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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 m 1 2.8 2.5 1^ — 2.2 tit, IIP 2.0 ts. III 1.4 1.8 L6 APPLIED IIVi/lGE inc 1653 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 (716) 482 -0300 - Phone (716) 288- 5989 - Fax iSA CjO*^^ Ki\ kf^} (U^ ■'v.'*»\ -c^aii AN ELECTRIFIFD TIGER.-Pjige 310. I'')'0)itlspiecc. ^k-:^ illK ]UTTERY Ai\D THE IJOILER OR ADVENTUKES IN THE LAVLNG OF SUDMAKIXE ELECTKIC CABLES. BY R M. BALLAxVTVXK, AfTIIOR OF "THE OIANT OF THE NOr.TII ;" " TIIK I.O\FI.V mi SND" TALE OF HER MAJESTY'S MAILS ;" " IN T„K rUMH OK THE TKOOI'S ••■ P08T HA8TI:; A THE SETTLER ANDTHE SAVAOE ;" " r NDER THE WAVES; " " R, VERS OF ICE j" " ^LACK IVOHV TIE FIKATE CITV ; " THE NOKSEMEN IN THE WEST ;" " THE IKON HORsE •' THE FLOATING LIGHT OF THE GOODWIN SANDS;" " EltllNG THE ' bold;" "fighting the flames;" "sHirriNo winds;" "deep DOWN;" "THE LIGHTHOUSE;" " GASCOVNE ;" "THE LIFE boat;" "the GOLDEN DREAM," ETC. S^ith Illustrations b^ the Author. FRASER & POR'lEk BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS God ejr»ieh, Ont 890728 PEEFACE. This book professes to do no more than scratch the surface of a grand and interesting I subject. It recounts a few of the adventures and experiences of those wLv compass land and sea in order to connect the ends of the earth by means of electric lines and cables. RM. B. Harrow-on-the-Hill, 1882. f;/ CONTENTS. CHAP, I, 11 III IV. vr, VII. VIII. IX. XI. XII. XIII.- XIV. XV.- XVI. XVII.- xvni.- XIX.- -IN WHICH THE HERO MAKES HLS FIRST FLASH AVD EXPLOSION, . , , -REFERS TO A NOTABLE CHARACTER, -EARLY ASPIRATIONS, , . , -EXTRAORDINART RESULT OP AN ATTEMPT A^ AMATEUR CABLE-LAYING. ■ • , -PROSPECTS OF REAL CABLE-LAYING -ROBIN MEETS WITH HIS FIRST ELECTRICAL ACQUAINTANCES, . -TELLS OF OUR HERO's VISIT TO THE GREAT CABLE^ -THE BIG SHIP-FIRST NIGHT ABOARD * • • .—LAYING THE CABLE— " FA ITT T^ " A^.T^ ,. FAULTS AND FAULT-FINDiNG -ANXIETIES, ACCIDENTS, AND OTHER MATTERS -IN WHICH JOYS, HOPES, ALARMS, GHOSTS, AND lJvIa'. THANS TAKE PART, . -TELLS OF GREAT EFFORTS AND FAILURES AND GRAND SUCCESS —home! -A GREAT DYNAMO-ELECTRIC SEA-FIGHT, -TELLS OF A SUDDEN AND UNLOOKED-FOR EVENT, -THE RAFT, ... -LIFE ON THE RAFT, -IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND MORE SURPRISEs"tHAN ONe" -STRANGE DISCOVERIES ON PIRATE ISLAND, . -THE PIRATE'S KLAyD-COiltimied, . \ [ -AN EXPLORATION AN-J AN ACCIDENT, . PAOE 1 8 17 22 81 51 63 74 86 ia2 119 125 135 147 160 170 187 206 225 I I VI CHAP. XX XXI. XXII.- XXfll.- XXIV • CONTENTS. XXV.— XXVI.— XXVII. XXVIII.- XXIX.- XXX.- XXXI.- XXXII.- -VARIOUS SUBJECTS TREATED O.', AND A GREAT FIGHT DETAILED, • • • . -DEPAUTUUE FROM PIRATE ISLAND AND HOPEFULNEWS AT SARAWAK, . . . _ -BOMBAY— WHERE STUMPS COMES TO GRIEF, -STUMPS IN DESPAIR- AND BOMBAY IN RAPTURES, -SHOWS THE DREADFUL DEPRAVITY OF MAN, AND THE AMAZING EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL TREATMENT ON MAN AND BEAST, ... A GREAT FIELD-DAY, IN WHICH SLAGG DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF, I -^OINS WITH A DISAPPOINTMENT, CONTINUES WITH A GREAT RECEPTION, AND ENDS WITH A SERIES OF SURPRISES, -DESCRIBES SEVERAL IMPORTANT EVENTS, -THE CABLE LAID, •UNCLE RIK'S ADVENTURES, •THE WRIGHT FAMILY REUNITED, AND SAM BECOMES HIGHLY ELECTRICAL, DESCRIBES A HAPPY HOME AND A HAPPIER MEETING, . l^ WHICH THE STORY FINDS A "FAULT," AND THE ELECTRICAL CURRENT ENDS, PAcm: 239 259 274 283 300 316 325 343 354 363 374 388 399 PAOff FIGHT . 239 NEWS . 259 . 274 . 283 ) THK T ON . 300 SHES . 316 PH A 5 OP . 325 . 343 . 354 . 363 MES . 374 ■G, . 388 FHE . 399 I^IST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. I ^N ELECTRIFIED TIGER (p. 310), ILLUSTRATED TITLE. TWO LEVIATHANS AT THE CABLE. THE PIRATES' CAVE, ROBIN RESCUES LETTA, THE LAST COIL. ' • . _ ^')'ontispiece. '0 face par/e 100 201 255 361 r I 1 ) : i f I I •! 1 rf 'i 4' I THE BATTEEY AND THE BOILEK. CHAPTER I. century a baby boy was born on the ragin« sea in he n„dst of a howling ten>pest. Tha' boy wL the hero of this tale. ^ squa or_a week of dirty weather having converted he fore-cabin of the emigrant ship inj son>ethLg doubt t.!'t? . ^PP^-^^'^^-g the situation, no doubt the baby boy began his career with a squall that harmonised with the weather, and asThl tor to squall straight on end all that day and ni^ht w. ho t ,„ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ .^^, ^_^ y and „,gh gtL: ''' ''-' '- ^'--^ - p- t„:i! 2 THE DATTKRY AND THE BOILER. ^ ! , I *' Stooard/' said the ship's cook in reply, as he raised his eyes from the conteinplatioii of his bubbling coppers, " take my word for it, that there babby wliat has just bin launched ain't agoin' to shovel off his mortal coil— as the play-actor said — without makin' his mark some'ow an' some- w'eres." "What makes you think so, Johnson?" asked the steward. "What makes me think so, stooard?" replied the cook, who was a huge good-natured young man. " Well, I '11 tell 'ee. I was standin' close to the fore hatch at the time, a-talkin' to Jim Brag, an' the father o' the babby, poor feller, he was standin* by the foretops'l halyards lioldin' on to a belayin'-pin, an' lookin' as white as a sheet — for I got a glance at 'im two or three times doorin' the flashes o' lightnin'. Well, stooard, there was lightnin' playin' round the mizzen truck, an' the main truck, an' the fore truck, an' at the end o' the flyin' jib-boom, an' the spanker boom ; then there came a flash that seemed to set afire the entire univarse ; then a burst o' thunder like fifty great guns gone off all at once in a hurry. At that identical moment, stooard, there came up from the fore-cabin a yell that beat — well, I can't rightly say what it beat, but it minded me o' that unfortnit pig as got his tail jammed in the capstan off Cape ', as lie of his lat there Lgoin' to !tor said i' some- " asked replied 1 young close to m Brag, he was i' on to sheet — e times rd, there uck, an' 3 end o' Q ; then ifire the ike fifty At that from the htly say mfortnit Dff Cape 1 I %i » 4 THE BATTERY AND TilE BOILER. 3 Horn The father gave a ga.,p. < It 's bor,,/ says he. More like 's if it 's busted,' growled Jim Bra.. You re a unfeelin" monster, Brag,- says I; '^n- though you are the ship's carpenter, I ,.« say it you aven't got no more sympathy than the fluke' of an anchor- ' Hows'ever the poor father didn't hear the remark, for he went down below all of a heap -head, legs, and arms-anyhow. Then there came another yell, an' another, an' half a dozen more which was followed by another flash o' lightnin' an' drownded in another roar o' thunder; but the yells from below kep' on, an' came out strong between times, makin' no account whatever o' the whistlin' wind an' rattlin' ropes, which they ri. above- easy.-Now, stooard, do you mean for t« tell me 11. Iff! "'""'''' "°"""''' ^° yo" ^"PPo^e that that babby could go through life like an or'nary babby ? So, it couldu't-not even if it was to try — w ich it won't r ^ Having uttered this prophecy the cook resumed the contemplation of his bubbling coppers c»'Z''\^ '""^^"'^ ^°"'''' "S'''- John Johnson," said the steward. .n7'\r?; "°''*' ^°" ^^'°'"^°"'" ^'^t"™^^ the cook, with the nod and air of a man who is never wrong. And the cook ^as right, as the render who con- t,„„es to read shall find out in course of time. \ I * THE UATTEKy AND THE BOILER. The sale in which little Kobin Wri.-ht was thn, aunched upon the .ea of Ti,ne Mew the Ti, t -t em,„ t ,hip-the Seahorse-to ribbons. It also blew the masts out of her, leaving her a hein Then It blew a friendly sail in sight, b/whieh pis to Old England. There they separated-some to e-embark in other e.nigrant ships ; some to Tnew he battle of life at home-thenceforward andfe ever after to vilify the sea in all it. aspects excep HislLr f " '""'' ""^ '""°"»" ">« I^«e': --w-a:dir::^ creature— wi'fli fu -^ ^^^ ^^*^Je II.* t»° ■""" '" '"" ■'"'« "1 WJ „J vviLu aeiigiit, to his mother anrl nf -i , barometer and theTo^ :S^^^^^^^^ - heirWs, and were nottp'r d^V « ' ''i t was thus le sails of bbons. It er a help- ating sea. bich pas- safe back -some to to renew i and for 'S, except Hd land ! e latter, situation mother 5y little . She Amonsr d from THE BATTEIty AND THE BOILKU. 5 inauiries Strange to say, R„bi„.,, chief delight in those early days was a thunderstorm. Tl,o fol in" of heaven's artillery seemed to afford inc 1 L ! »t,sfactio„ to his little heart, but it waa To7m mng that affected him most. It filled him w a spec:e. of awful joy. Ko matter how it came- -hether .n the forked flashes of the storm or he ".bent gleamings of the summer slcy-h w„ d -t and ga^e at it in solemn wonder. Even Tn £ remarkable and mysterious agent "Musser," he said one day, during a thunder jorm, racing his large eyes to his mothe ■ 1' "Well, child, it is_it_reallv T H„ v i what it is!" ^' ^ •'""' ^""^ " f °"'* '^°°«'?" eol'oed Robin, with surprise ■' I sought you know'd everysing." ^ ' ^ wi7r' r' '™''"''"^' '*'"•" ™1"''-' ^^'-- Wright wth a deprecatory sn.ile; "but hei^ coines vour father, who will tell you." ^ ;; Does A. know everysing?" asked the child, ^-no, not exactly ; but he knows many things wi .Tmrr ''"'''■" ---^' ^'^ -'^- *!i f |M ill 6 THE BAWKIiy ANJi Till! noilEK. T. onntunt M,) b„reV crossed J,is I,„n,l,Io l^resLold u,..l sat Jow„, w|,„„ R„bi„ ,,,,,„,,^^^^, ^,^ ^.s knee a,„I put the puzzling qucstiou-" Fasser, «httt IS lighteniii' ; " •• T.i*t..ing, ,„y boy?_„:hv. it 's-it 's_let mo see-u . fire, of course, of some sort, that comes out the clouds ai>d goes slap into the eurth- tnere, don t you see it ? " Kobin did see it. and was »o awestruck by the crash which followed the blinding flash that he forgot at the moment to push his inquiries further much to his father's satisfaction, who internally' resolved to hunt up the Encjds further, internally -' ^ritamiica • size. As i and in ofoundly s deeply did not g^'- By Shipton If, and a ire there 1 strongly I :o little ■ lind on ■ failed. 1 THE IIATIKKY A.VI, l|E noit.KIl. 7 or oours,, 1,0 a.ul,l „„t oxi,l,u„ ;.1I tlmt l,c 1,i,„self Know about eloctnuily-tl„. child wu. |„„ y„„„„ ,-„,. tl.at -but 1.0 did whut l,e could, and introducedl.i,,, one day to the interior of tl,o .tati„„, whore he fille,l 'H youthful „,i,.,, „it,, amazomeut an,l ad,uiraliou by Ins m|.,d, an,Iai,purontly meaningless, >nani,,u- I'lljou of tho telegraph instnuncnt. Cmsin San., however, did a good deal more for Imn than that in the course of time ; but before proeoed.„g further, we must turn aside for a few mmutes to cou,.i,ent on that wonderful subject wh.ch IS essentially connected with the develon meiit of this tale. ' THE BAmiJY AND THE BOILEK. ri CHAPTER II. HErans TO A NOTABLE ClIARACTEH. SPAiiKs, as a rule, are looked upon as a race of "-less and disreputable fellows. Their co« so s " ually erratio. They ,y upward, downward,! ward, and baekward-here, there, and everywhere You never know when you have them, or what wi 1 be he.r next flight. They often create a good dea of alarm sometimes much surprise ; they seklom do any good, .nd frequently cause irreparable dau^^ Only when caught and restrained, or directed do sparks become harmless and helpful But there is one Spark in this world-a grand glowrng, gushing fellow-who has not hi. ijj anywhere. He is old as the hills-perhaps older- and wide as the world -perchance wider Similar to ordmary sparks in some respects, he differs from eT'fartTt"'"'"''^"'""'"" ^'''---. he 1 fast, but immeasurably faster than all othe sparks put together. Unlike then, however 1 s»bm,ts to bo led by n.aster minds. Stronger ihan it ; it 3 a race of ' course is ward, for- gery where, what will good deal seldom do 3 damage, ected, do -a grand, is equal 5 older- Similar ers from :e many, ill other ver, he fer tJian THE BATTERY AND THE I50ILEI}. j) Hercules, he can rend the mountains. Fleeter than Mercnry he can outstrip the light. Gentler than Zephyr, he can assume the condition of a current and enter our very marrow without causing pain' His name is Electricity. No one knows what he is' Some philosophers have said that he is a fluid' because he flows. As well might they call him a wild horse because he bolts, or a thief because he lurks I We prefer to call him a Spark, because in that form only is he visible-at least when handled oy man. Talking of that, it was not until the last centuiy our Spark. I„ all the previous centuries he had been roam.ng gaily about the world in perfect free- dom ; sometimes gliding silently to and fro like an angel of light; sometimes leaping forth with frightful en-gy :n the midst of raging tempest, like a deLuc- t ye demon-npping, rending, shattering all that ^mpte toa„esthisc„urse. Men have Led a d shunned Inm since the beginning of time, and with Te """"• '"'• "' "^^ "^-'"^^ ™-y of «,e huml But although uncaught and untamed by them our Spark was not altogether unknown to tlfe ancT^nts S ar back as the year 600 before the Christian era Thale, one of the Greek sages, discovered tha. he I'-l hunseif in amber, a substance which in Greek ■. Mi! I F . II 10 THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILEK. IS named eledro7i~hence his name J^Jiectricity ■ but the ancients knew little about his chamctei' though Thales found that he could draw him from his hidmg-place by rubbing him with silk and some other substances. When thus rubbed he became attractive, and drew light creatures towards him- not unlike human sparks ! He also showed him- self to be fickle, for, after holding these lic.ht creatures tight for a brief space, he let them°go and repelled them. It was not till the days of good Queen Bess, towards the end of the sixteenth century, that a Dr. Gilbert discovered that the wild fellow lay lurking in other substances besides amber-such as sulphur, wax, glass, etc. It is now known that Electricity permeates all substances more or less and only waits to be roused in order to exhibit his' amazing powers. He is fond of shocking people's feelings, and has surprised his pursuers rather frequently in that way. Some of them, indeed, he has actually shocked to death ! It would take a huge volume to give a detailed account of all the qualities, powers, and peculiarities of this wild Spark. We will just touch on a few facts which are necessary to the elucidation of our tale. A great event in the world's history happened m the year 1745. It was nothing less than the Ji^lecti'icity ; is character, Av ]iim from Ik and soirie he became vards him — liowed him- these light et them go Ineen Bess, ury, that a fellow lay 31— such as nown that ►re or less, exhibit his ig people's ers rather indeed, he a detailed , V- culiarities m on a few m on of our M happened m than the .,M THE BATTEIty AND THE BOILEB. J l capture and iinprisoimient of wild, daring, dashin-. Jectncity. To the Dutcl, philosophers belongs the honour of catching hin>. Ti,ey caught himlthey even bottled him, like ordinary spirits, and called Ills imson a Leyden Jar. From that date our Spark became the useful and obedient slave of man. Yet is he ever ready, when the smallest conceivable door, hole, or chink is left open, to dash out of the prison-house man has made tor him, and escape into his native earth ! He has no hope now, however, of escaping alto- gether, for he cannot resist the allurement of rub- iHng. by which, as well as by chemical action and her means we can summon him, like the genii of Aladdm s lamp, at any moment, from the " vasty deep, and compel him to do our work. volatile fellow perform?' \^TanLT teU aTlltte 1st .s too long. let us consider a few of them I we fabricate tea-pots, sugar-basins, spoons, or uythmg else of base metal, he can and will, at our bidding, cover the same with silver or yellow gold If we grow dissatisiied with our candles and ga^ he «1I, on being summoned and properly directed' by fte master minds to whom he owns allegiance, ^-Ue our lamps and fill our streets and mansions with a blaze of noonday splendour. If we grow weary of steam, and give him orders, he will drive 12 ■I'lIB BATTBKY AND THE BOILER. our tram-cars and locomotives with railway speed rrnnus railway smoke and fuss. He is a very giant m the chemist's laboratory, and, above all, a swift messenger to carry the world's news. Even when out and raging to and fro in a wild state, more than half-disposed to rend our mansions, and split our steeples, and wreck our ships, we have only to pro- vide him with a tiny metal stair-case, down which • he will instantly glide from the upper regions to the earth without noise or damage. Shakespeare never imagined, and Mercury never accomplished the speed at which he travels; and he will not 'only carry our news or express our sentiments and wishes far and wide over the land, but he will rush with them, over rock, sand, mud, and ooze, along the bottom of the deep deep sea ! And this brings us to a point. Some of the master minds before mentioned, having conceived the idea that telegraphic communication micl with their result. Tiie itly escajDed I The cause of lerman had Qe and em- lan, having IS seated on elf and the niliar. He Herman, id. for feesh." ^ay to tlie ; breeze, — id built to the steep beach of mong the ice Napo- forth and n't; past mtil they ■enchman I TIIE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. I5 "Behold ! fat is dis ?" he exclaimed, with rdarinc. eyes, uplifted brows, shoulders shrugged, \ands spread out, and fingers expanded. "The sea-sarpint g.ow'd tliin," suggested the Englisliman. ^ " Noi, ; c'est seaveed-veed de most 'stroidinair in de vorld. Oui, donnez-moi de hache, de hax mon ami." ' His friend handed him the axe, wherewith he cut off a smaU portion of the cable and let tlie end go. little did that fisherman know that he had also let our Spark go free, and cruelly dashed, for a tune at least, the budding hopes of two nations- but so it was. He bore his prize in triumph to Boulogne, where he exhibited it as a specimen of rare seaweed with its centre fiUed with gold while the telegraph clerks at both ends sat gazing i„ dismay at their useless instruments. Thus was the first submarine electric cable destroyed And with the details of its destruction little Eobm was intimately acquainted, for cousin feam had been a member of the staff that had worked that telegraph-at least he had been a boy in the effice.-and in after years he so filled his cousins mind with the importance of that cable and the gra^adeur and difficulty of the enterprise' that Eobm became powerfully sympathetic - so' much so that when Sam. in telling the story, came 16 THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. to the point where the Frenchman accomplished its destruction, Robin used to grieve over it as though he had lost a brother, or a kitten, or his latest toy! We need scarcely add that submarine cable telegraphy had not received its death-blow on that occasion. Its possibility had been demonstrated. The very next year (1851) Mr. T. R. Grampton, with Messrs. Wollaston, Kiiper, and others, made and laid an improved cable betwe-.n Dover and Calais, and ere long many other parts of tne world were connected by means of snaky submarine ftlectric cables. ER. loinplished its : it as though or his latest TU£ cattehy and the boiler. 17 Tiarine cable -blow on that leraonstrated. R. Grampton, others, made 1 Dover and of tne world J submarine CHAPTER IIL BAHLY ASi-IUATIONS. One pleasant summer afternoon, Mr Wrirrht coming in from the office, seated himself besideMs composed littb wife, who was patching a pair of miniature pantaloons. " I^an," said the husband, with a perplexed look "what are we to do with our Robin when he grows' "George," answered the composed wife, "don't you think it is rather soon to trouble ourselves with that question ? Robin is a mere child yet We must first give him a good education " "Of course, I know that," returned the perplexed husband, "still, I can't help thinking about what is to be done after he has had the good education. You know I have no relation in the world except brother Richard, who is as poor as myself. We have no influential friends to help him into the Army or the Kavy or the Indian Civil Service; and the Church, you know, is not suitable for an imp. Just look at him noiv f" B 18 niK BATTERY AND TlIK ItOlLKij. II one of , ' ''"'■'" "'™"='' "'« -""'"-, over one of ho,e su.my landscape, ,vl„ch are „ ually ': 'f «-' ho., gorgeous eyes on a tall ,,; nVhat can he be u,, to?" said the father He seems to be up tl,e telograph-post " said the mother ''investiaMinrr f^ • l„.-„.,i I • . '"'^'''"Si'l'ng the wires, no doubt. I I'caul h„n tnlk,ng about telegraphy to Mad-^e this nonnng ..tailing what cousin Sam tries tole h m,-and I shouldn't wonder if he wore now e^I vourmg to make sure that what he told her t^s -ec, for you W he is a thorough inves«;t::" Ks. , know rt," murmured the father, with a grim pursn.g of his lips; "he investigat d'h nsKle of my watch last week, to find out as h aid what made the noise .