“That’ll do me no harm,” growled1 Edgar, stooping to catch hold of the air-tube, and making an excuse for sidling and backing towards his seat.
“Oh! What a fright! And such a figure!” exclaimed Lintie; “come round, let us try to get a nearer view of him.”
She dragged the laughing Aileen with her, for she was an impulsive2 little woman; but at whatever opening in the crowd she and her friend presented themselves, they were sure to find the diver’s ridiculously broad 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 the exasperated3 attendants, who stood ready with the helmet.
“His head’s turned wi’ fear, an’ he’s a-follerin’ of it,” growled the boatswain.
“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 his red night-cap well down over his eyes, and sat down with a crash, while another hearty4 laugh greeted his supposed eccentricity5.
“Hallo, I say, you’re not going to be hanged—no need to draw it down like that,” said the first officer.
“Drowning comes much to the same thing; let’s do it decently—according to rule,” retorted Edgar, with a grin that displayed a brilliant set of teeth.
“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 passed through her as she observed the momentary6 smile—and no wonder, for many a 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 it strange, nevertheless, that the diver’s mouth should have such a strong resemblance to—she knew not precisely7 what! Afterwards she confided8 to Lintie 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 suddenly poured out her soul, which the other drank up with avidity.
That same night, lying in her berth9, which was a top one, and looking languidly over the side at her friend, who lay in the berth below looking sympathetically up, she revealed her hopes and fears and sentiments, to the edification, (it is to be hoped) of a mean-spirited passenger in the saloon, who stood on the other side of the very thin partition, and tried to overhear. If he succeeded it must have been a new sensation to him to listen to the gentle streams of hope and love that flowed through to him—for Aileen’s thoughts were gems10, as pure and beautiful as the casket which contained them. We are not quite sure, but we more than half suspect that if his presence there had been discovered, and himself had been within easy reach, the casket’s palm would have evoked11 something resembling a pistol-shot from his dirty cheek!
But to return to our diver. The moment his helmet was on he breathed freely, recovered his equanimity12, and went down the rope-ladder that hung over the side, with an air of easy decision that checked the criticisms of the men and aroused the admiration—not to mention the alarm—of the women.
“The puir felly’ll be droon’d,” pitifully observed a fore-cabin passenger from Edinburgh, as she gazed at the mass of air-bubbles that arose when Edgar’s iron head had disappeared.
“Nothink of the sort,” responded a fore-cabin passenger from London, who had taken an immense liking13 to the fore-cabin passenger from Edinburgh, in virtue14 of their total mental, moral, and physical dissimilarity; “divers15 are never drownded.”
We need scarcely observe to the intelligent reader that both females were 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 remarkably16 successful in discovering the leak on his first descent.
It was caused by one of the iron-plates near the keel having been badly torn by a coral rock.
Thoroughly17 to repair this was a difficulty. Our diver did indeed stuff it with oakum in a way that at once diminished the influx18 of water; but this was merely a makeshift. It now became a question whether it were possible to effect the necessary repairs while at sea. Our young engineer removed the difficulty. He undertook to rivet19 an iron-plate over the hole—at least to make the attempt.
In order to effect this, a rope-ladder was constructed long enough to pass entirely20 under the ship’s bottom, to which it was tightly pressed by means of tackle at both ends. The rounds of this ladder were made of wood, and all along its course were fastened rough balls or blocks of wood about four inches in diameter, which prevented it coming too close to the ship’s bottom. Thus there was secured space for the diver to place his feet on the rounds. This ladder having been affixed21, so as to pass close to the injured plate, a boat was lowered, and from this boat descended23 a small ladder, hung in such a way that the diver, when a few feet under water, could easily step from it to the fixed22 rope-ladder. In addition to this, a small plank24 suspended to a rope, somewhat after the fashion of a familiar style of bed-room bookshelf, was taken down by the diver and hung to the rope-ladder by a hook, so that he could sit on it while at work, and move it about at pleasure.
All having been prepared, our engineer descended with the necessary tools, and, to make a long story short, riveted25 a new plate over the old one in such a way as effectually to close the leak, so that thereafter it gave no further trouble or anxiety.
But for this the vessel26 would certainly have been lost, unless they had succeeded in beaching her before the final catastrophe27, on some part of the neighbouring coast; in which case they would have run the chance of being taken by the pirates who at that time infested28 the China seas.
Delivered from this threatened danger, the good ship sped merrily on her course; most of the crystallised groups grew closer together—in some instances, however, they burst asunder29! Musical tendencies also developed, though in some cases the sublime30 gave place to the ridiculous, and music actually, once or twice, became a nuisance. As the end of the voyage drew near, the hearty captain grew heartier31, the bosom-friends drew closer; the shy passengers opened up; the congenial passengers began to grieve over the thought of parting; charades32 were acted; concerts were given: the mean-spirited passenger became a little less vile33; the fore-cabin passenger from Edinburgh observed to her friend that the “goin’s on a’boord were wonderfu’;” to which the fore-cabin passenger from London replied that “they certainly was;” flying-fish and porpoises34, and sharks and albatrosses, and tropical heat, ceased to furnish topics of interest, and men and women were thrown back on their mental resources, which were, among other things, largely wid pleasantly—sometimes even hotly!—exercised on religious discussion. In short the little community, thus temporarily thrown together, became an epitome35 of human life. As calm and storm alternated outside the iron palace, so, inside, there was mingled36 joy and sorrow. Friendships were formed and cemented. Love and folly37, and hate and pride, and all the passions, were represented—ay, and Death was also there.
In the silent night, when nothing was heard save that ceaseless music of the screw, the destroying angel came—so silently that only a few were aware of his dread38 presence—and took away the youth whose sole occupation seemed to have been the watching of the ever-increasing distance from that home which he was destined39 never again to see. It was inexpressibly sad to those left behind when his coffin40 was committed to the deep amid the solemn silence that once again ensued on the stoppage of the engines, while the low voice of a pastor41 prayed for those who wept his departure; but it was not sad for him who had been taken—he had reached the “better home,” and, sitting by the side of Jesus, could doubtless afford to think, at last without longing42, of the old home beyond the sea.
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1
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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2
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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8
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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rivet
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| n.铆钉；vt.铆接，铆牢；集中(目光或注意力) | |
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20
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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26
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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28
infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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29
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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31
heartier
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| 亲切的( hearty的比较级 )； 热诚的； 健壮的； 精神饱满的 | |
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32
charades
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| n.伪装( charade的名词复数 )；猜字游戏 | |
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33
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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36
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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37
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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38
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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39
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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40
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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41
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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42
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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