Edgar looked anxiously at his companions face, but received no encouragement there, for Baldwin kept his eyes on the ground, and shook his head slowly.
If the old gentleman has forbid you his house, of course you mustnt go into it. However, it seems to me that you might cruise about the house and watch till Sus Aileen, I meancomes out; but I dont myself quite like the notion of that either, it dont seem fair an above-board like.
You are right, returned Edgar. I cannot consent to hang about a mans door, like a thief waiting to pounce on his treasure when it opens. Besides, he has forbidden Aileen to hold any intercourse with me, and I know her dear nature too well to subject it to a useless struggle between duty and inclination. She is certain to obey her fathers orders at any cost.
Then, sir, said Baldwin decidedly, youll just have to go afloat without sayin good-bye. Theres no help for it, but theres this comfort, that, bein what she is, shell like you all the better for it.Now, here we are at the pier. Boat a-hoy-oy!
In reply to the divers hail a man in a punt waved his hand, and pulled for the landing-place.
A few strokes of the oar soon placed them on the deck of a large clumsy vessel which lay anchored off the entrance to the harbour. This was the divers barge, which exhibited a ponderous crane with a pendulous hook and chain in the place where its fore-mast should have been. Several men were busied about the deck, one of whom sat clothed in the full dress of a diver, with the exception of the helmet, which was unscrewed and lay on the deck near his heavily-weighted feet. The dress was wet, and the man was enjoying a quiet pipe, from all which Edgar judged that he was resting after a dive. Near to the plank on which the diver was seated there stood the chest containing the air-pumps. It was open, the pumps were in working order, with two men standing by to work them. Coils of india-rubber tubing lay beside it. Elsewhere were strewn about stones for repairing the pier, and various building tools.
Has Machowl come on board yet? asked Baldwin, as he stepped on the deck. Ah, I see he has.Well, Rooney lad, are you prepared to go down?
Yis, sur, I am.
Rooney Machowl, who stepped forward as he spoke, was a fine specimen of a man, and would have done credit to any nationality. He was about the middle height, very broad and muscular, and apparently twenty-three years of age. His countenance was open, good-humoured, and good-looking, though by no means classicthe nose being turned-up, the eyes small and twinkling, and the mouth large.
Have you ever seen anything of this sort before? asked Baldwin, with a motion of his hand towards the diving apparatus scattered on the deck.
No sur, nothin.
Was you bred to any trade?
Yis, sur, Im a ship-carpenter.
An why dont you stick to that?
Bekase, sur, it wont stick to me. Theres nothin doin apparently in this poort. Annyhow I cant git work, an Ive a wife an chick at home, whove bin so long used to praties and bacon that their stummicks dont take kindly to fresh air fried in nothin. So ye see, sur, findin it difficult to make a livin above ground, Im disposed to try to make it under water.
While Rooney Machowl was speaking Baldwin regarded him with a fixed and critical gaze. What his opinion of the recruit was did not, however, appear on his countenance or in his reply, for he merely said, Humph! Well, well see. Youll begin your education in your noo profession by payin partikler attention to all that is said an done around you.
Yis, sur, returned Machowl, respectfully touching the peak of his cap and wrinkling his forehead very much, while he looked on at the further proceedings of the divers with that expression of deep earnest sincerity of attention whichwhether assumed or genuineis only possible to the countenance of an Irishman.
During this colloquy the two men standing by the pump-case, and two other men who appeared to be supernumeraries, listened with much interest, but the diver seated on the plank, resting and calmly smoking his pipe, gazed with apparent indifference at the sea, from which he had recently emerged.
This man was a very large fellow, with a dark surly countenancenot exactly bad in expression, but rather ill-tempered-looking. His diving-dress being necessarily very wide and baggy, made him seem larger than he really wasindeed, quite gigantic. The dress was made of very thick india-rubber cloth, and allfeet, legs, body, and armswas of one piece, so perfectly secured at the seams as to be thoroughly impervious to air or water. To get into it was a matter of some difficulty, the entrance being effected at the neck. When this neck is properly attached to the helmet, the diver is thoroughly cut off from the external world, except through the air-tube communicating with his helmet and the pump afore mentioned.
Have ye got the hole finished, Maxwell? said Baldwin, turning to the surly diver.
Yes, he replied shortly.