„ its ■stummick' and i has had rntermittont fever ever since. t;o .a™ ago he .uvostigatod my ra.or,-it is now eqll t 'a cross-cut saw • oiul no f . i '=4'-''«i to a excepting thos;:ic^ 11 ^:r"^7-^• -a .W.ich f,d,y desoribes^l^lfr:; ;; - vostigation,s, and that is— cA^s " There was, iu truth, some ground for that father's — ns, for Master Eobin displayed investi ^e not to^say destructive, capacities far in advance o' t i ""' "^^'"-"'^ ""> THE BO,U.R. „ "Nevermind, GoomB- „„-j „ ^e way, consolirur , "^^ ^'^^^^ ^ays ns best '^at «:.;::;■" ,,-t: :'" '"^ '■'■«-- ^vhich qualities he is su,„ '■"T"'''"'''' ^''h world." '"" '" ""''<« i'is way in the "He has at aU events m»^„ i,- te>es.-aph-post," said Mr ^H^i -^ 7 "" '"^ "■g -d the grimness of it £^7' r '^^i-'"'- 'a^oal is act„ally stretching ouT i f ?" ' ''' 0"e of the wires. Ha ! ],„,°„°' '''"^ '° S^^^P poS: a::r :::: t^-^ -""-'^ '"-- ^»" -^aeWd Jak w'M trrT '^'^^ -" '^ "oth hands, and falj prolp .'ot "'"""=' "''"' His father threv un th ' °''''"'"'- ^-hed across the f;ur-L?:id7;'::; 'Tr' winding rivnlet, and cut liU u ' "'"'"''^ '^'« "- -"ing landscape t;w;t;r;f '""' ''^''' at the foot of wliich he p'S , *''^Sraph-post, «'ongh not much injure?:?' "" '" """'''"-'-« " What made you climb the post V.w ,.. 1'" cousin Madge that evenin.' f '"'"'^ aJventarous boy on herT ° ' "'"""^ *« -y-therly„C;j;;;-"^.^adge,vasa tliaii JJobin. full year youijaer 20 THE BATTEUY AND THE BOILER. " I kimed it to see if I could lie^ir the 'trissity," replied the injured one. " The M-trissity," said Madge, correcting. " You must learn to p'onounce your words popperly, dear. You'll never be a great man if you are so careless." " I don't want to be a g'eat man," retorted Robin. " I on'y want t'understand things whats puzzlesum," " Well, does the telegraph puzzle you?" "Oh! mos' awfully," returned Robin, with a solemn gaze of his earnest eyes, one of which was rendered fantastic by a yellow-green ring round it and a swelling underneath. " I 's kite sure I 's stood for hours beside dat post listin* to it hummin' an' bummin' like our olianarp — " " Now, Robin, do be careful. You know mamma calls it an olian harp!' "Yes, well, like our olian A-arp, only a deal louder, an' far nicer. An' I's often said to myself, Is that the 'trissity— ? " " Lek, Robin, lek ! " " Well, yes, M- trissity. So I thought I'd kime up an' see, for, you know, papa says the 'trissity— lek, I mean — runs along the wires — " " But papa also says," interrupted Madge, " that the sounds you want to know about are made by the vi — the vi — " " Bratin'," suggested the invalid. iOiS, *iUi.ttl;i,ii Ui oUU \VU"HS, 1 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. SI "I wonder what vi-bratin' ineanp,"' inurniured Robin, turning liis lustrous though damaged eyes meditatively on the landscape. "Don'no for sure," said Madge, "but I think it means tremblin*." It will be seen from the alove conversation that Bobert Wright and his precocious cousin Marjory were of a decidedly philosopliical turn of mind. 1 if; i ■ *- i ; . ^^T?' i^ : 1 i:# 22 THE BATTEIiY AND THE liOlLEll. ft i iJii. tll :k CHAPTER IV. «XTRAORmVARV UBSHLT O. AN ATTEMPT AT AMATKUR CAB.K-LAVmo. iitional i»'XU and Time continued to roll reel, and rolled out Eobin a 1 -6^ "' ^cijyui ana breadtl,, though we canaot say much for thickness Time also developed their minds, and Eobin gradu- ally began to understand a little more of th« nature of that subtle fluid-if we may venture , to call it-umler the influence of which he had been born "Come, Madge," he said one day, throwing on his cap, " let us go and play at cables." Madge ever ready to play at anything, put on her sun-bonnet and followed her ambitious leader ■•Is It to be land-telegraphs to-day, or submarine cables ? inquired Madge, with as much gravity and earnestness as if the world's welfare depended on the decision. "Cables, of course," answered Robin, "why Madge, I have done with land-telegraphs now.' There s nothing more to learn about them. Cousin feam has pnt mo up to everything, you know THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 23 Besides, there 's ao mystevy al.out land-lines. Why you ve only got to stick up a lot o' posts with in aulators screwed to "en,, fix wires to the i„.,„,ator° c ap on an electric battery and a telegraph inst' nient, and hre away." . Z^e:\T '"'"'"''''''' -"^'-'^^^^^^^^ "Madge," replied liohin, with a self-satisfied expression on his pert face, "this is the three Wred-thousandth tin.e I have explained tlLt "Explain it the three-hundred-thousand-and-first t^-, then, dear Kobin, and perhaps I .), ti; "Well," began Eobin, with a hypocritical si-h ot despair, "you must know that everything In nature rs more or less a conductor of electricity: but some things conduct it so well-such as c^ppe d irou-hat they are calle.l conductors, an,l son things-such as glass and earthenware-conduc so.er, ba ly that they scarcely conduct it and are called n,n-condncto,'s. D'ee see r- "Oh yes, I see, Eobin; so does a bat, but he doesn't see weU. However, go on." r,o='7*t\ " ^ '""■' '° "'" '"y "■"■« through the P^ tat support it, my electricity would "escape down these posts into the earth, esneciallv if the I'osts were wet with rain, f, :ially or water is a good con- I ! ■ 1- 24 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. i Ts iff dnctor, and Mister Electricity has an irresistible desire to bolt into the earth, like a mole." " Kaughty fellow ! " murmured Mad^ire. "T>nt;' continued Robin impressively, "if I fix little lumps of glass with a hole in them .to the posts, and fix my wires to these, Electricity cannot bolt, because tlie glass lumps are non-conductors, and won't let him pass." "How good of them !" said Madge. "Yes, isn't it? So, you see," continued Robin. " the glass lumps are insulators, for they cut the elec- tricity off from the earth as an island is, or, at all events, appears to be, cut off from it by water ; and Mister Electricity must go along the wires and do what I tell him. Of course, you know, I must make my electricity first in a battery, which, as I have often and often told you, is a trough containing a mixture of acid and water, with plates or slices of zinc and copper in it, placed one after the other, but not touching each other. Now, if I fix a piece of wire to my first copper slice or plate, and the other end of it to my last zinc slice or plate, immediately electricity will begin to be made, and will fly from the copper to the zinc, and so round and round until the plates are worn out or the wire broken D'ee see?'* "No, Robin, I don't see . I'm blinder than the blindest mole." THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 25 " Oh, Madge, what a wonderful mind you must have !" said Eobin, laughing. " It is so simple." " Of course," said Madge, " I understand what you mean by troughs and plates and all that, but what I want to know is why that arrangement is necessary. Why would it not do just as well to tempt electricity out of its hiding-hole with plates or slices of cheese and bread, placed one after the otlier in a trough filled with a mixture of glue and melted butter ?" " What stuff you do talk, Madge ! As well might you ask why it would not do to make a plum- pudding out of nutmegs and coal-tar. There are some things that no fellow can understand, and of course I don't know everything /" The astounding modesty of this latter remark seemed to have furnished Madge with food for reflection, for she did not reply to it. After a few minutes' walk the amateur electricians reached the scene of their intended game—a sequestered dell in a plantation, through which brawled a ratlier tur- bulent stream. At one part, where a willow over- hung the water, there was a deep broad pool. The stream entered the pool with a headlong plunge, and issued from it with a riotous upheaval of wave- lets and foam among jagged rocks, as if rejoicing in, and rather boastful about, the previous leap. Tlie game was extremely simple. The pool was ki n •';' u> n •Hi: THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. to be the German Ocean, and a piece of stout conl was to serve as a submarine cable. The boy and girl were well-matched play- mates, for Madge was ignorant and receptive— in reference to science,-liobin learned and com- municative,, while both were intensely earnest. " Now, this IS the battery," said Robin, wlien he had dug a deep hole close to the pool with a spade brought for the purpose. " Yes, and the muddy water in it will do for the mixture of acid and water," said Madge. As she spoke, Eobin's toe caught on a root, and he went headlong into the battery, out of which he emerged scarcely recognisable. It was a severe, though not an electric, shock, and at first Eobin seemed inclined to whimper, but his manhood triumphea, and he burst into a compound laugli and yell, to the intense relief of Madge, who thougti at first that lie had been seriously injured. " Never mind, Madge," said Eobin, as he cleansed his muddy head ; *• cousin Sam has often told me that nothing great was ever done except in the face of difficulties and dangers. L wonder whether this should be counted a difficulty or a danger?" " At first I thought it a danger," said°Madge, with a laugh, "but the trouble you now have with tlie mud in your hair looks like a difficulty doesn't it?" ■'f{ THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 27 "Why, then, it's both/' cried Eobin. "Come, that 's a good beginning. Now, Madge, you get away round to the opposite side of the pool, and inind you don't slip in, it 's rather steep there."' "This is England," cried Eobin, preparing to fchrow the line over to his assistant, who s°ood eager to aid on the other side, " and you are stand- ing on— on— what 's on the other side of the German Ocean?" " r 'm not sure, Eobin. HoUand, I think, or Denmark." " Well, we '11 say Denmark. Look out now and be ready to catch. I 'm going to connect England and Denmark with a submarine cable." " Stay 1" cried Madge, "is that the way submarine cables are laid, by throwing them over the sea?" " N~no, not exactly. They had a steamboat you know, to carry over the telegraph from England to France ; ])ut we haven't got a steamer-not even a plank to make-believe one. Cousin Sam says that a good workman can do his work with almost any tools that come to hand. As we have no tools at all, we will improve on that and go to work without them. ISTow, catch !" Robin made a splendid heave-so splendid indeed that It caused him to stagger backward, and again he stumbled into his own battery ! This time, however, only cue leg was immersed. mausmm 28 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. w >i i ! ! 'i " Another danger !" shouted Madge in great glee, " but I 've caught the cable." " All right. Now make fast the shore-end to a bush, and we '11 commence telegraphing. Tlie first must be a message from the Queen to the King of Denmark—or is it the President ?" " King, I think, Robin, but I 'm not sure." " Well, it won't matter. But— I say—" " What 's wrong now ?" " Why, the cable won't sink. It is floating about on the top of the , .ol, and it can't be a submarine cable, you know, unless it sinks." " Another difficulty, Robin." " We will face and overcome it, Madge. Cast off the shore-end and I '11 soon settle that." Having fastened a number of small stones to the cable, this perseveiing electrician would certainly have overcome the difficulty if the line had not when thrown, unfortunately caught on a branch of the willow, where it hung suspended just out of Madge's reach. "How provoking!" she said, stretching out her hand to the utmost. " Take care— you '11— ha !" The warning came too late. The edge of the bank gave way, and Madge went headlong into the pool with a wild shriek and a fearful plunge. Robin stood rooted to the spot— heart, breath, : i THE BATl'EBY AND TirE BOILEU. og blood, brain, paralysed for the moment-gazin^ at the spot where his playmate had disappeared ° Another moment and her head and hands ap- peared. She struggled bravely for life, while the circling current carried her quickly to the lower end of the pool. Eobin's energies returned, as he afterwards said like an electric shocic, but accompanied with a ternble sinking of the heart, for he knew tliat he could not swim ! His education in this important particular had been neglected. He sprang round to the lower end of the pool just in time to hold out h,s hand to the 'rowning girl, He almost touched her outstretched hand as she swept to- wards the turbulent waters below, but failed to grasp it. ror the first time in his life our little hero was called on to face death voluntarily. Another moment and Madge would have been caugl,t in the boUmg stream that rushed towards the fall below He was equal to the occasion. He sprang ri-ht upon Madge and caught her in his arms. Thtre was no need to hold on to her. In the agony of (ear the poor child clasped the boy in a deadly embrace. They were whirled violently round and H.rled against a rock. Eobin caught it with one hand, but It was in.stantly torn from his grasp The waters overwhelmed them, and again sent then, 1 1 i|! 30 THE BATTERY AND TIIK BOILER. i I '1 i^ Violently towards the bank. This time Robin caught a rock with both hands and held on. Slowly, while almost choked with the water that splaslied up into his face, he worked his right knee into a crevice, then made a wild grasp with tlie left hand at a higher projection of the rock. At the same moment liis left foot struck the bottom Another effort and he was out of danger, but it was several minutes ere he succeeded in dragging Madge from the liissing water of the shallows to the green sward above, and after this was accomplished he found It almost impossible to tear himself froju the grasp of the now unconscious girl. At first poor Robin thought that his companion was dead, but by degrees consciousness returned, and at last she was able to rise and walk. Drenched, dishevelled, and depressed, these un-" fortunate electricians returned home. Of course they were received with mingled joy and reproof Of course, also, they were forbidden to go near the pool again-though tliis prohibition was afterwards removed, and our hero ultimately became a first-rate swimmer and diver. Thus was frustrated the laying of the first sub- marine cable between England and Denmnrlc ! m THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. 31 CHAPTER V. PllDsrKCTS OF RKAL CABLK-LAYING^-^ODIN MEI.T.S WITH HIS FIKST ELECTRICAL ACQU.UNTA X( ■ I ;S . Circumstances require that we sliould shift the scene and the date pretty frequently in this tale. We solicit the reader's attendance at an office in London. The office is dingy. Many ofiices are so. Two clerks are sitting in it making faces at each other across their desk. Thoy are not lunatics. They are not imbeciles or idlers. On the contrary, tliey have frequent spells of work that might throw the toils of an Arab ass into the shade. They are fine strapping young fellows, with pent-up enornies equal to anything, but afflicted with occasional periods of having nothing particular to do. These two have been sitting all morning in busy idieness. Their muscular and nervous systems rebelling, have in- duced much fidgeting and many wry faces. Being original, they have turned their sorrows into a game"^ and their little game at present is to see which can 32 THE BArrERY AND TUE BOILER. make a face so hideous that the other shall he oom- polled to laugh ! We have deep syn.pathy with clerks. We have been a clerk, and know what it is to have the fires of Vesuvius raging within, while under the necessity of exhibiting the cool aspect of fepitzbergen without. But these clerks were not utterly miserable On the contrary, they were, to use one of their own familiar phrases, rather jolly tiian otherwise. Even- ing was before them in far-off but attainable per- spective. Home, lawn-tennis, in connection with blight eyes and pretty faces, would compensate for the labours of the day and let off the steam. They were deep in their game when a rap at the door brought their faces suddenly to a state of nature. " Come in," said the first clerk. " And wipe your feet," murmured the second in a low tone. ' A gentleman, with an earnest countenance entered. " Is Mr. Lowstoft in his office ? " "He is, sir," said the first clerk, descending from his perch with an air of good-will, and reqaestin<. the visitor's name and business. ° The visitor handed his card, on which the name Cyrus Reld was written, and the clerk, observi„,r It admitted the owner at once to the inner sanctum where Mr. Lowstoft transacted business THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 33 "There 's something up," murmured the clerk with a^mysterious look at his comrade, on resuming his "Time 's up, or nearly so," replied the comrade. With an anxious look at the clock ; *• The witching hour which sets us free Tu saunter home aud have our tea— aj'proaches." " D'you know that that is Cyrus Field V said the iirst clerk. "And who is Cyrus Field V demanded the second clerk. •' ignoramus ! Thy name is Bob, and thou art not worth a 'bob '-miserable snob I Don't you l<..ow that Cyrus FitM is the man who brought 1858^' ''^'°° °^ *''' ^''' '^"'"'"° Cable in "No, most learned Fred. I did not know that, but I am very glad to know it now. Moreover I know nothing whatever about cables-Atlaniic or otherw,se. I am as blind as a bat, as Ignorant as a bigot, as empty as a soap-bubble and as w,se as Solomon, because I'm willing to be taught. * "What a delicious subject to work upon!" said r red. " Well then, work away." returned Bob ; "suppose you give me a discourse on Cables. But, I say— be IF" f «MM u THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. )| r! I 1 I ! I t ■i I merciful. Don't overdo it, Frederick. Eemembcp that my capacity is feeble." " I '11 be careful, Bob.— Well then, you must know that from the year 1840 submarine cables had been tried and laid, and worked with more or less suc- cess, in various parts of the world. Sir W. O'Shaughnessy, I believe, began it. Irishmen are frequently at the root of mischief! Anyhow, he, being Superintendent of Electric Telegraphs in India in 1839, hauled an insulated wire across the Hooghly at Calcutta, and produced what they call 'electrical phenomena' at the other side of the river. In 1840 Mr. VVheatstone brought before the House of Commons the project of a cable from Dover to Calais. In 1842 Professor Morse of America laid a cable in New York harbour, and another across the canal at Washington. He also suggested the possibility of laying a cable across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1846 Colonel Colt, of revolver notoriety, and Mr. Robinson laid a wire from New York to Brooklyn, and from Long Island to Correy Island. In 1849—" " I say, Fred," interrupted Bob, with an anxious look, "you are a walking dictionary of dates. Haydn was nothing to you. But— couldn't you give it me without dates ? I 've got no head for dates; never could stomach them— except when fresh off the palm-tree. Don't you think that a THE r.ATTEKY AND ThE BOILER 35 lecture without dates would be pleasantly original as well as instructive ? " " No, Bob, I don't, and I won't be guilty of any such gross innovation on time-honoured custom. You must swallow my dates whether you like them or not In 1849, 1 say, a Mr. Walker—" " Any relation to Hookey ?" " No, sir, none whatever— Ac laid a wire from Folkestone to a steamer two miles off the shore, and sent messages to it. At last, in 1851, Mr. Brett laid down and successfully wrought the cable between Dover and Calais which had been sug- gested by Wheatstone eleven years before. It is true it did not work long, but this may be said to have been the beginning of submarine telegrapliy, which, you see, like your own education, Bob, has been a thing of slow growth." " Have you done with dates, now, my learned friend ? " asked Bob, attempting to balance a ruler on the point of his nose. "Not quite, my ignorant chum, but nearly. That same year— 1851 remember— a Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, an English electrician, made the first attempt to connect Newfoundland with the American continent by cable. He also started a company to facilitate intercourse between America and Ireland by means of steamers and telegraph cables. Gisburne was very energetic and success- 36 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. If < ful, but got into pecuniary difficulties, and went to New York to raise the wind. There he met with Cyrus Field, who took the matter up with tremendous enthusiasm. He expanded Gisborne'a idea, and resolved to get up a company to connect Newfoundland with Ireland by electric cable. Field was rich and influential, and ultimately suc- cessful — " " Ah ! would that you and I were rich, Fred," interrupted Bob, as he let fall the ruler with a crash on the red-ink bottle, and overturned it; " but go on, Fred, I 'm getting interested ; pardon the interruption, and never mind the ink, I '11 swab it up. — He was successful, was he ?" " Yes, he was; eminently so. He first of all roused his friends in the States, and got up, in 185G, the 'New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company,' which carried a line of telegraph* through tlie British Provinces, and across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to St. John's, Newfoundland— more than 1000 miles— at a cost of about £500,000. Then he came over to England and roused the British Lion, with whose aid he started the * Atlantic Telegraph Company,' and fairly began the work, backed by such men as Brett, Bidden, Stephenson, Brunei, Glass, Eliot, Morse, Bright, Whitehouse, and a host of others. But all this was not done in a day. Cyrus Field laboured for years among preliminaries, THE BATTERY Ax\D THE BOILER. 