemight almost say carefully,--kept its back turned towards them.

  Great was the satisfaction of the captain when he found not only thatone of the subordinate engineers understood a good deal about diving,but that the chief himself was a diver! It was accordingly arrangedthat a descent should be made without delay. The dresses were got upand unpacked, and one was found suitable for a large man.

  Soon the air-pumps were set up and rigged on deck. One of thesub-engineers was set to work them, with one of the crew, while anothersub and an officer, having been previously instructed by our hero, weredetailed to the important duty of holding the life-line and air-pipe.Thereafter the engines were stopped, and the dead-calm that followed,--that feeling of unnatural quietude to which we have referredelsewhere,--did more perhaps to arouse all the sleepers, readers, anddreamers on board, than if a cannon had been fired. Of course thedescent of a diver over the side was a point of great interest to thepassengers, coupled as it was with some anxiety as to the leak, of theexistence of which all were fully aware, though only a select few hadbeen informed of its serious nature--if not checked. They crowded roundthe apparatus therefore, and regarded its arrangement with the deepestinterest.

  When all was ready Edgar issued from the deck-cabin, in which he meantto dress, to take a final look at the air-pumps. In the flutter ofexcitement he had for one moment, and for the first time since thebeginning of the voyage, totally forgotten the existence of Aileen.Now, she and Lintie, the Scottish maiden who sang so well, chanced to belooking with much interest at the helmet which lay on the deck, when hiseye fell on them. At once he turned on his heel and retreated towardshis cabin.

  "That's the man who is to go down, I believe," observed one of thepassengers, pointing to him.

  Lintie looked up and saw his back.

  "Oh!" she whispered to Aileen, "it is the _very_ handsome man!"

  "Is it?" replied Aileen, with indifference, for she was engrossed withthe helmet just then.

  Greatly perplexed as to how he should escape observation, poor Edgarbegan to dress--or, rather, to be dressed by his assistants,--delayingthe operation as long as possible; but delay did not seem to increasehis inventive powers, and could not prevent the completion of theprocess.

  The guernsey, drawers, and outside stockings were drawn on, and Edgar'sbrain worked the while like the great crank of his own engine; but nofeasible plan of escape was evolved. Then the "crinoline" was drawn on,but it added no feminine sharpness to his wits, though it seriouslymodified and damaged the shape of his person. The crinoline, as we havesaid elsewhere, is seldom used except at great depths, where thepressure of water is excessive. It was put on Edgar at this time partlybecause it formed a portion of the dress, and partly because, his mindbeing preoccupied, he did not observe with sufficient care what hisattendants were about.

  After this came the shoulder-pad, and then the thick dress itself wasdrawn on, and the attendants hitched it up with difficulty over hisspreading shoulders, but they could not hitch up an idea along with it.The forcing of his hands through the tight india-rubber wrists of thesleeves was done with tremendous power, but it was nothing compared withthe energy he put forth to force himself through his mental difficulty--yet all in vain! The outside stockings and the canvas "overalls"followed, and he finally put on the red night-cap, which seemed toextinguish all capacity for thought.

  "You seem to be a little nervous, sir," remarked one of the attendants,as he affixed the back and chest weights, while the other put on hisponderous boots.

  "Am I,--eh!" said Edgar, with a grim smile; then he added, as a suddenidea flashed on him; "go fetch me the dirtiest bundle of waste you canfind below, and give it a good scrape on the blackest part of the boileras you pass."

  "Sir!" exclaimed the attendant.

  "Go; do what I bid you." said Edgar, in a tone that did not brook delay.

  The attendant vanished and speedily returned with the desired piece ofwaste.

  Edgar at once rubbed it over his face and became so piebald and hideousthat both the attendants laughed.

  Not heeding them, and only half sure of the completeness of thedisguise, Edgar issued boldly from his cabin, and walked with heavytread towards the place where he had to sit down to have the helmetscrewed on.

  A loud roar of laughter greeted him.

  "Why, you've been kissing the funnel," exclaimed one of the mates.

  "That'll do me no harm," growled Edgar, stooping to catch hold of theair-tube, and making an excuse for sidling and backing towards his seat.

  "Oh! What a fright! And _such_ a figure!" exclaimed Lintie; "comeround, let us try to get a nearer view of him."

  She dragged the laughing Aileen with her, for she was an i
mpulsivelittle woman; but at whatever opening in the crowd she and her friendpresented themselves, they were sure to find the diver's ridiculouslybroad and now inelegant back turned towards them.

  "Plague on him!" she exclaimed, for she was an impatient little woman,just then, "I don't believe he's got a front at all! Come round again--quick."

  "Why, what are you turning about like that for?" exclaimed one of theexasperated attendants, who stood ready with the helmet.

  "His head's turned wi' fear, an' he's a-follerin' of it," growled theboatswain.

  "Why don't you sit down?" said the attendant.

  "Are you ready?" asked Edgar, in a low gruff voice.

  "Of course I am--don't you see me?"

  Another happy idea came into Edgar's head at that moment. He pulled hisred night-cap well down over his eyes, and sat down with a crash, whileanother hearty laugh greeted his supposed eccentricity.

  "Hallo, I say, you're not going to be hanged--no need to draw it downlike that," said the first officer.

  "Drowning comes much to the same thing; let's do it decently--accordingto rule," retorted Edgar, with a grin that displayed a brilliant set ofteeth.

  "H'm! We shan't see him _now_," whispered Lintie, in disappointment,forcing her way once more to the front.

  This time there was no reply from Aileen, for a strange shock passedthrough her as she observed the momentary smile--and no wonder, for manya time had that same mouth smiled upon her with winning tenderness.