Well, then, go down and fix the charge. Here it is, said Baldwin, taking from a wooden case an object about eighteen inches long, which resembled a large office-ruler that had been coated thickly with pitch. It was an elongated shell filled to the muzzle with gunpowder. To one end of it was fastened the end of a coil of wire which was also coated with some protecting substance.
As Baldwin spoke Maxwell slowly puffed the last draw from his lips and knocked the ashes out of his pipe on the plank, on which he still remained seated while the two supernumeraries busied themselves in completing his toilet for him; one screwing on his helmet, which appeared ridiculously large, the other loading his breast and back with two heavy leaden weights. When fully equipped, the diver carried on his person a weight fully equal to that of his own bulky person.
Now look here, Mister Edgar, an pay partikler attention, Rooney Machowl. This here toobe, made of indyrubber, dee see? (Yis, sur, from Rooney) I fix on, as you perceive, to the back of Maxwells helmet. It communicates with that there pump, and when these two men work the pump, air will be forced into the helmet and into the dress down to his very toes. We could bust him, if we were so disposed, if it wasnt for an escape-valve, here close beside the air-toobe, at the back of the helmet, which keeps lettin off the surplus air. Moreover, there is another valve, here in front of the breast-plate, which is under the control of the diver, so that he can let air escape by givin it a half-turn when the men at the pumps are givin him too much, or he can keep it in when theyre givin him enough.
An what does he do, asked Rooney, with an anxious expression, whin they give him too little?
He pulls on the air-pipe,as Ill explain to you in good timethe proper signal for more air.
But what if he forgits, or misremimbers the signal? asked the inquisitive recruit.
Why then, replied Baldwin, he suffocates, and we pull him up dead, an give him decent burial. Keep yourself easy, my lad, an youll know all about it in good time. Ill soon give ee the chance to suffocate or bust yourself accordin to taste.
Come, cut it short and look alive, said Maxwell gruffly, as he stood up to permit of a stout rope being fastened to his waist.
You shut up! retorted Baldwin.
Having exchanged these little civilities the two divers moved to the side of the bargeMaxwell with a slow ponderous tread.
Why then, replied Baldwin, he suffocates, and we pull him up dead, an give him decent burial. Keep yourself easy, my lad, an youll know all about it in good time. Ill soon give ee the chance to suffocate or bust yourself accordin to taste.
Come, cut it short and look alive, said Maxwell gruffly, as he stood up to permit of a stout rope being fastened to his waist.
You shut up! retorted Baldwin.
Having exchanged these little civilities the two divers moved to the side of the bargeMaxwell with a slow ponderous tread.
A short iron ladder dipped from the gunwale of the barge a few feet down into the sea. The diver stepped upon this, turning with his face inwards, descended knee-deep into the water, and then stopped. Baldwin handed him the blasting-charge. At the same moment one of the supernumeraries advanced with the front-glass or bulls-eye in his hand, and the men at the pumps gave a turn or two to see that all was working well.
All right? demanded the supernumerary.
Right, responded Maxwell, in a voice which issued sepulchrally from the iron globe.
There are three round windows fitted with thick plate-glass in the helmets to which we refer. The front one is made to screw off and on, and the fixing of this is always the last operation in completing a divers toilet.
Pump away, said the man, holding the round glass in front of Maxwells nose, and looking over his shoulder to see that the order was obeyed. The glass was screwed on, and the man finished off by gravely patting Maxwell in an affectionate manner on the head.
Why does he pat him so? asked Edgar, with a laugh at the apparent tenderness of the act.
Its a tinder farewell, I suppose, murmured Rooney, in case he niver comes up again.
It is to let him know that he may now descend in safety, answered Baldwin. The pump there is kep goin from a few moments before the front-glass is screwed on till the diver shows his head above water againwhich hell do in quarter of an hour or so, for it dont take long to lay a charge; but our ordinary spell under water, when work is steady, is about four hoursmore or lesswith perhaps a breath of ten minutes once or twice at the surface when theyre working deep.
But why a breath at the surface? asked Edgar. Isnt the air sent down fresh enough?
Quite fresh enough, Mister Edgar, but the pressure when we go deepsay ten or fifteen fathomsis severe on a man if long continued, so that he needs a little relief now and then. Some need more and some less relief, accordin to their strength. Maxwell has only gone down fifteen feet, so that he wouldnt need to come up at all durin a spell of work. Were goin to blast a big rock that has bin troublesome to us at low water. The hole was driven in it last week. We moored a raft over it and kep men at work with a long iron jumper that reached from the rock to the surface of the sea. It was finished last night, and now hes gone to fix the charge.