37 and it was not until 1857 that a regular attempt was made to lay an Atlantic cable. It failed because the cable broke and was lost. A second attempt was made in 1 858, and was successful. In that year, my boy, Ireland and Kewfoundland were married, and on the 5th of August the first electric message passed between the Old World and the New through a small wire, over a distance of above 2000 miles. But the triumph of Field and his friends was short-lived, for, soon after, something went wrong with the cable, and on the 6th September it ceased to w^ork." " -What a pity I" exclaimed Bob; "so it all went off in smoke." "Not quite that. Bob. Before the cable struck work about 400 messages had been sent, which proved its value in a financial point of V^^v^^ and one of these messages-sent from London in the morning and reaching Halifax the same day^ directed that Uhe 62d Eegiment was not to return to England,' and it is said that thig timely warning saved the country an expenditure of ^50,000. But the failure, instead of damping, has evidently stimulated the energies of Mr. Field' who has been going about between America and England ever since, stirring people up far and near to raise the funds necessary for another attempt. He gives himself no rest; lias embarked his owa 38 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. fortune in the affair, and now, at this moment, in this year of grace 1865, is doing his best, I have no doubt, to induce our governor, Mr. Lows- toft, to embark in the same boat with himself" It would seem as if Fred had been suddenly' endowed with the gift of second-sight, for at that moment the door oi;his employer's room opened, and Mr. Lowstoft came out, saying to his visitor, m the most friendly tones, that he had the deepest sympathy with his self-sacrificing efforts, and with the noble work to which he had devoted himself ^ Bob, m a burst of sudden enthusiasm, leaped off Ills stool, opened the office-door, and muttered something as the distinguished visitor passed him " I beg pardon," said Mr. Field, checking himself " what did you say ? " ' "1-1 wish you good luck, sir, with-with tlie new cable," stammered the clerk, blushing deeply " Thank you, lad-thank you," said Mr. Field with a pleasant smile and nod, as he went away "Mr. Sime," said Mr. Lowstoft to Bob,4urnina at the door of his room, "send young W^iglu to me. "Yes, sir," replied the obedient Bob, goinrr to a corner of the room and applying his lips° to a epeaking-tube. Now young Wright was none other than our Jiero Eobm grown up to the mature age of fifteen. THE EATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 39 He was perched on the top of a three-lei^ged stool, and, from the slow and intensely earnest manner in which his head turned from side to side as he wrote, it was quite evident that he dotted all his i's and stroked all his t's with conscientious care. As he sat there— a sturdy little broad- shouldered fellow, so deeply engrossed with his work that he was oblivious of all around— he seemed the very heau-icUal of a painstaking, hard- working clerk. So deeply was he engrossed in his subject— the copying of a^ invoice— that he failed to hear the voice of his fellow-clerk, altliough the end of the speaking-tube was not far from where he sat. After lister ", - a few seconds at the other end of the tube, E: b bime repeated the summons with such vigour that Bobin leaped from his stool as though he had received one of his favourite electric shocks. A minute later he stood in the presence of the Head of the House. "Eobert Wright," said the Head, pushing his spectacles up on his brow, "I shall be sorry .to lose your services, but — " He paused and turned over the papers before him, as if searching for something, and Eobin's heart sank! Was he going to be dismissed ? Had he done any- thing wrong, or had he unwittingly neglected some duty? " Ah ! here it is/' resumed Mr. Lowstoft, " a letter m i <\ Z' 40 THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. 'llMi It' .! m ,1 V I from a friend who has come by a slight injury to his right hand, and wants a smart amanuensis and general assistant. Now I think of sending you to him, if you have no objection." As the Head again paused .vhile glancing over the letter, Eobin ventured timidly to state that he had very strong objections ; that he was very much satisfied with his situation and work, and had no desire to change. Mr. Lowstoft did not appear to listen to his remarks, but said suddenly— "YouVe studied the science of electricity I be- lieve?" " Yes, sir— to some extent," answered the lad, with a look of surprise. " I know you have. Your father has told me about your tastes and studies. You Ve heard of Mr. Cyrus Field, I presume ?" " Indeed I have," said Eobin, brightening up - it was through his efforts that the Atlantic Cable was laid m 1858— which unfortunately went wrong." *'Well, my boy, it is through his efforts'" that another cable is to be laid in this year 1865, which we all hope sincerely won't go wrong, and my friend who wants an assistant, is one of the electricians connected with the new expedition. Would vou like to go ?" "^ Eobin's eyes blazed, and he could scarcely find THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. 41 breath or words to express his willingness— if his father did not object. " Go home at once, then, and ask leave, for the Great Eastern is almost ready for sea, and you will have to hasten your preparations." Eobin stroked no more t's and dotted no more i's that day. We fear, indeed, that he even left the invoice on his desk unfinished, with the last i imperfect. Bursting into his father's house, he found Madge —now become a pretty little slip of feminine thread-paper— seated at the piano agonising over a chord which her hand was too small to com- pass. "Madge, Madge, cousin Madge!" he shouted, - seizing both the extended little hands and kissing the musical wrinkles from her brow, " why am I like a magnet ? You '11 never guess." "Because you attract everybody to ycu," said Madge promptly. " Pooh ! not at all. A magnet doesn't attract evenj body. It has two poles, don't you know, and repels some bodies. No, Madge, it 's because I have been electrified." " Indeed ? and what has electrified you, Eobin ?" " The Atlantic Cable, Madge." *• Well, that ought to be able to do it powerfully," returned Madge, with a laugh ; " but tell me all about Hm' r f ■ !] 42 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. it, and don't make rnore bad conundrums. I 'm sure something lias happened. What is it ?" Mrs. Wright, entering at the moment, her son calmed himself as well as he could, and sat down to tell his tale and talk the matter over. "Now, what think you, mother? Will father consent ?" " I think he will, Eobin, but before going into the matter further, I will lay it before our Father in heaven. He must show us the way, if we are to -o right." *= According to invariable custom, Eobin's mother retired to her own room to consider the proposal Thereafter she had a long talk with her husband and the result was that on the following day our hero found himself in a train with a small new portmanteau by his side, a new billy-cock hat on his head, a very small new purse in his pocket, with a remarkably small sum of money therein, and a light yet full heart in his breast. He was on his way to the Nore, where the Great Eastern lay. like an antediluvian macaroni-eater, gorging itself 'with innumerable miles of Atlantic Cable. To say truth, liobin's breast-capacious thouc^h It was for his size-could hardly contain his hea^lt that day. The dream of his childhood was about to be realised ! He had thirsted for knowledge. He had acquired all that was possible in his father's THE BATTEKy AND THE BOJLER. 43 limited Circumstances. He had, moreover, with the valuable assistance of Sam Shipton, become deeply learned in electrical science. He had longed with all his heart to become an electrician-quite ready If need were, to commence as sweeper of a telegraph-' office, but he had come to regard his desires as too ambitious, and, accepting his lot in life with the quiet contentment taught him by his mother, had entered on a clerkship in a mercantile house, and had perched himself, with a little dgh no doubt, yet cheerfully, on the top of a three-legged stool. To this stool he had been so long attached-physically -that he had begun to regard it almost as part and parcel of himself, and had made up his mind that he would have to stick to it through life. He even sometimes took a quaint -iew of the matter, and tried to imagine that through long habit it would stick to him at last, and oblige him to carry it about stickina straight out behind him ; peihaps even require him to take It to bed with him. in which case he some- times tried to imagine what would be the precise effect on the bedclothes if he were t» turn from one side to the other. Thus had his life been projected m grey perspective to his mental eye. But now-he actually was an electrician-elect • on his way to join the biggest ship in the world to' aid in laying the greatest telegraph cable in the ..-..«, .^ ..^^yany wiin Some of the greatest men • -I 4i ^?!fi 1 111 THE BATTEllY AND THE BOILER. in the universe ! It was almost too much for him He thirsted for sympathy. He wanted to let off his feehngs in a cheer, but life in a lunatic asylum presented itself, and he refrained. There was a rough-looking sailor lad about his own a-e but much bigger, on the seat opposite (it was I third class). He thought of pouring out his feelings on Inm-but prudence prevented. There is no sayin<. what might have been the result, figuratively speak- ing, to his boiler if the sailor lad had not of his own accord opened a safety-valve. "You seems pretty bobbish this morning, youn^ feller," he said, after contemplating his vis-d-vis for a long time in critical silence. « Bin an' took too much, eh?" "I beg your pardon," said Robin, somewhat puzzled. « You 're pritty considerable jolly, I say," returned the lad, who had an honest, ugly face, and was somewhat blunt and gruff in manner. " I am indeed very jolly," said Eobin, with a bland smile, « for I 'm going to help to lay the great Atlantic Cable." f j ^ i " Wot's that you say?" den xnded the lad, with sudden animation. Eobin repeated his remark. "Well, now, that is a go ! Why, Pm goin' to help lay the great Atlantic Cable too. I'm one o* THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 45 the stooard's boys. What may you be, youn^^ feller ?" " Me ? Oh ! I'm— I— why, I'm on the electrical staff. I 'm "—he thought of the word secretary, but a feeling of modesty induced him to say — " assistant to one of the electricians." " Which un ? " demanded the lad curtly. " Mr. Smith." "Mr. Smith, eh? Well— it ain't an unusual name— Smith ain't. Fr'aps you '11 condescend on his first name, for there 's no less than three Smiths among the electricians. " Ebenezer Smith, I believe," said Eobin. "Ebbysneezer Smith— eh ? well, upon my word that's a Smith-mixtur that I've never heerd on before. I don't know 'im, but he 's all right, I dessay. They 're a rum lot altogether." Whether this compliment was meant for the great Smith family in general, or the electrical branch in particular, Eobin could not guess, and did not like to ask. Having thus far opened his heart, however, he began to pour out its contents, and found that the ugly sailor lad was a much more sympathetic soul than he had been led to expect from his looks. Having told his own name, he asked that of his companion in return. My name— oh ! it's Slagg— Jim Slagg; James you wants to be respeckfuf— Slagg when 5 m i (t mi ' 1 ....... j- f \ pf*'' 4e THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. forailiar. I 'm the son o' Jim Slagg, senior. Who he was the son of is best known to them as under- stands the science of jinnylology. But it don't much matter, for we all runs back to Adam an' Eve somehow. They called me after father, of course ; but to make a distinction they calls him Jimmy— bein' more respeckful-like,— and me Jim. It ain't a name much to boast of, but I wouldn't change it with you, young feller, though I^o. Bob I never could stand ceremony, so ; o'l '11 ..custom yourself to the new name as quickly ^ yo can- but perhaps it 's not new to you ?" " Please, sir, I Ve been used to Eobin ; if you have no objection, I should " " ^0 objection— of course not," interrupted Mr Smith ; « Eobin will do quite as well, though a little longer; but that's no matter. Good-bye, Eobin and-and-don't think too hard. It sometimes' hurts digestion ; good-bye." " Well, what d'ee think of Ebbysneezer Smith, my electrical toolip?" asked Jim Slagg, whom Eobin encountered again at the station. " He 's a wiry subject, I s'pose, like the rest of 'em ?" "He's a very pleasant gentleman," answered Jtobm warmly. " Oh, of coorse he is. All the Smiths are so-more or less. They 're a glorious familv. T Vnnwo of i ^*M*«Kit 50 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. least half a dozen of em in what superfine people call the ' slums ' of Loudon." "And I know more than half a dozen of 'em," retorted Eobin, somewhat sharply, " in what un- refined people call the ^aristocracy of London." "Whew !" whistled Mister Slagg, gazing at Eobin in silent surprise. What the whistle implied was not explained at that time, because the locomotive whistle took up the tune with intense violence, causing a lush to the train, in whicli the two lads— like many other friends— were abruptly parted for a season. « , THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 51 CHAPTEK VI. TELLS OP OUR HERD'S VISIT TO TttB GREAT CABLE. r.OBiN Weight returned home with a bounding heart. Since his electrical appointment he had become, figuratively speaking, an indiarubber ball -a sort of human « squash/' His heart bounded • liis feet bounded; if his head had fallen off it als J would have bounded, no doubt. On arriving he found his father's elder brother- a retired sea-captain of the merchant service-on a visit to the family. There was not a more favourite uncle in the Wdom than uncle Rik-thus had his name of iuchard been abbreviated by the Wright family Uncle Elk was an old bachelor, and as bald as a baby-more so than many babies. He was good- humoured and liberal-hearted, but a settled un- believer in the world's progress. He idolised the good old times," and quite pleasantly scorned tlie present." So, so, liobin;-- he said, grasping ,our hero by 52 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. m both hands (and uucle Rik's grasp was no joke), "you're goin' in for battories—galvanic batteries an' wires, are you ? Well, lad, I always thought you more or less of a fool, but I never thought you such a born idiot as that comes to." "Yea, uncle," said Eobin, with a pleasant laugh, for he was used to the old captain's plain language, " I 'm going to be an electrician." " Bah ! pooh !— an electrician ! " exclaimed uncle Kik with vehemence, " as well set up for a magician at once." " Indeed he won't be far short of that," said Mrs. Wright, who was seated at the tea-table with her husband and Madge—" at least," she added, « if all be true that we hear of this wonderful science." "If only half of it be true," interjected Mr Wright. "But it ain't true," said Captain Pdk firmly. "They talk a deal of stuff about it, more than nine-tenths of which is lies— pure fable. I don't believe in electricity; more than that, I don't believe in steam. Batteries and boilers are both bosh ! " " But, uncle, you can't deny that they exist," said Itobin " Of course not," replied the captain. " I know as well as you do— maybe better— that there 's a beap o' telegraph-wires rove about the world like THE BATTEEY AND THK BOILER. 53 great spiders' webs, and that there are steamboat, bummin' an' buzzin'-ay, an' bu'stin' too-all over the ocean, like huge wasps, an' a pretty mess they make of it too among them I Why, there was a poor old lady the other day that was indoooed by a young nephy to send a telegraphic message to her husband in Manchester-she bein' in London She was very unwiUin' to do it, bein' half inclined 'o regard the telegraph as a plant from the lower regions. The message sent was, ' Your lovin' wife hopes you '11 be home to-morrow.' It reached the husband, 'Your lowerln' wife hopes you'll be hun come. Its jute jacket on, it was then coiled away in tanks full of water, where it ^ruB coisl .ntly kepf. submerged and continuously tested for insulation. Last of all the top coat was put on. This consisted of ten wires of peculiarly fine and strong iron. . .eh of these ten wires had put on it a special cor of its own, made of t^.rad Manilla yarn, to protect it THE BATTERT AND THE BOIll r, g j from rust as well aa to lighten its specific gravity. T.^ core bemg brought from its tank, and passed round several sheaves, which carried it Lelow the fa o.y floor was drawn „p through a hole in the c ntre of a circular table, around the circumference of which were ten drums of the ManiUa-covered wire. A stout iron rod, fastened to the circum- f rence of the table, rose, from between each drum to the ceiling, converging in a cone which passed n iTle of ,! '^ 'r ^'""- — -eLh i-^iddle of all. and went through the hollow of the i..otion, the core wb.ch rose from the turning-tabi: and whirling drums as a thin jute-clad 1^^ came Mar T " ''""* "'"""''^ '=^''J«>-"' "^ Wr f '"S'P»^^^^i°g strength sufficient to sulrr """''''""" ^^"«* P«^-*cularly uspended v.at.r_or a margin of strength moi^ t an four and a h, i„es that required,-atd with a bieaking strain of seven tons fifteen hundredweight went off home to write his treatise. ■ Then he received the expected summons to repair on board the Great Eastern, and bade adieu to iiis early home. It.was of no „«e that Eobin tried to say good- bye in a facetious way, and told Madge anr' his mother not to cry, saving that ho was only goug iiilii 1 i;''i T f 62 THE BATTERY AND THE BOTLEBL across the Atlantic, a mere fish-pond, and that he would be home again in a month or two. Ah ! tliese little efforts at deception never avail. Him- self broke down while urging Madge to behave herself, and when his mother gave him a small Bible, and said she required no promise, for she knew he would treasure and i sad it, he was obliged hastily to give her a last fervent hug, and rush from the house without sayi g good-bye at all It •. m Till! BATTEfiV AND THE BOILER. 63 CHAPTEE Vir. WI« 810 SBIP-nRST WOHT ABOAHD. When our hero at last reached the Great Eastern he soon found himself ir. what m.y be termed a ost conditioa At first he was disappointed, for be saw her at a distance, and it is well tnown that distance lends deception as well as " enchantme. to the view Arrived aJongside. however, he felt as 1 he had suddenly come under the walls of a great fortress or city. Presently he stood on the deck of the Big Ship as Us familiars called it, and, from that mome;!' or several days, was, as we have said, in a condition. He was lost in wonder, to begin with as he ga.ed at the interminable length and breadth of pi nking styled the deck, and the forest of unnels, ma.sts, and rigging, and the amazing per- pective, which caused men at the further end fL where he stood to look like dolls and"!ad to TJ"'' " '■"'''^' ^■''^" ''' --* ^-^'o- aud had to ask his wav «,.