  Of course she did not for a moment suspect the truth, but she thought itstrange, nevertheless, that the diver's mouth should have such a strongresemblance to--she knew not precisely what! Afterwards she confided toLintie that it had struck her as bearing a faint--very faint--resemblance to the mouth of a friend.

  "Of a very particular friend?" inquired Lintie, who was sharp-witted.

  Aileen blushed and hid her face on the neck of her friend, and suddenlypoured out her soul, which the other drank up with avidity.

  That same night, lying in her berth, which was a top one, and lookinglanguidly over the side at her friend, who lay in the berth belowlooking sympathetically up, she revealed her hopes and fears andsentiments, to the edification, (it is to be hoped) of a mean-spiritedpassenger in the saloon, who stood on the other side of the very thinpartition, and tried to overhear. If he succeeded it must have been anew sensation to him to listen to the gentle streams of hope and lovethat flowed through to him--for Aileen's thoughts were gems, as pure andbeautiful as the casket which contained them. We are not quite sure,but we more than half suspect that if his presence there had beendiscovered, and himself had been within easy reach, the casket's palmwould have evoked something resembling a pistol-shot from his dirtycheek!

  But to return to our diver. The moment his helmet was on he breathedfreely, recovered his equanimity, and went down the rope-ladder thathung over the side, with an air of easy decision that checked thecriticisms of the men and aroused the admiration--not to mention thealarm--of the women.

  "The puir felly'll be droon'd," pitifully observed a fore-cabinpassenger from Edinburgh, as she gazed at the mass of air-bubbles thatarose when Edgar's iron head had disappeared.

  "Nothink of the sort," responded a fore-cabin passenger from London, whohad taken an immense liking to the fore-cabin passenger from Edinburgh,in virtue of their total mental, moral, and physical dissimilarity;"divers are never drownded."

  We need scarcely observe to the intelligent reader that both femaleswere wrong--as such females, in regard to such matters, usually are.Edgar was _not_ "droon'd," and divers _are_ sometimes "drownded."

  So far from being drowned, he was remarkably successful in discoveringthe leak on his first descent.

  It was caused by one of the iron-plates near the keel having been badlytorn by a coral rock.

  Thoroughly to repair this was a difficulty. Our diver did indeed stuffit with oakum in a way that at once diminished the influx of water; butthis was merely a makeshift. It now became a question whether it werepossible to effect the necessary repairs while at sea. Our youngengineer removed the difficulty. He undertook to rivet an iron-plateover the hole--at least to make the attempt.

  In order to effect this, a rope-ladder was constructed long enough topass entirely under the ship's bottom, to which it was tightly pressedby means of tackle at both ends. The rounds of this ladder were made ofwood, and all along its course were fastened rough balls or blocks ofwood about four inches in diameter, which prevented it coming too closeto the ship's bottom. Thus there was secured space for the diver toplace his feet on the rounds. This ladder having been affixed, so as topass close to the injured plate, a boat was lowered, and from this boatdescended a small ladder, hung in such a way that the diver, when a fewfeet under water, could easily step from it to the fixed rope-ladder.In addition to this, a small plank suspended to a rope, somewhat afterthe fashion of a familiar style of bed-room bookshelf, was taken down bythe diver and hung to the rope-ladder by a hook, so that he could sit onit while at work, and move it about at pleasure.

  All having been prepared, our engineer descended with the necessarytools, and, to make a long story short, riveted a new plate over the oldone in such a way as effectually to close the leak, so that thereafterit gave no further trouble or anxiety.

  But for this the vessel would certainly have been lost, unless they hadsucceeded in beaching her before the final catastrophe, on some part ofthe neighbouring coast; in which case they would have run the chance ofbeing taken by the pirates who at that time infested the China seas.

  Delivered from this threatened danger, the good ship sped merrily on hercourse; most of the crystallised groups grew closer together--in someinstances, however, they burst asunder! Musical tendencies alsodeveloped, though in some cases the sublime gave place to theridiculous, and music actually, once or twice, became a nuisance. Asthe end of the voyage drew near, the hearty captain grew heartier, thebosom-friends drew closer; the shy passengers opened up; the congenialpassengers began to grieve over the thought of parting; charades wereacted; concerts were given: the mean-spirited passenger became a littleless vile; the fore-cabin passenger from Edinburgh observed to herfriend that the "goin's on a'boord were wonderfu';" to which thefore-cabin passenger from London replied that "they certainly was;"flying-fish and porpoises, and sharks and albatrosses, and tropicalheat, ceased to furnish topics of interest, and men and women werethrown back on their mental resources, which were, among other things,largely wid pleasantly--sometimes even hotly!--exercised on religiousdiscussion. In short the little community, thus temporarily throwntogether, became an epitome of human life. As calm and storm alternatedoutside the iron palace, so, inside, there was mingled joy and sorrow.Friendships were formed and cemented. Love and folly, and hate andpride, and all the passions, were represented--ay, and Death was alsothere.

  In the silent night, when nothing was heard save that ceaseless music ofthe screw, the destroying angel came--so silently that only a few wereaware of his dread presence--and took away the youth whose soleoccupation seemed to have been the watching of the ever-increasingdistance from that home which he was destined never again to see. Itwas inexpressibly sad to those left behind when his coffin was committedto the deep amid the solemn silence that once again ensued on thestoppage of the engines, while the low voice of a pastor prayed forthose who wept his departure; but it was not sad for him who had beentaken--he had reached the "better home," and, sitting by the side ofJesus, could doubtless afford to think, at last without longing, of theold home beyond the sea.