But I dont understand about the pressure, sur, at all at all, said Machowl, with a complicated look of puzzlement; sure whin I putt my hand in wather I dont feel no pressure whatsomediver.
Of course not, responded Baldwin, because you dont put it deep enough. You must know that our atmosphere presses on our bodies with a weight of about 20,000 pounds. Well, if you go thirty-two feet deep in the sea you get the pressure of exactly another atmosphere, which means that youve got to stand a pressure all over your body of 40,000 when youve got down as deep as thirty-two feet.
But, objected Rooney, I dont fed no pressure of the atmosphere on me body at all.
Thats because youre squeezed by the air inside of you, man, as well as by the atmosphere outside, which takes off the feelin of it, an, moreover, youre used to it. If the weight of our atmosphere was took off your outside and not took off your insideyour lungs an the like,youd come to feel it pretty strong, for youd swell like a balloon an bust amost, if not altogether.
Baldwin paused a moment and regarded the puzzled countenance of his pupil with an air of pity.
Contrairywise, he continued, if the air was all took out of your inside an allowed to remain on your outside, youd go squash together like a collapsed indyrubber ball. Well then, if that be so with one atmosphere, what must it be with a pressure equal to two, which you have when you go down to thirty-two feet deep in the sea? An if you go down to twenty-five fathoms, or 150 feet, which is often done, what must the pressure be there?
Tightish, no doubt, said Rooney.
True, lad, continued Joe. Of course, to counteract this we must force more air down to you the deeper you go, so that the pressure inside of you may be a little more than the pressure outside, in order to force the foul air out of the dress through the escape-valve; and what between the one an the other your sensations are peculiar, you may be sure.But come, young man, dont be alarmed. Well not send you down very deep at first. If some divers go down as deep as twenty-five fathoms, surely youll not be frightened to try two and a half.
Whatever Rooneys feelings might have been, the judicious allusion to the possibility of his being frightened was sufficient to call forth the emphatic assertion that he was ready to go down two thousand fathoms if they had ropes long enough and weights heavy enough to sink him!
While the recruit is preparing for his subaqueous experiments, you and I, reader, will go see what Maxwell is about at the bottom of the sea.
Chapter Two.
Describes a first Visit to the Bottom of the Sea
When the diver received the encouraging pat on the head, as already related, he descended the ladder to its lowest round. Here, being a few feet below the surface, the buoyancy of the water relieved him of much of the oppression caused by the great weights with which he was loaded. He was in a semi-floating condition, hence the ladder, being no longer necessary, was made to terminate at that point. He let go his hold of it and sank gently to the bottom, regulating his pace by a rope which descended from the foot of the ladder to the mud, on which in a few seconds his leaden soles softly rested. A continuous stream of air-bubbles from the safety-valve behind the helmet indicated to those above that the pumps were doing their duty, and at the same time hid the diver entirely from their sight.
Meanwhile the two men who acted as signalman and assistant stood near the head of the ladder, the first holding the life-line, the assistant the coil of air-tubing. Their duty was to stand by and pay out or haul in tubing and line according as the divers movements and necessities should require. They were to attend also to his signalssome of which were transmitted by the line and some by the air-tube. These signals vary among divers. With Baldwin and his party one pull on the life-line meant All right; four pulls, Im coming up. One pull on the air-pipe signified Sufficient air; two pulls, More air. (pump faster.) Four pulls was an alarm, and signified Haul me up. The aspect of Rooney Machowls face when endeavouring to understand Baldwins explanation of these signals was a sight worth seeing!
But to return to our diver. On reaching the bottom, Maxwell took a coil of small line which hung on his left arm, and attached one end of it to a stone or sinker which kept taut the ladder-line by which he had descended. This was his clew to guide him back to the ladder. Not only is the light under water very dimvarying of course, according to depth, until total darkness ensuesbut a divers vision is much weakened by the muddy state of the water at river-mouths and in harbours, so that he is usually obliged to depend more on feeling than on sight. If he were to leave the foot of his ladder without the guiding-coil, it would be difficult if not impossible to find it again, and his only resource would be to signal Haul me up, which would be undignified, to say the least of it! By means of this coil he can wander about at willwithin the limits of his air-tube tether of course,and be certain to find his way back to the ladder-foot in the darkest or muddiest water.