<; ihn^rrh u^ ^.,,- , . o 64 THE BATTERY A^D THE BOILER. ill in the labyrinths of a great city. He felt— or thought he felt— like a mere mite in the mighty vessel. Soon he lost his old familiar powers of comparison and contrast, and ere long he lost his understanding altogether, for he fell down one of the hatchways into a dark abyss, where he would probably have, ended his career with electric speed if he had not happily fallen into the arms of a human being, with whom he rolled and bumped affectionately, though painfully, to the bottom of the stair. The human being, growled intense disapprobation during the process, and Eobin fancied that the voice was familiar. " Come, I say," said the being, remonstratively, "this is altogether too loving, you know. Dou't squeeze quite so tight, young 'un, whoever you be." " Oh, I heg your pardon," gasped Eobin, relaxing his grasp when they stopped rolling ; "I 'm so sorry. I hope I haven't hurt you." "Hurt me!" laughed Jim Slagg, for it was he; "no, you small electrician, you 'aven't got battery-power enough to do me much damage ; but what d' ye mean by it ? Is this the way to meet an old friend ? Is it right for a Wright to go wrong at the wery begin nin' of his career ? But come, I forgive you. Have you been introdooced to Capting Anderson yet ?" THE BATTEEy AND THE BOILEfi. gj "No; wl-.islie?" "WI,o is lie? you ignorant crolddUe I why he's he capt,„g of the Great Eastern, the commander J the k ng the expedition. But, of course, you avent bm mtrodooced to him. He don't assJcfate much with small fry like us-more 'a the puT ^t m.ght do im good. But come, I'Uta'J'yu «nder my w>ng for the present, because your par! ^aer owner, Ebbysneezer Smith, ain't come ab ard b 7' „"'! "P^""' ' -PPO— • every- body s so busy gettn.' ready to start that noboX :ZT '" "' '°'''''' -"^ y-. - coma There was some truth in this eccentric youths' remarks, for in the bustle of preparation forant t start every one on board seemed to be so thoroughly ngrossed w.th his own duty that he had no Time attend to anything else, and Eobin had begunl expenence, m the absence of his ".artikler owner" an une^y sensation of being very much in peoplc^s way. As he felt strangely attracted by the off-hand good-humoured impudence of his new friend e consented to follow him, and was led to a 1 apartment somewhere in the depths of the JZ "P. .n wh,ch several youths, not unlike SI., f -ererompmg. They had, indeed, dutios to perfo;: -iie leat, but tiie moment 3il, E laiiced to be with jtt 66 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER, )tma ^: them a brief period of relaxation, which they devoted to skylarking. "Hallo! wL. have you got here?" demanded a large clumsy youth, knocking off Slagg's cap as ho asked the question. "Come, Stumps, don't you be cheeky," said Slagg, quietly picking up his cap and putting it on; " this is a friend o' mine— one o' the electricians,— so you needn't try to shock his feelin's, for he can give better than he gets. He 's got no berth yet, so I brought him here to show him hospitality." "Oh, indeed," said Mr. Stumps, bowing with mock respect; then, turning to the comrade with whom he had been skylarking, " Here, Jeff, supply this gentleman with food." Jeff, entering into Stumps' humour, immediately brought a plate of broken ship-biscuit with a can of water, and set them on the table before Eobin. Our hero, who had never been accustomed to much jesting, took the gift in earnest, thanked Jeff heartily, and, being hungry, set to work with a will upon the simple fare, while Stumps and Jeff looked at each other and winked. " Come, I can add something to improve that feast," said Slagg, drawing a piece of cheese from his pocket, and setting it before his friend. Eobin thanked him, and was about to take the cheese when Stumps snatched it up, and ran ou THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 67 Of the room with it, laughing coarsely as he went. "The big bully," growled Slagg; "it's quite obvious to me that feller will have to be brought to his marrow-bones afore long." "Never mind," said Jeff, who was of a more amiable spirit than Stumps, "here's more o' the same sort." He took another piece of cheese from a shelf as he spoke, and gave it to Robifi. "Now, my young toolip," said Slagg, "havin' finished your feed, pVaps you 'd like to see over the big ship." With great delight Eobin said that he should like nothing better, and, being led forth, was soon lost a second time in wonderment Of what use was it that Slagg told him the Great Eastern was 692 feet long by 83 feet broad and 70 feet deep? If he had said yards instead of feet it would have been equally instructive to Eobin in his then mentally lost condition Neither was it of the slightest use to be told thai; the weight of the big ship's cargo, including cable, tanks, and coals, was 21,000 tons. But reason began to glimmer again when Slagg told him that the two largest vessels afloat could not contain, in a convenient position for passin<. out, the 2700 miles then coiled in the three tanks of flip dvoai- Trr.r,*y>^». — ---.-.V JL-iUCLClij. ?3 I 11 1 68 THE BATTEKV AND THE BOILER. ■„'» "This is the main tank," said Slagg, leading his friend to a small platform that hung over a black and apparently unfathomable gulf. "I see nothing at all," said Eobin. stretching hig head cautiously forward and gazing down into dark- ness profound, while he held on tight to a rail. How curious !-whea I look down every-thii.g .n this wonderful ship seems to have no bottom and when I look np, nothing appears to have any top, while, if I look backward or forward things seem to have no end ! Ah ! I see something no^. Wily, It s like a huge circus !" "Yes, it on'y wants bosses an' clowns to make It al co:„p,ete." said Slagg. «Kcw, that tank is 68 feet 6 inches in diameter, and 20 feet 6 indies deep, an' holds close upon 900 miles of cable. There are two other tanks not much smaller, all choke-full An- the queer thing is. that they can telegraph through all its length ncto, at this moment as It lies there,-an' they are doing so continually to make sure that all 's right." "Oh! I understand that," said Eobin quicMy- ■ I have read all about the laying of the first cable' in 1858. It IS the appmrance of things in this great ship that confounds me." " Come along then, and I 'II confound you a little more," snid iShigg. < THE BATTERY AND THE BOIIEB. 69 He accordingly led his friend from one part of tlio ship to another, explaining and commentir. a» he went, and certainly liobin's wonder did not From the grand saloon-which was like a palatial drawing-room, in size as well as in gorgeous furni- ture-to the mighty cranks and boilers of its engmes, everything in and about the ship was ca culated to amaze. As Slagg justly remarked, It was stunnm'." When our hero was saturated with the "Ricr Ship till he could hold no more, his friend took h.m back to his berth, and left him there for a time to his meditations. Eeturning soon after, he sat down on a locker "I say, Eobin Wright," he began, thrusting his hands into his trousers-pockets, "it looks a'most as It I had smuggled you aboard of this ship like a stowaway Nobody seems to know yon are here an what s more, nobody seems to care. Your partiKler owner ain't turned up yet, an' it's my opinion he won't turn up to-night, so I've spoko to the stooard-he 's my owner, you know_an' he says you'd better just turn into my berth to-niol,t an you 11 get showed into your own to-morrow '° ' "But where will ,jov. sleep?" a»ked Eobin, with eonie hesitation. " Never vnn mi'n.l n. '.iti^i.. '! V youiiy eleetriciau. 70 THE BATTERY AND THE EOILER. m % '11 t?rn i^'^ ''"'^'"™'- '^'"■^' y°" '^« got to do is to Jeff and another lad, who were preparing to retire for the night at the time, langhed at this, but Kobin paid no attention, thanked his friend and said that a« h, was rather tired he would accept h ., idnd offer. Thereafte pulling out the small Bible which he had kept m his pocket since leaving home, he went ^nto a comer, read a few ver.es, and then knelt down to pray. The surprise of the other lads was expressed iu their eyes, but they said nothing. Just then the door opened, and the lad named Stumps entered. Catching sight of Eobin on his knees he opened his eyes wide, pursed his mouth and gave a low whistle. Then he went up to Eobin and gave him a slight kick. Supposing that it was an accident, fiobin did not move, but on receiving another and much more decided kick he rose and turned round. At the same moment Stumps received a resounding and totally unexpected slap on the cheek from Jim Slagg. who planted himself before him with clenched fists and flashing eyes "What d'ye mean by interferin' wi' my friend at his dewotions, you monkey-faced polypus?" ha demanded fiercely. The monkey-faced polypus replied not a word. THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILEIl. 71 but delivered a right-hander that might have felled a small horse. Jim Slagg however was prepared for that. He turned his head neatly to one side so as to let the blow pass, and at the same moment planted his knuckles on the bridge of his opponent's i.ose and sent him headlong into Jeff's bunk, which lay conveniently behind. Jumping furiously out of that, and skinning his shins in the act. Stumps •ushed at Slagg. who, leaping lightly aside, tripped him up and gave him a smack on the left ear as he passed, by way of keeping him lively Unsubdued by this. Stumps gathered himself up and made a blind rush at his adversary, but wa. abruptly stopped by what Jeff called a "dab" on the nose. Eepeating the rush. Stumps was staggered by a plunging blow on the forehead, and he paused to breathe, gazing the while at his foe who though a smaUer youth than himself, was quite' as strong. ^ "If you Ve had enough, monkey-face," said Sla<.ff. with a bland smile, "don't hesitate to say so, an' I U shake hands; but if you'd prefer a little more before goin' to Ded, just let me know and-" Slagg here performed some neat and highly suggest ve motions with his fists by way of finisLg the sentence. ^ Evidently Slumps wanted more, for, after a brief oause, lie a^^mn rushed at, Riarra u.'U^ -^-- . • _ . , 00, .. iiu, 6i(U|/pin*^ asicio III 72 THE liATTJ-UY AND THE BOILER. 1 uf, m; like a Spanish matador, allowed his foe to expend his wrath on the bulkhead of the cabin. "You'll go through it next time. Stump,, if you plunge lUce that," said Jeff, who had watched 'he i.ght with hvely interest, and had encouraged the combatants with sundry marks of applause, besidea giving them much gratuitous advice Eegardless alike of encouragement and advice the angry youth turned round once more and received ulJnll .'n'"" '""' 'P^'"''"S °° 'he table, off M he fell and rolled under it. There he lay and panted. ^ "Now, my sweet polypus," said the victor, goin<. down on one knee and patting the vanquished on Ins shoulder, "next time you feels tempted to kick agent eman-specially a electrician-at his dewo- lons, thmk of Jim Slagg an' restrain yourself I bear you no ill-will however-so, good-night." ' Saying this, Eobin's champion left the room and Stumps retired to his berth gi-owlin" Before passing from this subject, we may add that, the next night, Eobin-whose owner was still absent-was ogain hospitably invited to share the eabm of his friend and protector. When about to retire to rest he considered whether it was advisable to nsk the repetition of the scene of the previous Bight, and, although not quite easy in his conscience about It, came to the conclusion that it would b« THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILEH. 73 "ell to say his prayers iu bed. Accordingly he crept quietly into his berth and lay down, bu't Sinr blagg who was present, no sooner saw what he was about than he j„n>ped up with . ,oar of indign" " What are you about ?" he cried, « ain't you goiu' to say your prayers, you white-livered electriL» Dye hear? Turn out, I say." ^ bed. thrust h,m on his knees, and bade hin. do his At first Eobin's spirit rose in rebellion, but a »ense of shame at his moral cowardice, and a 1 cept.on of the Justice of his friend's rema'rlc, subXd nature of h.s prayer was we have never been abl« ascertain, and do not care to guess. The L „^ , Wnght was no longer ashamed or afraid to he seen in the attitude of prayer. m. .TjI 4 74 TUB BATTERY AND THE BOILEB. h.r CnAPTER VIII. LATINO ITHE CABLE-" FAULTS" AND FAULT-FINDINQ-ANXIKTIKS, A0CIDENT8, AND OTHER MATTERS. Come with us now, good reader, to another and very different scene-out upon the boundless sea. The great Atlantic is asleep, but his breast heaves gently and slowly like that of a profound sleeper. The Great Eastern looks like an island on the water— steady as a rock, obedient only to the rise and fall of the ocean swell, as .'.le glides along at Dhe rate of six knots an hour, .Ail is going well. The complicated-looking payir^^.-out machinery re- volves smoothly; the thread-iike cable passes over the stern, and down into the deep with the utmost regularity. The shore-end of the cable— twenty-seven miles in length, and much thicker than the deep-sea portion-had been laid at Valentia, on the 22d CI July, amid prayer and praise, speech-makin- ana much enthusiasm, on the part of operators and spectators. On the 23d, the end of the shore / nm BATTEllY AND TilK BOILKR. 76 cable was spliced to that of the main cable, and the vo\ age had begun. The first night had pas id quietly, and upwards of eiglity miles of the cable had gone out of the after- tank, over the big ship', stern, and down to its ocean bed. when Eobin Wright-unable to sleep-quietly slipped into his clothes, and went on decic. It was drawing near to dawn. A knot of electricians and others were chatting in subdued tones about one subject that filled the minds i all in the shi " What ! unable to sleep, like the rest of us ?" said Ebenezer Smith, accosting Eobin as he reached the deck. " Yes, sir," said Eobin, with a sleepy smile, " I Ve been thinking of the cable so much that I took to dreaming about it when I fell asleep, and it sud- , denly turned into the great sea-serpent, and choked me to such an extent that I awoke, and thea thought it better to get up and have a look at it." " Ah ! my boy, you are not the only one whom the cable won't let sleep. It will be weU looked after during the voyage, for there are two sets of electricians aboard-all of them uncommonly wide awake-one set representing the Telegraph Con- struction and Maintenance Company, under M. de ^Sauty; the other set representing the Atlantic Telegraph Company, under Mr. Varley and Pro- fessor Thomson. The former are to test the elec^ / i^ n- 1 I,"!' ! 5i MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 m 2.8 2.5 jw 1^ III 32 2.2 ■ 6.3 in III 3.6 == lU li 4.0 2.0 IS. ^ u tuuu 1.8 1.4 1.6 A /1PPLIED IfVHGE Inc 16'j3 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax USA 76 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. Inual state of the cable, and to keep up signals with the shore every hour, night and day, during the voyage, while the latter are to watch and report as to whether the cable fulfils her conditions, as speci- fied in the contract. So ]^ou see the smallest fault or hitch will be observed at once." "Do you mean, sir," asked Eobin in surprise, " that telegraphing with the shore is to be kept up continually all the voyage V* "Yes, my boy, I do," answered Smith. "The lengths of the cable in the three tanks are joined up into one length, and telegraphing— for the pur- pose of testing it—has been kept up with the shore without intermission from the moment we left Ireland, and began to pay out. It -will be continued, if all goes well, until we land the other end in Newfoundland. The tests are threefold,— first, for insulation, which, as you know, means the sound- ness and perfection of the gutta-percha covering that prevents the electricity from escaping from the wires, through the sea, into the earth ; secondly, for con- tinuity, or the unbroken condition of the conductor or copper core throughout its whole length; and, thirdly, to determine the resistance of the conductor, by which is meant its objection to carry our mes- sages without vigorous application of the spur in the form of increased electrical power in our bat- teries. You see, Eobin, every message sent to us pT" THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 77 from the sliore, as well ar. every message sent by us 111 reply, has to travel through the entire length of the cable, namely about 2400 miles, and as every mile of distance increases this unwillingness, or re- sistance, we have to increase the electrical power in the batteries in proportion to the distance to which we want to send our message. D' you understand ?" " I think I do, sir ; but how is the exact amount of resistance tested?" Mr. Smith smiled as he looked at the earnest face of his young questioner. " My boy," said he, " you would require a more fully educated mind to understand the answer to that question. The subtleties of electrical science cannot be explained in a brief conversation. You '11 have to study and apply to books for full light on that subject. Nevertheless, although I cannot cany you into the subject just now, I can tell you something ohout it. You remember the testing-room which I showed you yesterday-the darkened room betv^een the captain's state-room and the entrance to the grand saloon ?" " Yes, sir, I remember it well," responded Eobin, — " the room into which the conducting-wires from' the ends of the cable are led to the testing-tables, on which are the curious-looking galvanometers and other testing machines." tiUst so," returned Smith, pleased with his 1 ' ^ M'lJ 78 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. , t pupil's aptitude. " Well, on that table stands Pro- fessor Thomson's delicate and wonderful galvano- meter. On that instrument a ray of light, reflected from a tiny mirror suspended to a magnet, travels along a scale and indicates the resistance to the passage of the current along the cable by the deflection of the magnet, which is marked by the course of this speck of light. Now, d'you under- stand that, Eobin ? " " I— I 'm afraid not quite, sir." " Well, no matter," rejoined Smith, with a laugh. *'At all events you can understand that if that speck of light keeps within bounds— ow< its index- all is going well, but if it travels beyond the index —bolts out of bounds— an escape of the electric current is taking place somewhere in the cable, or what we call a fault has occurred." " Ah, indeed," exclaimed Eobin, casting a serious look at the cable as it rose from the after-tank, ran smoothly over its line of conducting wheels, dropped over the stern of the ship and glided into the sea like an an endless snake of stealthy habits. "And what," he added, with a sudden look of awe, "if the cable should break ? " " Why, it would go to the bottom, of course," re- plied Smith, " and beveral hearts would break alona with it. You see these two gentlemen conversing near the conjpanion-hateh ? " THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 79 '-'Yes." "One is the chief of the electricians; the other ^lie chief of the engineers. Their hearts would probably break, for their position is awfully respon- sible. Then my heart would break, I know, for I feel It swelling at^the horrible suggestion ; and your heart would break, Eobin, I think, for you are a sympathetic oonkey, and couldn't help yourself. Ihen you see that stout man on the bridge-that '3 taptam Anderson-well, his heart would- no-per haps it wouldn't, for he 's a sailor, and you know a sailor's heart is too tough to break, but it would get a pretty stiff' wrench. And you see that gentle^ man looking at the paying-out gear so earnestly ?" " What- Cyrus Field ?" said Robin. " Yes ; well, his heart and the Atlantic Cable are united, so af. a matter of course the two would snap together." Now, while Smith and his young assistant were conversing thus facetio-scientifically, the electri Clans on duty in the testing-room were watchin^ with silent intensity the indications on their C struments. Suddenly, at 3.15 a.m., when exactly eighty-four miles of cable had been laid out he who observed the galvanometer saw the speck of light glide to the end of the scale, and vanish ^ If a speck of fire had been seen to glide t.l.mn.h the keyhole of the powder magazine it couW ^^^B 1 1 «tl 1 i ; |H - ill k.' J 80 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. scarcely have created greater consternation than did the disappearance of that h'ght ! The com- motion in the testing-room spread instantly to every part of the ship ; the whole staff of electri- cians was at once roused, and soon afterwards the engines of the Great Eastern were slowed and stopped, while, with bated breath and anxious looks, men whispered to each other that there was "a fault in the cable." -A fault ! If the cable had committed a mortal sin they could scarcely have looked more horrified. Kevertheless there was ground for anxiety, for this fault, as in moral faults, indicated sometbins that might end in destruction. After testing the cable for some time by signal- ling to the shore, M. de Sauty concluded that the fault was of a serious character, and orders were at once givei; to prepare the picking-up apparatus at the bow for the purpose of drawing the cable back into the ship until the defective portion should be reached and cut out. "0 what a pity!" sighed Eobin, when he understood what was going to be done, and the feeling, if not the words, Mas shared by every one on board with more or less intelligence and in- tensity ; but there were veterans of submarine telegraphy who spoke encouragingly and treated the incident as a comparatively small matter. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 81 Two men-of-war, the Terrible and the Sphinx, had been appointed to accompany and aid the Great Eastern on her important mission. A gun was fired and signals were made to acquaint these with what had occurred while the fires were being got up in the boilers of the picking-up machinery. Electricians as well as doctors differ, it would seem, among themselves, for despite their skill and experience there was great difference of opinion in the minds of those on board the big ship as to the place where the fault lay. Some thought it was near the shore, and probably at the splice of the shore- end with the main cable. Others calcu- lated, from the indications given by the tests, that it was perhaps twenty or forty or sixty miles astern. One of the scientific gentlemen held that it was not very far from the ship, while another gentle- man, who was said to be much experienced in " fault "-finding, asserted that it was not more tha^ nine or ten miles astern. While the doctors were thus differing, the prac- tical engineers were busy making the needful pre- parations for picking-up— an operation involving great risk of breaking the cable, and requiring the utmost delicacy of treatment, as may be easily understood, for, while the cable is being payed out the strain on it is comparatively small, wliereas when it is being picked up, there is not only the lip'' mi l1 " " I i i U ! H2 mi $ Ifl THE BATTEUV AND THE BOILER ext>a strain ca„sed by stoppage, and afterwards by ha, Jng ,n, but there is the risk of sudden ris n's of the sb,p-s stern on the ocean swell, which 2ft t:i::r '"'' ''- ''- ^^- "^« ^ p^- :; The first difficulty and the great danger wa, pa. the cable from the stern to the bow! and o turn the sh.p round, so as to enable them t^ steam were lashed firmly to the cable at the stern and tte s ,p to the prcking-up apparatus at the bows Z ""' ^■'^ ^'""' '" *«« f-'homs of water wh n he payrng-out ceased, and nice management wa" e,u.ed to keep the ship steady, as she tad now no teerage way; and oh I with what intense intere-t and cunosrty and wonder d.d Eobin Wright "Cd wrj which the whole affair was accomplished ! Jhen the cable was cut. and, with its shackles and chains, allowed to go plumn intn iT T?^K,'^' I. "6" puimp into the sea ' Kobins heart and soul seemed to go alon. with it' for, not expecting the evenf h. f ■ 1- ' for ever. ^"^ '' ^*^ ^ost ;; Gone .."he exclaimed, with a look of horror. Not q„,te. said Jim Slagg. who stood at Robin's eiii„enoe. Don t you see, Eobin, that a wire. it if 3 ) THE BATTEliY AND THE BOILER. §3 rope fit a'most to hold the big ship herself is holdiu' on to it." " Of course ; how stupid I am !" said Kobin, with a great sigh of relief; " I see it now, going round to the bows. At first the rope was let run, to ease the strain while the ship swung round; then it was brought in over the pulley at the bow, the paddles moved, and the return towards Ireland was begun. The strain, although great, was lar from the breaking point, but the speed was very slow-not more than a mile an hour being considered safe in the process oi picking-up. " Patience, Eobin," observed Mr. Smith, as he passed on his way to the cabin, ■' is a virtue much needed in the laying of cables. We have now commenced a voyage at the rate of one mile an hour which will not terminate till we get back to uwld Ireland, unless we find the fault." Patience, however, was not destined to be so severely t-ied. All that day and all night the slow process went on. Meanwhile-as the cable was not absolutely unworkable, despite the fault-tho chief engineer Mr. Canning, sent a message to Mr. Glass in Ireland, asking him to send out the Hawk steamer, in order that he might return in •^^ - search for the defect in the shore-end of the tor If that were found he purposed sacrificing / cab] ':.l ■ 1 ■ 1; ji 84 THE BATTERY AND THE DOILEn. i ' the eighty odd miles already laid dowu, making a new splice with the shore-end, and starting afre°h. A reply was received from Mr. Glass, saying that the Hawk would be sent out immediately. Accordingly, about daybreak of the 25th the Hawk appeared, but her services were not required, for, about nine that morning, when the cable was coming slowly in and being carefully examined foot by foot—nay, inch by inch— the fault was discovered, and joy took the place of anxiety. Ten and a quarter miles of cable had been picked up when the fault came inboard, and a strange un- accountable fault it turned out to be— namely, a small piece of wire which had been forced through tlie covering of the cable into the gutta-percha so as to injure, but not quite to destroy, the insulation. How such a piece of wire could have got into the tank was a mystery, but the general impression was that it had been carried there by accident and forced into the coil by the pressure of the paying- out machinery as the cable flew through the jockey- wheels. Signals were at once made to the fleet that tlie enemy had been discovered. Congratulatory signals were returned. The fault was cut out and a°new splice made. The Hawk was sent home again. The big ship's bow was turned once more to the west, and the rattling of the manliinprv qo +bp a I. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 85 restored and revived cable passed over the stern, went merrily as a marriage bell. The detention had been only about twelve hours • the great work was going on again as favourably as before the mishap occurred and about half a mil« had been payed out, when-*blackness of despair-, the electric current suddenly ceased, and communi- cation with the shore was ended altogether ! I ■ B «n THE BATTKKY AND THE TOILER, :§^ m CHAPTER IX. IN wnrcH JOTS, hopks, amrm^ ghosts, and leviathans TAKK I'Ant. That man who can appreciate tlie feelings of one wlio has become suddenly bankrupt may under- stand the mental condition of those on board the Great Eastern when they were thus tossed from the pinnacle of joyous hope to the depths of dark despair. It was not, however, absolute despair. The cable was utterly useless indeed-insensate- but it was not broken. There was still the blessed possibility of picking it up and bringing it to life again. That, however, was scarcely an appreciable com- fort at the moment, and little could be seen or heard on board the Great Eastern save elongated faces and gloomy forebodings. Ebenezer Smith and his confrhes worked in the testing-room like Trojans. They connected and disconnected; thtey put in stops and took them out; they intensified currents to the extent of their anxieties; they reduced them to the measure of THE BATTKUY AND THE ROILFR. g; their despair-nothing would do. The caUe was apparently dead. la these circumstances picking up was the only resource, and the apparatus for that purpose was again rigged up in the bows. In the meantime the splice which had been made to connect the tanks was cut and examined, and the portions coiled in the fore and main tanks were found to be perfect-alive and well-but the part between ship and shore was speechless. So was poor Eobin Wright ! After Mr. Field— whose life-hope seemed to be doomed to disappoint- ment-the blow was probably felt most severely by Eobin. But Fortune seemed to be playfully testing the endurance of these cable-layers at that lime, for, when the despair was at its worst, the tell-tale light reappeared on the index of ' the galvanometer, without rhyme or reason, callin.. lorth a shout of joyful surprise, and putting an abrupt stoppage to the labours of the pickers- up ! They never found out what was the cause of that fault ; but that was a small matter, for, with restored sensation in the cable-nerve, renewed communica- tion with the shore, and resumed progress of tlie ship towards her goal, tliey could afford to smile at former troubles. Joy and sorrow, shower and sunshine, fair weather '^ ^'^"' was at first the alternating^ and cable -it poi- yers. the I . 1 ,ltM 1 = .h- r,ji f1 m \ SB THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. m' ••) \fi ^ " I can t believe my eyes !" said Eobin to Jim Slagg, as they stood next day, during a leisure hour close to the whirling wheels and never-ending cable' about 160 miles of which had befen laid by that time. "Just look at the Terrible and Sphinx • the sea IS now so heavy that they are thumping into the waves, burying their bows in foam, whUe we are slipping along as steadily as a Thames steamer" "That's true, sir," answered Slagg, whose admira- tion for our hero's enthusiastic and simple character increased as their intimacy was prolonged, and whose manner of address became proportionaUy more respectful, « She 's a steady little duck is the Great Eastern ! she has got the advantage of length, you see, over other ships, an' rides on two waves at a time, instead of wobblin' in between 'em • but I raither think she 'd roll a bit if she was to go alon<. in the trough of the seas. Don't the cable go out beautiful, too-just like a long-drawn eel with the consumption ! Did you hear how deep the captain said it was hereabouts ? " " Yes, I heard him say it was a little short of two miles deep, so it has got a long way to sink before it reaches its oozy bed." " How d'ee know what sort o' bed it 's got to \m on r asked Slagg. ^ " Because," said Eobin, « the whole Atlantic where the cable is to lie has been carefully sounded lnn« / Bwn^.. ., THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 89 / ago, and it is found that the ocean-bed here, which looks so like mud, is composed of millions of beauti- ful shells, so small that they cannot be distinguished by the naked eye. Of course, they have no crea- tures in them. It would seem that these shell-fish go about the ocean till they die, and then fall to the bottom like rain."* " You don't say so !" returned Slagg, who, being utterly uneducated, received suchlike information with charming surprise, and regarded Eobin as a very mine of knowledge. « Wellnow, that beats cock-fighting. But, I say, how i' ^t that the elec- tricity works through the cable ? I heerd one o' your electrical fellers explaining to a landlubber t'other evenin' that electricity could only run along wires when the circuit was closed, by which he meant to say that it would fly from a battery and travel along a wire ever so far, if only that wire was to turn right round and run back to the same battery again. Now, if that's so, seems to me that when you've got your cable to Newfoundland you '11 have to run another one back again to Ire- land before it '11 work." "Ah, Slagg, that would indeed be the case," returned Eobin, " were it not that we have dis'- 1 Those who visited the Crystal Palace at Sydenham during the recent Electrical Exhibition had an opnortunifcy of s-:?^ %u*i Bueiis here referred to under a powerful microscope ' fW 1 1 ' 1 \ 1 11 ^H mwM ,li 90 ( ■ If! i- h hi THE BATTERr AND THE BOILER. covered the important fact that the earth f^ round globe on which we stand it.n ^ '~*''* of a grand conductor Sote W„ T f' ''"' down earlh-mres at tho * 7 ^ ^ *" ''"'' earth of IreC th. M ° ""^'-""^ '"'» *« "' Ireland, the other into the earth of nt. "rs »• "M- "•. »«k JL?"" '^' liobm," said Slagg doubtinr,i„ ..'j. »e for to believe ij^'' """"'"'S'^' ^you expect ;; Jndeed I do," said Eobin simply. Then you re greener than I took you for V„ offence meant, but it 'a n,^ ., ■ • ^^ •citp «i„„f ■ • , ^ opinion some o' thcs« cute electricians has bin trvin- tk • ,., • swallow." ^ " *^^ ^"J"' of your "I'h^^^radlifrf"''™'""^''"^''--^^^^^^^ ofjefact,butLtart;:;:c:re;;r"'"-™ - :zrbra:ir:drf "^: ""-' perplexed. ' ^ '"' ^""^"^ seemed "Well, I don' know how it is" h^ said .ft do indeed." everything afore long—l TI.e intelligent reader who has noted the gigantic le rt (I e TKE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. 9] Strides which «e v,ve recently made in electric ^ of late wiU observe that Slagg. unwitting ^ had become almost prophetic at this time "We're going along splendidly now," said Mr. Smith, commg up to Eobin that evening while he ^vas conversing with Slagg, who immediately re ta-ed.-" Who is that youth ? He seems ve:y ond you ; I Ve observed that he mates up to yZ when- ever you chance to be on deck together " "He IS one of the steward's lads, sir; I met him accidentally in the train; but I .uspec tl" ond ness rs chiefly on my side. He was very kind to me when I first came on board, and I really think he IS an intelligent, good fel.ow-a strange mi "e of self-confidence and humility. Sometimes, to h lum speak, you would think he knew everything but at the same time he is always willi„g_inde:d' Here Robin related the battle in the boys' berth ^vhen Slagg thrashed Stumps, whereat Mr. Smith was much amused. "So he seems a peculiar lad-modest, impudent teachab e kindly, and warlike ! Come below now the calculations I gave you yesterday ?" "Yes, sir, and they corresponded exactly with jour own. ^ 93 "" '^"-'^ ^^o m Boi«a side." °" '^« farthest aft seat, port -Sh .eatW, a ft .!« f f "' ">« ^''^ ^^ ^i^S made, all contr b„t d f "^ ^'"^'^^ '^^'^ «very one connected wul « ! '"'^^ *'^« ^P'ri'^ of ^^hile some were nmusr^. ^T ""*' ^^ 'hat, -he«we.scatteJi:tlS"''^^''^""' cu3swgtheprofoundermy,ter f , ""'""P^' '^'^- or prophesying the speedfcomlr '"'' '"'""''■ .«yofsporti„;e:;rr;??'''«p~- journeys throngh the United Zt ''"""=" "*" -l here's lots of aairiB T' /,I land," said one of tt ! J "^''' '" ^«^found- gun. s^^tJe fluid--was the ^6s, I have heard «a » « a sportsman, who, althljh l^'' ""« ^«' caught with chaff," and IhefiK ""' *° "^^ ' ''"d the &h«g, I hear, is als. -X:;- it It THE BATTEEY AND THE BOILER. 93 splendid. Salmon and cod are found avannin. i„ Jakes of the interior, where there are plentt of fresh-water whales that take the fly" ^ ^ '■The^iltTr- ''°" ""'"•" '""^ ^"""'^^ -"""^ade. 21XT " ""' '"""° ^"""° Newfoundland ^^ hales ,s a swan fastened whole to a shark hook- hough a small boat's anchor will do if you hal't tlie right tackle." ^ ' "Come don't talk nonsense, but let's have a S. "'' ^ '™""=^ '^^'='™- '» «'e sportL! and'thr; it::; t^- "--p' -^- '>"-. ™ 1 sing out. But see, our best musician has jiist seated himself at the instrument." Don t talt ,i.„p_ ^,^^^^ . ^^jj .^ ^j^^ _ Most of those present drew towards the musical corner, where Ebene.er Smith, having just Tnt red he sabon in search of Eobin, had been prevailed on to sit down and enliven the comnanv pI , ha. been delayed by difficulty rn^;:Ch:\:: book, stopped to listen. ^ Jnnth had a fair average voice and a vigorous a^Jlr""" °''"' '° '"^ *^ --"^'^ '-H» W "'*• ™°""S his fingers lightly over the 94 I'if 1 f . i it "" "'''^"^ ^^-fi m BoaEn. 'Of course not—conn" i "I had no idea," iZ af" '''^''" '°'=^-^- '" engineering and Len^r wf T! ?'° ^'^^^^'^c! •^^'^-l ^ith a passage r.?'A"' '''"' '"'^^"'o- ^""'^ ^a» a poet aa'wll as ! T ''^'^ *■"" «-• ««««e." '" ^' an admirable .A,^ ^, 'Oh, it's notoKrcnnIr i,„ «P»«ng electrician; " m' IT'" ^^P'^'^^-^ *ho sea-cook-or lis .„; j^' f^"^ ^^''^^^ to a certain ;;i« there a chorus ?» asked one Ofoonrsetherpi." ,• , -•"•outachornsTLltr '?''"—-« ^«- to M flat, b t the t ""' ' *^"-'' '' -e«-tnown one-lie" ol f " "" o''' -" ^"-^-clear^onrtrit^r^^''-- ^«t -lap e„ the b„et„„ A";* -^ the »e._ J =1. d THE BATTEBY AND THE BOILER. 95 r, II. For wery nigh a century I lived with the crab. An danced wi' the Mern^aids too. '' ^weJt m a cavern so blue, so blue, «o blue • An dwelt m a cavern so blue. ' CHOKUs.-Then the raging sea, etc. T II r. I .^oon forgot the sorrows o' the world above As through^hrw^M^^'TaW^^,:^^^^ ^,7^" ^-«' As through the world o'^lLr ^d 'dt '' '^' '^^ CH0BUs.-.Then the raging sea, etc' One day a horrid grampus caught me all bv f 1, An' swung me up to the land _ ^ ' ''^"^' ^iVrerytdvweTl ^'^^"' '"^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^"^^ ^ everybmly well may understand •dcrst.ml •! . . And a, everybody „e„ n,ay nnde sS ' ""°''' CH0B™.-Then the raging .ea, etc suoh ««■. n ' "^^ '" ^' the chorus with such effect- his voice being shrill and clear-th t he unintentionally outvellp/„li fi, . '''^af-t'iat have flpH ;„ : ^^"^'' *" "le rest, and would have fled an consternation from the saloon if he had ' »«£.u and forcibly detained by the sport- have I -'^t i*: Ill 96 h w: THE BATTEHV AND THE BOILER. one, leading our he^o as I '.h ,1 V " ' '""" tear about a ghost in tI,o !' ""^ ™°'»'''- ^ " Oh t if • i steward's cabin ?" With a lagb "S;vr "'" '''''^' «»"■•". "WeilT''' '"""""''• ^*"^ hear about it" ^^®^>-^ suppose you Irnnw" -j ^ 'Wsaghostiu.HeCtX.er""^^''''''^^' •N^o, I don't know it from r. vveji, 1 was down in Ti . qt , , cHatwithhi«.,,,J:i- ^^22^^"^^ -for he haa a very inquiring n^ind w ?"'' o-trt^^rr-^^-^-- -ted o/th: re:"s;r;r;i ''^ ''-^ '-'■ ''"> - - - earnestly t TZfl ''"'V''' 'o*^" ^' though we didn't feeUralT'.^^'""'"""-- ''-. for itwaagettiT darted :\r" ^' ^"^ -g in low tones and looj;? „ 1^"''' *" '^''^- ^J^oulders, you know^ ^ anxiously over our to er I I THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 97 "'Oh yes, I know/ replied the sportsman, with a augh ; * I have shuddered and grue-oo-'d many a time over ghost-stories. Well ? * " '/don't believe in 'em, Jeif. Why do you V asked fetumps, m a scoffing tone. "'Because I hear one every night a'most when I go down into the dark places below to fetch things Ihere s one particular spot where the ghost Jes* tap-tap-tapping continually.' " ' Fiddlededee,' said Stumps. fiaid'jer' '^'''''' '"""^ ^'"^ '^''" ^''' '^^°' ^""'''^^'' "Now, they say that Stumps is a coward, though ne boasts a good deal ." " You may say," interrupted the sportsman, •■ that Stumps is a cowaid lecame he boasts a good deal. Boastmg is often a sign of oowardice-thou^h not always." ° "Well," continued Eobin, "being ashamed to dmw back, I suppose, he agreed to accompany ••■Won 't you come too, Slagg?' said Stumps. ^0 ; I don't care a button for ghosts. Besides. I m too busy, but Wright will go. There, don't bother me !' said Jim. "I noticed, as I went last out of the room, that Slagg rose quickly and pulled a sheet oif one of the beds. Afterwards, lookini O ig back, X saw him slip 1 » 1 m\M ^1 • 98 fvi Ijli'f i i If kl THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. but .aid nothing' "" '"'°'" ="»« "-'-f- "It was getting dark, as I have said, though not dark enough for lighting the lan,p, nd in sol corners below it was as dark as n>idn ght To „ne of these places Jeffled us. -Mind how you go now,' whispered JelT- "if, he. somewhere, and there's a ho Jtoo-lo^'out- o ^ xeei uneasy. To say truth I bpcrnn f^ ^ i rr "'"'' "'""'"' -^" ^no; ng i; it w rT.' "^^ "^" =°'"^'""=- »d ea.e dowu :to;:2*""'^°"'^^'^'"^^'™-i"et:;" " ' No no,' whispered Jeff, seizing Stumps by the arm w,th a sudden grip that made him give a shot yelp, -we are at the place now. It 's ifthis da I passage. Listen ! ' ^^^ " Z^ ^" ■'^''1 °« breath and listened. For a few -conds we heard nothing, but presentl/ s,iS tapping was heard. ^ ^^^ when'fte '"I'^'^P^^'^'' "^'^^ * '- *»-, 'that ^Hen the b,g ship was buildin', one o' the plate- nveters disappeared in some hole between the UvJ THE BATTERY AND THE BOlLEIt. 99 , ekins the ship hereabouts, and his comrades, not I bem able to iind him, were obliged at last to Wvet h.m m, which they did so tight that even his ghost could not get out, so it goes on tappin', as you tear, an 13 likely to go on tappin' for ever.' "'Bosh!- whispered Stumps; thus politely in- tmiating his disbelief, but I felt him tremblin. all over notwithstanding. ° "At that moment we saw a dim shadowy whitish object at the other end of the dark passage. • Wha" I — wha —what 's that ? ' said I. "Stunips gasped. I heard his teeth chatterin. and I think his knees were knocking together. Jeff made no sound, and it was too dark to see his face. Suddenly the object rushed at us. There was no noise of footsteps- only a muffled sound and a faint hissing. I stood still, unable to move So did Jeff. I felt the hair of my head risii;' Stumps gasped again-then turned and fled. The creature, whatever it was, brushed past us with a hideous laugh. I guessed at once that it was Jim Slagg, but evidently Stumps didn't, for he uttered an awful yell that would have roused the whole Bhipif she had been of an ordinary size; at the same •"oment he tripped and fell on the thing that had upset me, and the ghost, leaping over him, vanished from our sight. "To my surprise, on returning to our cabin, we i it Iff 100 a xTtW^ AND THE BOILEa i,t hi found Slagf Hi ^e ha. left him. with both hands on his forehead poring over his book. I M-as aJtiJost as much suifwiaed to see Jeff s^t down and luu-h heartily.-»|^w. what do you Jiiuk it could have been?" "It was Slagg, of course," answered the sportiu^ electrician, ** " Yes, but what causes the tapping ?" " Oh, that is no doubt some little trifle— a chip of wood, or bit of wire left hanging loose, which shakes about when the ship heaves." A sudden tramping of feet overhead brought this ghostly discussion to an abrupt close, and caused every man in the saloon to rush on deck with a ter- rible . eling in his heart that something had gone wrom?. "Not broken ?" wked an electrician with a pale face on reaching the deck. " Oh no, sir," replied an engineer, with an anxious look, " not quite so bad as that, but a whale has taken a fancy to inspect us, and he is almost too attentive." So it was. A large Greenland whale was play- ing about the big ship, apparently under the im- pression that she was a giant of his own species, and it had passed perilously close to the cable. A second time it came up, rolling high above the waves. It went c. -e past the stern-rose again \ % I '', TWO LEVIATHANS AT THE CABLE.-Pa ffe 100. mpi^Kir i 1 ■ 1 m mm m i THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 101 and dived with a gentle flop of its great tail, which, If It had touched the cable, would have cut it like a thread. At that trying moment, as they saw its huge back glittering in the moonlight, the hearts of the helpless spectators appeared absolutely to stand still. When the monster dived its side even touched . the cable, but did not damage it. Being apparently satisfied by that time that the ship was not a friend, the whale finally disappeared in the depths vf its ocean home. 102 THE BATTErvY Am THE BOILEB. »?»¥ 4 '■J CHAPTEE X. liflT ""r'/ '"'^ ™°°*'''y -^^ """g^ -«nt. with tt e bursts of anxiety and little touches of ^larm all, t,ll the luonung of the 30th July. But on that morning an appearance of excitement in the testiu.- rooa told that something had again gone wrong. tolitemr^^'^^^^""^'"^'''^-^-^-'^- a Jl^/^^^^^S.-'f ^ ^■^""der-clap, the explosion of a powder-magazine, could not have more effectually awakened the slumberers than this abrupt stoppa"! 01 the ship's engines. Instantly all the hatchwa;' poured forth anxious inquirers. ^ "Another fault," was the reply to such. O dear!" said some. " Horrible !" said others. spirit '" '''' '' ' '''''''" ''=''^'* "'^ ''oPof"! "It is bad enough," said the chief electrician for we have found dead earth." ' THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 103 By this the chief meant to say that insulation had been completely destroyed, and that the whole current of electricity was escaping into the sea. About 716 miles had been payed out at the time, and as signals had till then been regularly received from the shore, it was naturally concluded that the fault lay near to the ship. " Now then, get along," said an engineer to one of the cable-men ; " you '11 have to cut, and splice, and test, while we are getting ready the tackle to pick up." 'I don't like that cuttin* o* the cable. Bill," said one of the sailors, as he went forward, " it seems dangerous, it do." " No more do I, Dick," replied his mate ; « I feel as if it never could be rightly spliced again." " Why, bless you, boys," said a cable-man near them, " cables is used to that now, like eels to bein* skinned; and so are we, for that matter. We think nothin' of it." Clearly the cable-man was right, for, while the picking-up apparatus was being got ready, the cable was cut in no fewer than tliree places, in order to test the coils that lay in the tanks. These being found all right, the picking-up was begun with anxious care. The moment of greatest danger was when the big ship was swinging round. For a few but apparently endless moments the cable had to I: 101 THE BATTEKr AND THE BOILER i bear the strain, and became riWrt i;i.„ u Then it was got in over tie bn I "^ '''''• •'-"e, and noise. andletVet::"'^^' xnachinery panted and rattled. ^ ^'"""""P All day the work went n„ tit- , b«t still the cable was comL in , f '"''''''''' --wjerkily,asifhalft 1 d 'o"'^'r""'"°'^' ftUy, as if changin. its m nd " f f ' ^'"'" P^"''- eq«al to two an'd a^a If Z ' T'' IT ^'' lighted it and tl,„ '"'' °^ ^^"'erna time. i^nere-at 9.50 p.m., sliip'g w:;tr:::t^;^2ht^^^^^^^^^^^ W we should m it e e w"'': ? ""' " ' Icnowu cables to stop work fe' "to L " °''™ l^new why. and then begin ai " ""''' "" "^"^ WeU now, Mr. WnVhf a- a .'oes this here ta.kin^f,lrj-!-^'o=-her an. other .ean:1hr:,X"V;r:?^ •>laeks.ith-a stalwart fellow 4 JiTurbZ THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 105 heaving the sledge-hammer with the seeming powers of Vulcan himself, and who chanced to Ibe near Eobin when he paused to rest and mop the streaming perspiration from his brow, while a weil-matched brother took his place at the anvil. "You see," he continued, "I can't make out nohow what the electricity does when it gits through the cable from Ireland to Noofun'land Of course it don't actooally speak, you know-no more does it whistle, I suppose ; an' even if it did I don't see as we 'd be much the wiser. What do it do, Mr. Wright ? You seem to be well up in these matters, an' not above explainin' of em to the likes o' us as ha'n't got much edication." Few things pleased Eobin more than being asked to impart what knowledge he possessed, or to make plain subjects that were slightly complex. He was not always successful in his attempts at elucidation, partly because some subjects were too complex tJ simplify, and partly because some intellects were obtuse, but he never failed to try. " You must know," he replied, with that earnest look which was apt to overspread his face when about to explain a difficulty, " that a piece of com- mon iron can be converted into a magnet by electrifying it, and it can be unconverted°jusfc as fast hy removing the electricity. Well, suppose I 106 THE iSATTERY AKD THE BOHEB. have a bit of iron i„ America, with an .U., ■ battery i„ Ireland, or ^ce ursa^^' '^'''"" vv ot s wicey wersa, Mr. Wiirrht ?» -re-i„ short, I mean the ba ^ryt^ i A ' " " and the bit of iron in Ireland " ° "'"'" m wicey ersa ; but go on, Mr. Wright " -.beJt;tri^r~:::rdra 7 eiectiic battery m Ireland. Well thof makes a maonpf- nf if ^ ^i ' *^^^* being attrac::rlil„r ^riT'^" "^'^'^' wi. from my battery b/LI!;^^ ::—::: iree Again I connect the battery, and the needle a:es to the remagnetised bit of iron. Thas aTfa a^ I choose, I can make the needle wa. a;d bvl -pie arrangement we can make it ^.X^: ieft, so many beats right or Ipff . u repreeenting letters. B^ Lyinjlirrj ryr::irr°"'°"^--- -- ulcan , I ve got a hazy notion that by touchiu' THE BATTEliY Ax\D THE BOILER. 107 and removin' the touch from a conductor, connect- ing and disconnecting wires and batteries, you can make electricity flow just as you let on or stop water by turnin' a stopcock—" "Not exactly," interrupted Robin, "because, you see, electricity does not really flow, not bein- a substance." ^ "Not a substance, sir ! w'y, w'ot is it then ?" " Like light and sound, it is merely an effect, an influence, a result," answered Eobin. « We only use the word Jlow, and talk of electricity as a fluid, for convenience' sake." "Well, w'otever it is or isn't," continued the puzzled Vulcan, gazing at vacancy for a few seconds " when you Ve set it agoin'~or set agoin' the things' as sets It agoin'-you make a suspended needle ^vag, and when you stop it you make the needle stop waggin', and by the way in which that there needle wags you can spell out the letters o' the alphabit-so many wags to the right bein' one letter so many wags to the left bein' another letter, an' so on,-so that, what between the number o' wa-s an' the direction o' the waggin's, you->you come ior to~the>"^, I'm lost again, an' I must go in for another spell wi' the sledge, so we '11 have to tackle the subject another time, Mr. Wright." Thus speaking, Vulcan seized the ponderous tammer m his powerful frra.cn c^r^A r.,.....^.^ .. if: 108 THE BATTERY AXD THE BOILER. beat form into a maq-? of m^ • greater ease than I .?"'"" "«'=" "'* ™»ch In the discovery of the "fanlt ■> . j .- out of the injured part of «" ,7'' *^ <=««'''g tours were lost tf °''"'' '«'™ty-six Anderson 1 o '.i^edrr: '"" ''"^ ^^P'»- n>mds and bodies of th "° ''*' ^"^''^ '''« ^ere subjected to a ""'''' """^ ^^^^''-^i^--" period. Chad s^. 'T^k '''"" '"^ '''^ -"« j-iitjy naa scarcelv bprniri +r. i >, ^i again, and to congratulate poI« ''' ^'"'^^ to continue the vCe in ' °° '""^ ^"'-^ ^hoclc of alarm byrh; e,! ^'"^ "' ""'"" the dram, while it j! , "^'"'^ "^'"S »» had become entanX?' '"""^ """"""^ "^ -"« ^estroyed/^r :ftnavr;ie:'':„rt «ai7ELtrlrCV'''":.~- «"'"< -me; youlooS'" '""''''' ''^"" '•<'«- ^trr^rn^riieirtrrr did our little hero. He had "S;:;:':^;^- a Imng creature, and to watch :ver it. rm: THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 109 about it, as if it were a dear friend in extreme danger. The enthusiastic boy was actually becom- ing careworn and thin, for he not only performed all the duties required of him with zealous applica- tion, but spent his leisure, and much of the time that should have been devoted to rest, in the careful study of his idol-intensely watching it and all that was in the remotest way connected with it. " You 're a goose," said Stumps, in passing, when he heard Eobin decline to retire as Smith had advised him. " It may be so, and if so, Stumps, I shall con- tinue to cackle a little longer on deck while they are examining the fault." That examination, when finished, produced a considerable sensation. The process was conducted in private. The condemned portion was cut in junks and tested, until the faulty junk was dis- covered. This was untwisted until the core was laid bare, and when about a foot of it had been so treated, the cause of evil was discovered, drawing from the onlookers an exclamation of horror rather than surprise, as they stood aghast, for treachery seemed to have been at work 1 " An enemy in the ship !" murmured one. "What ship without an enemy?" thout^ht another. ° That mischief had been intended was obvious |! )' ■] i: ■^agi I 3 |i no r"E BATOKy AND THE BOaER '« « piece of iron wire hri„i.* »We« at one end a7\ 1° '' '^ "="' '^''h •"her, had been driv " . ! !^ °«' »^"' "' the f the cable, 30 as T ^ Jf ' ^.^-S" *« centre '^"'•aing 8 leak, or conH! ! "'' ^"es-thus cniii,i 1, conauctor, mto the w» ti, could be no doubt that if i, a ^ ^^ere accident; neither had ,>\ 1 ""^ «"' "^«'« V ^'^ -w„g or :;,';!' orti'r r^ ''"^"=' case the testings for cont^-n!V '' ^" '" ">at |3 presence b^fore^rrr::;^^^^^^^^ The p:ece of wire, too was tL expedition. «'Wch formed the pro eo^L ""' «'>e as that the exact diameter of th',r"''' """" '' ^^ "^ *'>-arkofacutonhrMrnLh'''"^""'''^» ^JW had entered It IZl '"P' ^''«^« "'e Voneofthemenwo:l'r?r-'''"^°''^^ «t the time the portion f * '° "'^ *"■'• -7.thiswasthr::;r---^-trange work there when the previor-'fl,? ' '^^" "' "Call all the men aft" . """""^'^ ' q«ic% folWe, ,,^3 ,. J^; -3 the order tl.at The piece of cable was handed t„ fl, were allowed to examine it in I, ""' '"^ '^"^ so in great surprise mill^ ..""'• ^"^^^ dM "It's bin done a^ "''=""^«°"- «'^^-)fulhand,''idJ ^''^^'''"''^---h.a "/^no^•''^'"'""''^-""'- °"' ^■'"«^"'H"that^.„fe,, t d a si rr P' THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 1 ] 1 men expressed satisfaction when the last fault occurred, an' I've heard say that we've got enemies to the makers o' the cable aboard." The man thus darkly referred to, whoever he was, of course looked as innocent and as indignant as the most virtuous among them ; the guilt, There- fore, could not be brought home to him. Woe betide him if it had been, for there was a serious talk of lynching some one among the wrathful men each of whom was now subject to suspicion. In these trying circumstances, the chief enr^ineer accepted an offer made by the gentlemen in the ship, to take turn about in superintending the men at work in the tank paying out the cable. " It's not pleasant, of course," repHed one of the men, speaking for the rest, " but we feel it to be justifiable, as well as necessary, and are very glad the plan has been adopted." Once more the big ship went merrily on her way, and the great cable went down to its ocean bed so smoothly and regularly, that men be-an to talk of speedy arrival at Heart's Content-their destination in Kewfoundland-which was now only about 600 miles distant ; but their greatest troubles still lay before them. About eight o'clock in the morning of 2d August another bad fault was re- ported, and they had once again to resort to the wearisome process of picking up. 1^ m iiiiii hi %'1 113 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. fastened to its irnn .„„ , ■'^'""=»"e was cut, in over the p n " Ti, '""t '" ''^ •'°''' ^^ «^' ^covered, the Lr^ r '"''' °' '° '""^ been a little o'ut f'oT/andr ''' ""'"^^ «»' With tie tits hi ° '""'''""S "-' -^"S -oved. li- ^aL X''f ""^ -™ drifted so that it «,«/ • ^'"'''" ^"s^"^™ cable fro. ct; 7 airr^*" ^'^^^"' '"^ impossible was it°t„° '''' ^^'- ^"-"ly should be too ia The ^ '"' ''^ ^''^"' shifted. .aUin/rtte^'ire^ 11 T'^l' chain shackle and wire-Z Itt ^ ^ ^ ^ ""' cable can,e i„ o.er the wlTe at t'h K '° "' considerable violence An ''°"' ^'^ cable parted, ^e; thLl '" t?"^ ''"' ''' one bound, flashed in^ff ^P™' *"''' '^•"h Now, at last If, Tr"" '"" "'^^eared I had arrived tI f "'""'" ^° ""•"='' <^'«aded labour had been lej; ''"' '"«'^'» "' -"- loat. and witlit ^ / noT" , 't ^^"'^^ ^»= thousands of pounds b„ tT\ "^ '"""^^'''' °' thousands of peoole . ^^'^ °^ ^""'^'^'^^ "^ -"ccess were^tr ;.„:X'-^^^^^^ A g'lle did not fvas cut, im and got , it was d been les got to be 1 wrone„t on board the G eat liastern ? Most of the gentlemen on board-never dreamin. of catastrophe-were at lunehoon, when Mr. Cannini^ entered the saloon with a look that caused ever^ one to start. ^ "It is all overl_it is gone!" he said, and hastened to his cabin. Mr. Field, with tlie composure of faith and courage though very pale, entered the saloon immediately alter, and confirmed the chief enW- ueers statement. " "The cable has parted," he said, "and has gone overboard." From the chiefs down even to Stun.ps and his fraternity all was blank dismay ! As for our hero Eobin Wnght, he retired to his cabin, Bung himself on his bed, and sobbed as though his heart would break. But such a state of things could not last. Men's spirits may be stunned and crushed, but they are seldom utterly overwhelmed so long as life endures. ^ Eecovering from the shock, Mr. Canning set about the process of grappling for the lost cable ^'f persistent energy. But fishing in water two -m a „al. miles deep ,s no easy matter. Kever- fl Pli I 114 THE BAimy AND THE BOILEE. tlV '""• ^»"^'" ""<> «=--. and over again, were two monster hooks in the shai^e!^ grapnels let down to the bottoni of the sea 1 1, . iron rnY\a f^^ T , ''^"^> witn an The p an of ' "' ''"' ''"^' ^''^"^™ ^^ <» "-' ! on tt ''' ^"' '" SO back a few miles on their course and then dra" across tl,. , position of the lost treasure. ° ''°°"° for!!n.f T ^°""' '''"'"'^ Sood observations had Jortunatelybeen obtained bvCantnln A , before the accident. ^ ^ " ^'"^'''""' J"^" Two hours did the grapnels descend before thev readied the bottom of the sea • All • , '^'""^ cable-layers fish with 7 , °'" ''"' *''^ •^'=''' "Sh, with the characteristic patienpA Of fishermen, but did not get a nibble. W "oriiing however, there was a decided bite and tiie line became taut. ' "" : Slf " '" r^'^^^<^ - «"«>--st eagerly. caut^::i; "^ '°° -<- -P^ed a philosU Smith' wZ '' ' '" "' ""*'■' ^"SS-''^" El'-ezer smith, who was a natural doubter sportiL' J''f '' " ''' ^'=''^'' -a-serpent," said the o^;^e:!:w '^T.r^-'; ^-eC a matter, o"'^^^- it It IS a loose object the strain :;' '':'^' - '' "-3 the surface, bit il" be O^ cable the strdn Win certainly in,,,,,, J„^;^';;« THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 115 weight will be greater the more of it we lift ofi' the bottom." Earnestly did every one regard the dynamometer which told the exact amount of strain on the iron fishing-Une, and to their joy the strain increased until the object caught had been raised three- quarters of a mile from the bottom. Then a swivel gave way, and the cable went back to its ocean-bed. But those plucky engineers were not to be over- come by a first failure. Having started with five miles of fishing-line, they proceed at once to make a second attempt. "Oh, I do hope they will hook it again!" said Robin Wright. " And so they will," said Ebenezer Smith. And so they did. Late in the afternoon of the JMonday following, their fish was again hooked and raised a full mile from the bottom, when another swivel gave way, and down it went a second time! The fishing-line was now getting short It be- hoved them to act with more caution. New bolts were put in each shackle and swivel, and the cap- 8tan was increased in diameter, being belted with thick plates of iron. To effect these alterations the forges had to be erected on deck, and at night these cast a lurid glare on the busy workers, bringing out every near object in vivid relief against the ebony background of space behind, while they made prepar- ij 11 -i 116 THE BAlmv AND THE BOIIEB. fckea, .0 that it cou^nl 'at J" """ °"^ °^ "' the result waa-„otWn " ""^"''"S ^'^«' '^'"1 t''ei:t""Ti:rsi ''^° "'^'^- ^' - ^ •>« «hai«.hadtobe;«aet::,tl '';rt shreds aud patches the cabl. ,! ' *'''"« °^ and brought ud np»!l , , ^ """^ """"-^ J^«»ked the line gate '." 1:="'" ''™''-'' ^^^o^us, .ho„ 'ayertt 'err -<^-- "-* these eable- --.earOS0.rLStr;:erV--'/- had resolved that thp fi • ^"^'^^''- ^^^'^s Pield «'o"eit.astheitU;eltrr'^^^^^^^^ -ble had been so nearl/a s^'esf tl t 'T °' "'" -'^. -oh as J^rasse/GoocriX'Ta:^' n- Pender, and others, at once came f r^^d 7 "' these were the contractors Glass 17 tr "« The cast it one of le.of its else, and as to be , and its lat other thing of hooked s, wliea B went Eastern •andly, cable- 3d, for Field —and )f the pital- )bell, nonor who but 'ield ush THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 1 ] 7 the matter on, was one of ten subscribers who each contributed £10,000. Thus £230,500 were privately subscribed before a prospectus was issued. Our little hero was at the laying of that (1866) cable, when the same great ship, with the same captain and most of the engineers and electricians who had gone out on the previous voyage, landed the end of the 1820-mile rope on the shores of Newfoundland, on Friday, 27th July. He cheered with the rest in wild enthusiasm when the Great Eastern dropped anchor in " Heart's Content." He accompanied Captain Anderson and the officers of the fleet when they went in a body to the little church there, to thank God for the successful com- pletion of the great enterprise. He was present when the big ship, having received from other ships 8000 tons of coal, and some six hundred miles of the old cable, went back to mid-ocean to grapple for the lost cable of 1865. He assisted and watched with the deepest interest the amazing efforts of scientific and mechanical power put forth in the mere matter of dragging for the cable from the bottom, and observed with reverence, amounting almost to awe the great moving spirit of the whole affair, the' indomitable Mr. Field, as he went to the bow and sat on the rope to feel the quiver which told him it was dragging the bottom of the sea two miles below. He was present with Wo.,in^ -,u^-i_- , ^ ' ■ "i"^-ag ^iiCuks and eyes and m BATTEHV a™ T,m BOa^R. bated breath, when, on the nth of . cable was caught, dragged to J, "°''^'' *« actually .een, and broietd sank a ""'"'• '"^ «ver-though not so deep as tl !? f ° '^ '^''^P «^ ^^'^ it go .' He shared in f ^ "'' °^ '^"'^ '^'"> followed, and in the final tri T"^ ^'^'y^ "'at ^as fairly oa„ght and at L ^ "'"' "' *=^''« carried to the testing-rooJlr^'' °" ''<'-'', and ^-' i' should prov: hi etrr ""'^'"<''"' -ugh treatn:ent, and his i 11 :?»"' ''^"^ roar of enthusiastic cheeZ th!f ^ '^ '" ^^«" *« nouncement that the old cabl Z f f'"^ ""= «" But all this we i„„!r, '' '''" «''^o! back to old EnXr 1 ::"' n^'"^ "■« -"- -"W have rushed-ayl;^ «-at Eastern the flashing cable itself cotu ^ '"^ ""^^^"gc on - -ore subtle than zn te td Th T' '" '"'•'«' •ti^an even the Atlantic Te trapl '° '' ™'"^' -f /Jll «lli ?ust, the ice, and deep as ose who Ks thafc * cable fd, and ement, by its II the le an- THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEa 119 CHAPTER XI. HOME I "At last !" exclaimed Eobin, bursting into his old home and seizing his motlier in his arms Eobin had just returned home after the layins of the 1866 Atlantic Cable, as briefly narrated in the last chapter. It may be said with some truth that the old home became, during the next few days, a private Innatic asylum, for its inmates went mHdly mad with joy. . Chief among the lunatics was uncle Eik the retired sea-captain. That madman's case, however was not temporary derangement, like the others'^ Ifc was confirmed insanity, somewhat intensified just then by the nephew's return. "So, young man," he said, one evening at supper when the family traveller was dilating to open - eyed-and-mouthed listeners, "you actually believe that these cables are goin' to work ?" " Of course I do, uncle. They are working now. find "•i"o v./%«^ 1 • (• or oiiu —8 Dccii wurivingror many years." I 120 THE BATmv AND TUE BOILER. " Well, now, the guHibiHtv „■ Btupeudous ,■' returned Mc "^^-n T ^^^P'^ " Kobin, that everythir.., . " ' y°" l'""^^ -d then, soonef ',::"' """^^ ^» -ti.e. redic^u,„„s thing bursts ]^^;~'''"''''y ^"^ner-the "But, uncle, vou l^or^ +t ''Jl lie was of the sim. . • """"""^'^ against his At fl,,^ '"^ ^'^'"e opinion still. . , *''=" "lofflent cousin Sam oi, • . with an eager, excited look 'P'"" '■'*<"-«'J "It'saU settled," he sairl * i • hand. ' '^"'' '''''"ig Eobin by the " What is settled ?" astpd M tw - anxiously. ^^""^ ^«- bright, somewhat "Mother, don't be angry ■' said Rnv , land on his mother's should^ . "' ^"^'"S his "^ -ant to have JuyoTCT''''''''''-'^^ to-day, but uncle Eik w^h K "'"' ^ '^*°'« *" O-ve it and everythin! 1'" "'""~>ve spirit ffly head-" •* ° '^'' '^<=«Pt cables out of "Well, but what is it?- ,- , impatiently; " why do you teen """'"^ ^<"« " I We some prL„c " ^^ ' '" ™^P«''«« ?" P>osp.ct, mother, of being appointed THE BATXrilY AND THE BOILER. 121 i t: • ! to go with a telegraph-laying party to the East, but Sam is wrong when he says it is all settled. What- ever he may have to tell us, it is by no means settled until I have your and father's opinion." "Well, you horribly good but ungrateful boy," returned Sam, "it is at least settled as far as I have do with it. I have made application at head- quarters, and they are willing to take you on my recommendation. Moreover, I am myself going." " You're joking, Sam !'' exclaimed Eobin, with a flush of joy ; " I thought you had neither intention nor desire to go far from home." "You thougi.t wrong, Eobin. I always had desire, and now have intention— and I go as second in command. So, Miss Mayland," he continued, turning to Madge, "I shan't be able to continue those electrical lectures which you were so fond of once, but have lately seemed to grow tired of." Madge was at that tender age of budding woman- hood when sensitive girls are apt to misunderstand a jest. She blushed, stammered something, then forced a laugh, and turned to speak to Robin; but Sam perceived that tears rose to her eyes, and he instantly sank in his own estimation to the con- dition of a loathsome reptile. "WeU, now, that is good news," cried Eobin, applying himself to the viands on the table with "You cannot have the smailest u. /:.coi/. \ ! i i f' i .' ; ' 123 """ "^'''^^ A.VI, ,„, ,„,^^^ a huge oyster. ^°'''"8 '''^ Wessi„g with "Are any labourers tn „„ -x, ::j-rtvvopie:r;xr''-'"-'cedi^oii„. ^^t^dSsCtaipr ': ''-'' -' «-• « """sMerablepartof th?p TT "''' '"^"^' ^^'^ iard-worlcing, will;./";;, ;"7' ^"'^ - ^ ^^t-rate. «n1 advocate," .aid'C « b T T ?° """ ' '""-" cioose the men." ' '^^^^ ''o Power to " yes, yon have, Sam Tf appointed, you can »«. L ^°" """''' S^' «« -;yor,if London.:; 'rcr'"^^^"'"'' ^- «Str\"''°""^'^'"^-°butrj,try- J3ut you have r^ni- -.r^^- ^ n •^- ""er are going to leZylV^ru'T '' " "-' laj'Mg down lines in TurW ,, T ' "^^^ "« of. and telegraph to India L'J °'''^' " *""^«J ■ ^" I ^-owia thatweTh t" ?" '''"°'' ^'• somewhere." "^ =<=n' to the East THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 133 "Euh! '.0 1 Why doe. nobody ask for »« opmion on .he matter?" said u.de Eik, as he gazed at the company over a goose drumstick, ^hich was obviously not tender. "Your opinion, brother," said Mr. Wright, "is so valuable, that no doubt your nephew ha bee, keeping it to the last as a sort of tit-bit-eh, ;^ Well, uncle; come, let us have it," said Kobin. You dont deserve it," returned liik, with a wrench at the drumstick, "but you shall have it all the same free, gratis. Was this bird fed on gutta- percha shavings, sister Nan ?" which, replied Mrs. Wright blandly JlZf'lT'""'^ '^' <=-Pt-n,'. you youngsters Ta f '/ "'"■ "°"" "' "™"S.and you'll get half-drowned in the sea, roasted in the East smothered in the desert, eaten alive by cannib ' use up by the plague, poisoned by sclents, ad tee-totally ruined altogether. Then you '11 come homew^th the skin of your teeth L-notH™ , <*Utoning , but we are grateful to vou or prophesying that we shall return even thZh a such light clothing." ° n.t .. happen, continued the captain, OT I»f ^! I 124 "" """^"'^ ATO TUE BOIMn. regarding the other drumst,Vk,-,v '>»" may take the worf „ !„ "? '?■"« ''^^"''"on, ^'-1 i" the good old tnl ? t '"" '°' '' ^ '-« »'l these Be,v.fan.led not! ' ""'' ^ '""'"' 'hat -and that •s MloTl "' 8"«' '» bu«t up Whether that was wt„t "'aa "'hat came ofit remain, to be wetji. ¥l i i THE battehy and the boiler. 125 CIIAPTEK XIL A QRBAT DTNAMO-ELBCTMC 8EA-FI0HT. A FEW weeks after the utterance of Captain Kik's famous prophecy, Kobin, Sam, Stumps, and Slac., found themselves on board of a large submarine cable steam-ship, named the Triton, ploughing the billows of the Southern Ocean. A few weeks later and they were drawing near to that great concourse of islands known as the Malay Archipelago, where nature is exceptionally beautiful, but man is rather vile. At all events that region of the ocean lying to the south of China' has been long infamous for the number and ferocity of Its pirates, who, among the numerous islands with their various channels, creeks, and rivers, havj found a suitable field for their bloody and remorse- less game. " D' you know I don't believe in pirates ?" said Hobm to Sara, as they stood at the bow of the cable-ship, conversing about these sea-robbers. . " They believe in you nevertheless, as you 'd find W I 126 r«y -''^^ of the vei 1. r '"'""^'^ '"'-' the '-«th3 Of leather p„4U::;7j7-eraI deck, and fire-branche, n- ? *'""» *''« them. '"'^ <" "o^^les attached to ^'-•tc.otofe::tr;;;:";«^-"'-w. the Union Jack. Don'f t"k a ^ T f ° "^ "O'se and smoke th«n ? """"' «"fe stand?" "'^" mischief_d>e under- Tlie officer to whom fi,;„ "dding, however in „! f '''""^ obedience, ^-v„nderstani';o::rur:tr"'«'-'-"''^ '-0U3 cannonad , „r ir,.' T''" ''"'> "-' vigour, using all the Z„ . ^ " '"^^'"^ *"h J-^dan^geltdron^rrST^^"' t»"e, until at last a hoii ^ "^^ ^^'' «^»^e c-h through thTLiriX": r ^ ^•^■" a most sonorous bang I ' ^"*°'' ^"'b A*— THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 120 " That '11 do now," cried the captain, « cease firing and haul down the colours." If the captain had said, " Cut away the rudder and heave the boilers overboard," he could scarcely have caused more surprise in his crew, who by his orders, had assembled on deck, every man bemg armed with musket, cutlass, and revolver His orders were strictly and promptly obeyed however. ' By this time the light breeze had fallen and a dead calm prevailed, so that the sails of the pirate flapped idly against her masts, and her crew were seen busily lowering her boats. "We could have soon got out of her way if oup engmes had not broke down," growled the captain as he went toward the front of the quarter-deck and looked down on the armed men in the waist "My lads," he said, nhe blackguards are Malay pn-ates. They are lowering their boats, and will be alongside in less than half an hour. I don't Deed to teU you what you '11 have to expect if they take us. We must beat 'em oif or die; for it's better to die sword in hand than to be tortured or strangled. Those of you, hoMj^er, who prefer the latter modes of going under may show the white feather and enjoy yourselves in your own way Now, lads, you know me. I expect obedience to* orders to the letter. I hate fighting and bloodshed i 1 130 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. I 'l -so don't kill unless you cau't help it Also take c„ ,^ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ . on the sides with either finger or foot. If you do you II repent it, for electricians don't like their gear handled." Turning abruptly round, for the oars of the approaching boats could now be distinctly heard the captain asked Sam if his batteries were well' cliarged. "Chock-full, sir," replied Sam with a broad grin; there s not a bit of iron all round the ship tha a^man could lay hold of without receiving his " Good," said the captain, turning to the chief engineer; "are the hoseattached and the boilers 'Bubblin' up iit to burst, sir. IVe weighted the aafety valves to give it force ?" Without another word the captain stepped to the port gangway, and took off Iiis hat to the advancin! pirates. The pirate captain, not to be outdone n cvility. took off his fe. and bowed as tl o ranged alongside. The captain carefully held ou one of the man-ropes to his enemy. He ^rasped ■'t and seized the other. ° ^ '' An instantaneous yell of the most apnalli„„ -ture issued from his mouth, and never'b iTe' since ship-building began, were a couple of 72 THE BATTERY AND TUE BOILER. 131 ropes thrown off with greater violence ! The pirate captain fell back into his boat, and the captain of the steamer stepped promptly back to avoid the storm of bullets that were let fly at his devoted head. At the starboard gangway the chief mate performed the same ceremony to another boat with a like result. Tlie pirates were amazed and enraged, but not cowed. With a wild cheer they made a simul- Vmeous dash at the ship's sides all round. With a wilder yell they fell back into their boats, — shocked beyond expression ! A few of them, how- ever, chanced to lay hold of ropes or parts of tlie vessel that v t: not electrified. These gained the bulwarks. " Shove in some more acid," said the chief elec- trician in suppressed excitement to Sam Shipton, who stood beside the batteries below. " Stir up the fires, lads," cried the chief engineer to his men at the boilers beneath, as he stood hold- ing a fire-nozzle ready. Intensified yells all round told that chemical action had not been applied in vain, while the pirates who had gained the bulwarks were met with streams of boiling water in their faces. Heroes may and do face shot and shell coolly without ilinchimx. but no hero ever faced boiling water coollv. The pirates turned simultaneously and received the r 'i'-X I 132,. THE BATTEET AND THE BOILER. ■ ^'ke eel, and songU rjl' ^[f ""'' ">« ^''J- «'ith discomfiture an/ ® ^ '"*• S^a^^^g a^aault a second MmT n.' ? "'' ''"" "'^ -,--^the hot shower and the vigour of tl ^f '"^ "^ ""> only equalled b, the uneX ^t T. T whose miraculous bounds and n1 ^ i "" '^"*' -ne that is altogether indesit^^^ '""''' ' -ine crew nf fi^/» j. . «nable to fi.ht evel f t^e'^T' '''''-'°''"'- -doing. The dark-skinned ca^tiT""™" '" ^ed in the face from .uppressTCr ^''^-- ---~=::strSrf; -'^^^^^^ the fight-if we may so cl t f '''"="^' ^"""S been toiling might and n^^^ tZ T'^T ""'' of their engine-room; the broken T '^^''^ engine had been repai^d or r ^ '"" "' ''"^ of life had returned to the ma ' ' ' '^"''' «™t revolution tl.e screw ouclT:?; '" "' P-e-boat and turned it ups^dotrtol: THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 133 boat at^the bow was run over. The crews of both swam away like ducks, with their long knives between their teeth. The other boats hauled off. " Now, captain," cried Robin Wright, who, during the whole time, had stood as if transfixed, with a cutlass in one hand, a pistol in the other, and his mouth, not to mention his eyes, wide open ; " Now, captain, we shall get away without shedding a drop of blood 1" " Yes," replied the captain, « but not without inflicting punishment. Port your helm—haT-d a port!" " Port it is, sir— hard over," replied the man at the wheel, and away went the steamer with a grand circular sweep which speedily brought her, bow-on, close to the pirate vessel. "Steady— so!" said the captam, at the same time signalling « fuU steam" to the engine- room. The space between the two vessels quickly decreased. The part of the pirate crew which had been left on board saw and understood. With a howl of consternation, every man sprang into the sea. Next moment their vessel was cut almost in two and sent iathoms down into the deep, whence It rose a limp and miserable remnant, flattened out upon the waves. w w Wi>'i-' i« I V i 134 THE BATTERY AND THE BOMB. nod, we U leave them to get home the best way they can. A boat voyage in such fil weather ,n these latitudes will do them good " away luto the regions of the far East. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 135 CIIAPTEE XIII. TEI.LS OP A. SUDDEN AND UNLOOKED-FOR EVENT. How often it has been said, " Good for man that he does not know what lies before him." If he did, we fear he would face his duty with very different feelings from those which usually animate him. Certain it is that if Eobin Wright and Sam Shipton had known what was before them — when they stood one breezy afternoon on the ship's deck, casting glances of admiration up at the mountain waves of the southern seas, or taking bird's-eye views of the valleys between them — their eyes would not have glistened with such flashes of delight, for the fair prospects they dreamed of wcro not destined to bo realised. « What these prospects were was made plain by their conversation. "Won't it be a splendid opportunity, Sam, to become acquainted with all the outs and ins of telegraphy, this laying of lines from island to isiaud in the China Seas V* 3! I «'ii":- fr *f (. H 136 THE BATTERY AKD THE BOILEB. -o.g the .ha*3 and co;, "r!;!^^^^ ''^'^ ^-° By the way," said fiobin "f, ;* f ., Monkeys may prove to h. '™* *''*' «3 in these rLolr thin ""' '-"Wesome to at home?" ° ^'° '^"'"^^ ^""l «wws are " Of coarse it is, mv bov ti„ that on some of o;r Indian lin^T T °''" ''^"•' and other heavy creatureT ' °"'' '""™'- broken .own the ^1 bTtaT"*™" ^""'^' costing on the wires ?° ^ "^ '^'"'''' ■""« eviitL'r j; r* "-r" -^* - ^ta,. W.bysub^recabL"''™^'^''-^^'--" w;thun„s„ale:itne! r::;n;To7r"»" ^hat was the matter with him r ' ° """" ^'^^^ ■ "Poor fellow! you'd scarcely believe it t. i , at hm," replied Eobin "but th! T ^^ home-sick." "' ^ ^^'^ '^ actually " Home-sick I Wjiv, how 's th-^t i Tf only a few days out fl pir '"" 'f ''^ -« '-.I could understand it,it'rrth:;r.: THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 137 now drawing near to the China Seas, I should have thought—" " Oh, that 's easily explained," interrupted Robin. " This is his mother's birthday, it seems, a day that has always been kept with much rejoicing, he tells me, by his family, and it has brought back home and home-life with unusual force to him. With all his rough off-handedness, Slagg is a tender-hearted, affectionate fellow. Somehow he has taken it into his head that this voyage will be disastrous, and that he will never see his mother again. I had great difficulty in showing him the unreasonable- ness of such a belief." '•' No doubt you had. It is unreasonable beliefs that people usually hold with greatest tenacity," replied Sam^ with a touch of sarcasm. " But tell me, have he and Stumps never once quarrelled since leaving England ?" "Never." " I *m amazed — they are so unlike in every way." " You would not be surprised if you knew them as I do," returned Eobin. " Ever since Slagg gave him that thrashing on board the Great Eastern in 1865, Stumps has been a changed man. It saved him from himself, and he has taken such a liking to Slagg that nothing will part them. It was that made me plead so hard for Stumps to be taken 138 THE BATTEUY AND THE BOII^ with US, because I felt ""tliout him, and althoush sure Slagg would not i7 -f out Stumps, we couM well without Slag^ go ye luioht easily have '^ not have got on so I 'm not so sure of of him is too hio-h that. ^yhoy. Your >^ate youth. Indeed, if though I admit him tob( it were not so, he opinion I a first- should "ot be here.-Was that a;h v^r r '' '■'' "^^> I think so r„r\^°'''°"8^''^«? r;?::s- '••--... -.r: " PVana h^ 'o n ^® *^ ^"^ ^aste." right." ^^' ^^^ granted it 's all tia acts like pie-cru.t .u. ? ^^'' "^^J^^e, Feciust does on human vitals." THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 109 The low deep voice of the captain was heard at this moment ordering a reef to be taken in tlie top- sails, and then it began to strike Eobin and Sam that the breeze was freshening into something like a gale, and that there were some ominous-looking clouds rising on the windward horizon. Gazing at this cloudbank for a few minutes, the captain turned and ordered the top-sails to be close-reefed, and most of the other sails either furled or reduced to their smallest size. He was in good time, and the vessel was ready for the gale, when it rushed down on them hissing like a storm-fiend. The good ship bent before the blast like a willow, but rose again, and, under the influence of able seamanship, went bravely on her course, spurning the billows from her swelling bows. " What a thing it is to know that there is a good hand at the helm in times of danger!" remarked Sam as he and our hero stood under the shelter of the starboard bulwarks, holding on with both hands to the rigging, while the rushing waves tosF^d them on high or let them drop in the troughs of the seas ; " I should feel safe with our captain in any circum- stances." "So should I," said Eobin with enthusiasm, liis eyes glistening with delight as he gazed on the an LTV ocMnu O if HO THE BATTtRV AND THE bqILEB. ft -wlmt more could be desired » XL "'''"'"'• peril was close at hand ^^''«'*«'«'. deadly day and dies leavilt M ''"' ""'"^^ ''' l^"'* i'3 kind to b;i^T h fr Lr"r'"° ^''""''«''- "^ it^ P-decessor's i ;i'::; "?''"■ "^^'^ ™"8 -"1 Pi'eon pile Cr^^f;: J^^-"--. wakes a mountain fk , ' '' ""'' "^ mass of its submart "dm? " """'' ''^<' ^--'l »- 'i>iton bad r r r;r 'r ''^ ^^'^^-^''^^ traversed that sea withoutt • "^'^ ™" '>^'' mountain, and ..Ti^tZ^T"'^"''''' '''^' 'nattered, for the mountain S ^ "°'''' ""' '"'^« fathom, below the surte p Z" "'' """^ had gone forth Th» "'"' ">« decree «-d\ad ct; aSuVlr?" °' ^^^"*' P-''- mountain summit andth!"'"' ^''^^^" *« reduced to feet The t' ""''"' ^"'"^^^ ^^ad been mighty billowlsh^elStrfa:;'^*"^"^* coral peak rose near the bo torn „f f '""'■ ^'^ beyond, and down on it^A ' ''ater-hollow an awful crash, "''* ^'"^ ^^''' ^'* THE BATTERY AND TUE BOILER. 141 » i blow, and the ship passed swiftly on. but there could be no mistaking the significance of that shock. An involuntary shout of alarm from some,— a gasp, half of surprise, half of horror, from others,~then a rush of active effort when the captain gave orders to man the pumps. There was urgent need for haste. The mass of coral rock had stuck in the hole it Lad made, else had they gone down in a few minutes. As it was, the water rushed in furio^sIy, 60 much so that the' captain detailed a party c fir en tc construct a raft, while the rest relieved em- other at the pumps! Ko doubt he was partly urged to this course by the consideration that a vessel weighted with telegraph cables and other heavy material connected therewith could not float long in a leaky condition. " Keep close to me, Eobin ; we must sink or swim together." It was Sam who spoke. He was very pale, but his firmly-compressed lips, showed no sign of' un- manly fear. liobin, on the contrary, taken by surprise, and too inexperienced to correctly estimate sudden danger, was flushed with the feeling that now was the time to do and dare whatever should be required of him I Th-y went to the pumps to- gether, where Stumps and Slagg were already at work with many others. It is surprising how fast and hard men will toil 142 TOE BATTEEY AKD THE BOIIEB. wlien life depends on the result Tl, like activity abonf fi "^ "'^s » "«'- tf'ey cut Tawed , f'^^'"'^'- ^-^^ his mates as and launched ve' h i f" w ""' '' "" ^-'^^ strongest cable 1 ^f C, T' "'^" ^^"'^ J-itinsuehweathe;l:;^;:rlP-!"^' this they had lashed some casl-/nf i ""^ P-isio^s to it before wS "' ^"^ '"' »'''- &t.U they laboured witli unfla..in. resol ,f < -insured, but a vT; f 'l/.f ^ ' ""^" magic wires whi.h f " '"^ ""^"^ *»e ^— ,l::ts:rtdr1rr^-- -' "Himately arrest. tl.;L^7;r 2; /^ wgeo.:er, whatever happens" ^'"^ THE BATTEBY AND THE BOILER. 143 find it to believe in continued safety. It seemed so impossible to Eobin, in bis inexperience, that the strong and still buoyant vessel which had borne them so long and bravely should sink! Nevertheless, like the rest, he laboured with a will. Slagg took the opportunity to give a similar caution to his friend Stumps. " She 's sinking, sir," said the carpenter, wl j had been sounding the well, to the captain, about an hour later. " I know it ; stand by to have the raf^ hauled alongside. Knock off now, lads, there's no use in pumping any more." The men ceased, with a deep sigh, and by that act the death-warrant of the cable-ship was signed. During the next quarter of an hour the crew were busy slipping down the cable that held the raft. A few ran below to fetch small articles that they valued, but by that time the vessel was so low in the water, that there was little time to spare, and the captain began to urge haste. "Now then, lads, over the side with you," he said, chancing to look at Sam Shipton as he spoke ! That spirit of heroism which induces men to resolve to be the last to quit a sinking ship, came over Sam just then, and he shrank back. He and his chief were in charge of the telegraph apparatus. It would be disgraceful to quit until all on board 144 ,4 nji hi THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. ? ih Hi! , "'* "^^^ ^-"l «a'd, "I'll atay to the last air a"c.castofftherope.ifyou'llallowme.- ' ' r.. r ?.^ "'' "''' ""^ "P^^ '" ^''"h circumstances " replied the captain ; " we cut 'em " told to h,s point, if possible. He still held back while he captain, being busy with the othet' some of whom were rather too eager to go paid no anftht f^fZr ''^ ""^ '''-'' ''' -^^^ •• Now, then, come along," said the former some what impatiently. ' '"* "After you sir," said Sam, with a polite bow ; Overboard, sir I " shouted the captain In a voice that would brook no denial, and Sam Jt once :X:" ''' ""'-'■ '- '^ - - -:;; fe/l:.'^''"'^''^^"^^''™'^^'-'' the raft captarrt'tt"' ' '' '" ^"^ """^ •"^^°-'' -«d «■« captain, at the same moment springing into the sea Sam was on the point of following when In exclamation from Slagg checked h.m iolii 1 quickly back, he saw that Kob,„ „,.. „„. ^,-^'"^">g THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. 145 •» Our hero, while modestly standing behind his comrades, had suddenly remembered that the small bible given him by his mother was lying on the shelf at the side of his berth. He would have lost anytliing rather than that. There was yet time to fetch it, so, without a word, he turned and sprang below, supposing that he had ample time. "Eobin! Eobin!" shouted Sam and Slagg to- gether, at the top of their voices. " Coming ! coming ! " readied them faintly from below, but Eobiu did not come. The hasty summons induced him to leap over a chest in returning. He struck his head violently against a beam, and fell back stunned. With another wild shout his friends rushed down the companion hatch to hasten his movements by force. They found him almost insensible. Lifting him quickly, they carried hirji on deck, and bore him to the stern of the vessel. " Eobin 1 Eobin!" cried Sara, in an agony of impatience — for the raft was by that time far astern, besides which the shades of evening were beginning to descend — " do try to rally. We must swim. We *re almost too late. Can you do it ?" "Yes, yes, I can swim like a duck," cried Eobin, rising and staggering towards the bulwark's. " But / can't swim at all 1 " cried Stumps in a voice of horror. p I ;, i ' K . ! lie I ! THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. he looked at the dark heavi.. s f a„d / ' " distant raf, that it was not po'slrf:'^ 2 SI^..aave both theinnj^ed and the^Xr " Too late l" he said in a voicp nf ^ • '" '"'■■ Slugg l<»I»il ,t Mm .III, .1, ,7 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 147 CHAPTER XIV. I THR RAFT. Sam Shipton's one chance did not seem a bri<'hfc one, but, with characteristic energy, he proceeded to avail himself of it at once. When the raft was launched over the side, as described, the carpenters had embarked upon it with the rest of the ship's crew, dropping their tools on the deck beside the mass of unused material of ropes, spars, planks, etc., as they left. Four of the spars were pretty equal in length. Sam selected them hastily and laid them on the deck in the form of a square, or oblong frame. Then he seized an axe. "Unravel some ot the ropes, Robin," he cried. " You two select some planks as near ten feet lon^ as possible. Quick—ask no questious, but do what I tell you." Sam Shipton was one of those who hold the opinion that everv mun hnm infn fVip nrnT-irj whether gentle or simple, should learn a trade. Fii if Mi 148 • THE BATTEBY AND THE BOILER. He had acted -n his belief and taught himself that of a carpenter, so that he wielded the axe with skiU, and gave his orders with the precision of one who knows what he is about. His comrades although not trained to any special trade, .ere' active handy fellows, with the exception, indeed of John Shanks, whose fingers were usually described as " thumbs," and whose general movements v-re clumsy ; but Stumps had a redeeming quality to set against defects— he was willing. With a few pov/erf,.! weU-di4ted blows, Sam cut four deep notches u,to the two longest of tlie selected spars, near triei. ends, at equal distances from each other. Into these he laid the ends of the two shorter spars, thus forming a frame-work "Twelve foot by ten, not a bad raft," he muttered, as if to himself, whHe he snatched a rope from the bundle of those disentangled by Eobin "Take u rope of same size you two, and lash the' opposite corners as you see me doing. Stumps will go on selecting the planks." Sam jerked out his words with as much rapidity and force as he applied to the labour of his hands. There was something quite tremendous in his energy-and little wonder, for, as he glanced row and then along the deck, he saw that the ship was rapidly settling down to her final dive, and that the closing scene would be sudden. •I I THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 149 Powerfully impressed by his example, the others worked in total silence and with ail thei^ might, for Sam's conduct, far more than the appearance of things, convinced them of their danger. " The planks now, Stumps ! Drive in as many of these clamps as you can find, Slagg — so (he set the example) — we've no time to bore holes for bolts. A plank now ; that 's it ! Hand some nails — no, the biggest nails and the big hammer. Mind your fingers ! " Down came the heavy hammer on a four-inch nail, which w^ent half through the thick plank. Two more such blows and the iron head was buried in the wood. Six planks sufficed to cover the frame. They were laid lengthwise with nails just sufficient to hold them. A piece of thick rope passed four times round the entire fabric still further secured them in position. "Tie a lot of these nails in a bit of sailcloth, Slagg, and fix *em to the raft — to one of the spars, not the planks. Do the same with a saw, hammer, axe, and cask of biscuit — water, too ; don't forget water. Make a belt of a bit of rope, Eobin, and stick that small axe in it. Have it handy." While he spoke Sam did not look up, but gave all his attention to the tightening, with a hand- spike, of the knot on the thick rope that bound the raft together j for we may as well Inform tlioaa h -5! 1f AiLl \ 1 . 1'. mil ISO TOE BATTEEY AND THE BOILER. "'•0 don't know it, that the tying of a knot cable is not mana-^ed in 21 ^^ "" ''"°' "" « «ame ease that ^ZZ ' T' ""^ "^ ^'^ the a piece of twt ^'''''°° '^ P«*«'«d on " But how shall we Iff/- if «, ^i . stumps, becomin. sTddln, ' , ' ''*'''" "^'^^'^ "Help me to hau „' V ' '° " ''''"""y- «ee.» said Sam '' "^^ """^ y°" ^iall He ran to the side, lifted a rnii t „ „° f ^''"y now-with a will i" "^ -th the bindVCTthe ^f^'^^^^^' -''- "Therenow-yoho! heave ho-o.» requiredtoirLr ""^^""^^"-w- "Hold onl hold onl hold-n « stumps, straining to prevent The'^ftll f^'' ing the ship. ^" ^^^^ ^eav- ^Jo,no.-LetgoIIetgonetgo-o-or-roared THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 151 of Stumps did let go and almost fell from the com- bined effect of his efforts and despair, as the raft swung off, splashed into the sea far out of reach, and hung half suspended from the yard-arm. " It 's all up with us," gasped Stumps. " Not yet, but it will be all up with us in two minutes," returned Sam, unable to repress a smile even at that moment. "What d'ye mean ?" said Stumps in amazement. "How can we ever git at it now ?" "Why, stoopid," said Slagg, "don't you see that we've only to go up the mast, out on the yard^ arm, and slip down the rope." While he was speaking, Eobin, by Sam's orders, was performing the feat referred to. "Look sharp !" he cried, turning to the others. A heavy lurch of the ship caused their breasts to leap almost as fast as their bodies, for they were all more or less aware of the danger of the ship sinking before they could get clear of her. The darkness, too, was, as we have said, increasing by that time, though it was still light enough to enable them to see what they were about. In a few minutes they all had gained the end of the yard-arm, slipped down the rope, and got upon the raft, but it was difficult to hold on, because at each heave of the ship, the fore-end of the raft was raised (^uite out of the sea, and then let fall with r. 5 152 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. coijsiderable violenro A. '- bade ItoUn ^L^ilT^'^ '^ --'-^ i'- perpendicularly ;„ ..,„ . " ' ,' ™''' ''""g almost nothing but clL to f. ■' ^°''''' <=°"W do "Now-cut !» cried Sam. Tlie rope was severed with one hinw i the .aae instant the stem of the i"? T' "' -Hh a deg,.e of violence tht no ''" "" account for it w»o i. , ° ^^^^ «ouIJ ^■-e-d-.JLr,::;:''''^^ I-a„t„ after fortune, leanc-l away fror* T ""''''' ^y^^""^ "■e. would havelrst-tT"'":'^ "volved in the rio-.i„„ Z , ^ ^"'''' "' escape. Theva,twJ,-T , '"" ""^^ ^id not ^'''pdrewtLri:':riri'^«"'^^n.in, one moment the horrified vZT ^'"'"'- ^°' -te. towards whiet' tC^W '"1 T -o-ent, and they beheld a L„w., ^ " '■ound them as they s..!, iT ^".'"^^'/''''i'ng ness, while an ocean „f\. ""^ 'S'^' '^'"*- ocean of roarmg water filled their Who shall attempt to describe rtw ,• -nations of that Iment T L one f ^^ " 'dea of self-preservation wa., of co ''"' coupled with an intolerable fee,i„„ , ,. , """*"'' au' could never be regained ^ "'^ "^'P^' TUE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 153 Mi- J E ■„ It was reached, however, by aU of them. First by Sam Shipton, who shot waist-high above the sea with a loud gasp, and struck out wildly. Then, recovering presence of mind, he swam more gently,' and looked eagerly round. He was immediately followed by Eobin and Slagg. Last of all by Stumps, who came up legs foremost, and, on turning other end up, saluted them with a roar that would not have shamed a monster of the deep. But the roar was cut short by a gi -gle, as, in his frantic struggles, he sank himself again. Observing this, and seeing that the others were comparatively self-possessed, Sam made towards his drowning comrade. The poor fellow, catching sight of him as he came near, made a clutch at him"] bul Sam was well aware of the danger of being grasp- 1 by a drowning man. He swerved aside, and Stum? sank with a gurgle of despair. Twice again did rise and sink. Once more he rose. With a rapid stroke Sam swam behind him and caught him under the armpits. Violently did the poor fellow strive to turn round and clasp ia preserver, but Sam, treading water, held him easily at arm's-length with his head just above txie surface. As long as he struggled nothing more could be done for him; Sam therefore put his mouth as near to his ear as possible and shouted ■■btop strugyiiiig ! else I 11 let you go T 104 |t«rl ('. "*; I' m < THE BATTrRY AND THE BOJLEB. iLcuy Jiinp and still °' ^ deadpan, D-.o./ital.r''"''^"'''^'''' J Yes/' gasped Stumps. "Let your ban 3 and armq lip fl«f ^.i. I )on'fc fiv f^ • ^** °^ *^e water ! J ont tiy to raise your head farther than I W J I Iveep your feet s/,// / t . ^®*^ ^^" ' liis ear in Z T . '^ °''''"^ ^^^ shouted ia __ eager, almost ludicrous, promptitude. cj;:s::v:a^'^--'^-'''"-^''avoice J^jasEobin Who had discovered U. at that « Is Slagg safe?" asked Sam . " ^"^P ofi-don't get in front of him " said S»m in a warning voice. "He mavn'f t ' «e.f-restraint enough yet toreTil T' ''°""''' you. Guide me to the r'ft pif !T ^"'^'''^ THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER, I55 head when I come close. You and Slagg help each other ou, and then liulp me with Stumps." Nothing could have calmed Stumps more than the cool, firm way in which these orders were given, so that he allowed himself to lie like a log while his deliverer drew him gently backwards until the back of his head rested on his bosom. Sam then struck out gently with his legs ; liobin turned him with a push in the right direction, and thus, swinmiincr on his back, he reached the raft. Slagg and Kobin hav- ing already helped each other upon it, grasped his hair. At once he freed one hand and caught the rope that bound the raft. Stumps naturally slewed round, so that his mouth and nose went for a moment under water. Fancying that he was forsaken, he caught Sam round the neck, drew himself up, and gave a teiTific yell. " Ha I you may choke me now, if you can," muttered Sam, as he grasped the rope witli both hands, "only, the longer you hold on to me the longer you will be of getting out of the water." The terrified lad stiU retained sufficient sense to appreciate the force of the remark. Looking up as weU as he could through his dishevelled hafr, he held out one hand to Slagg, who grasped it firmly, lieleasing Sam, with some hp.>itation he made a convulsive grasp at Eobin with the other hand. "^"^ '^«" " iij- ii- iuua " iieave ho i' and a ii 156 TUE BATTEHV AND THE BOJI.ER. li ...ghty pull brought him out of the .ea, and .ent him v.th a squash on the boards of the raft, whore ho lay gripping tho ropes with his hands as with a vice Before his rescuers could turn to aid Sam, he stood panting beside them. ••Thank God," said Sam, "for this deliverance 1" fromroiLr''^™'^"^^^"'"^'-^-- Yet it seemed but a temporary deliverance, for when the«e castaways looked around them, they saw "othing but a heaving ocean and a darkening sky with the tiny i^ft as the only visible solid sp:ck i,' all the watery waste. Compared, however, with tho extremity of danger through which they had just passed the little platform on which they stood seemed to them an ample refuge-so greatly do cir- cumstances alter our estimate of facts i B«t they had not time to think much, as may bo easily understood, for a great deal still remained to b« done. Their little ark was by no moans secure We have said that only enough of nails had been driven into it to hold the planks to the framework but not to withstand rough treatment. Indeed' t"w?K' ^J""^' *^° °^ *^ P'"""^^ ^^ teen torn off, but the binding rope held them to their places as Sam had foreseen. Very little daylight now remained, so that not a moment was to be lost. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILKR. 157 "No sign of the big raft," said Sam, stooping to unfasten the hammer and packet of nails, after taking one quick, anxious glance round the horizon.. " But it may be not far off after all," said Slagg, kneeling down to aid his comrade, while Stumps, by that time recovered, assisted Kobin to tighten tlie ropes that held the pork barrel. " With such poor light it 'ud be hard to make out a flat thing like that a-kickin' in the hollows of the seas." " But you forget," returned Sam, " that it must be a-kickin' on the top o' the sea as well as in the hollows. Another nail— thanks. However, I don't expect to see it again." "Well, now, I expects to see it in the mornin' not far off," said Siagg. « Is the water-cask Inst Eobin r "All right— and the pork too." * "And the sail. Just give it an extra shove under the ropes, Eobin. We 'd be badly off if we lost it." "I don't see what good a sail can do us," said Stumps, who had now quite recovered. "Not as a sail. Stumpy," replied Slagg, whose spirit soon recovered elasticity, "tliou-h even in that way it may help us, but as a blanket we sliall a})preciate it before lonff. Slagg was right. After the planking had been i5-i ] •li 158 1^^ THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. for fear of being washed away " ''' '"^^^ doing nothinc. « si. It ^"^ '^'"^ *i°^« o auuiimg. bleep I want, an* sleen T m i so lend a hand, boys " ^ ^ ^^"'^^ --:::::^;rXerr^.^ «uous edges iuward. eo L i pre enteS "'"■ obstruction to the free passage of t„d\"r over them. ^ o "i wina or water pected for The tw„ °'T '" '''*" "'^^ '''''' «- -™ -nrp«;rt;er:rto'''^'; "^"^ «>i.edoverthe.-asoecasio::n;t;plr"^^^' W^f?^^WSS •feli ( THE BATTEEY AND THE BOILER. 159 Still they did not daie to sleep until each had fastened a rope round his waist and bound himself to the flooring. Having done so, each laid himself alongside of a turn of the binding cable, and. em- bracing that affectionately with both arms, laid his head on the planks and shut his eyes. Many and varied are the conditions under which healthy members of the human family seek and find repose, but we venture to think that few con- ditions have ever been found which were more unfavourable to sleep than that which has iust been described. Nevertheless, they were met promptly by slumber most profound, as they lay wet and weary on the little raft that disastrous night, on the dark and suijjing breast of the Southern Sea. 160 THE BATTEHY AND THE BOILEK. CHAPTER XV. UFB ON THE RAPT. To awake "all at sea'^-in other words, ignorant of one's locality-is a rather common experience, but to awaken both at and in the sea, in a similar state of oblivion, is not so common. It was the fortune of Eobin Wright to do so on the first morning after the day of the wreck. At first, when he opened his ryes, lie fancied, from the sound of water in his ears, that it must have come on to rain very heavily, but, bein^ re- gardless of rain, he tried to fall asleep again. Then he felt as if there must be a leak in his berth some- where, he was so wet ; but being sleepy, he shut his eyes, and tried to shut his senses against mois- ture. Not succeeding, he resolved to turn on hig other side, but experienced a strange resistance to that effort. Waxing testy, he wrenched himself round, and in so doing kicked out somewhat im- patiently. This, of course, woke him up to the real state of the casec It also awoke Slagg, who received THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. IGl the kick on his shins. He, delivering a cry of pain straight into Sam Shipton's ear, caused tliat youth to fling out his fist, which fell on Stumps's nose, and thus in rapid succession were the sleepers roused effectually to a full sense of their condition. " rt 's cold," remarked Stumps, with chattering teeth. "You should be thankful that you're alivre to feel the cold, you ungrateful creetur," said Slagg. "I am thankful, Jim," returned the otlier humbly, as he sought to undo the rope that held him fast J "but you know a feller can scarcely express thanks or— or— otherwise half asleep, an' his teeth goin' like a pair o' nut-crackers." " The wind is evidently down," remarked Sam, who had already undone his lashings. "Here, Eobin, help me to untie this corner of the sail. T had no idea that sleeping with one's side in a pool of water would make one so cold and stiff." " If it had bin a pool, Mr. Shipton," said Slaff^r. It wouldn t have made you cold; 'cause why? you'd have made it warm. But it was the sea washin' out and in fresh that kep' the temperater low— d'ee see ?" " What a cargo o' r!:.r iimatiz we 've been a-Joyin' in this night for old ngr " ^aid Stumps ruefully, as he luu.vuLi liia ie;6 sn i. ■M .1 1 ' 162 THE BATTERY AKD THE BOILEK. round, while an exclamation of ^rprise and pleasure broke from h:m. The contrast between the night and morning was more than usually striking Not only had darkness vanished and the wind .^^l down, but there was a dead calm which had ohan^l d he a into a sheet of undulating glass, and he enn 1 ad ust risen, flooding the sky with rosy liW.t and t,pp,„g the summit of each swell withglea°„- «well, so far from breaking the rest of nature raer deepened it by suggesting the .oft breaZ' ings of slumber. There were a few gulls tioat- -g ench on its own image, as if aslee;, and one great albatross soared slowly i„ the b igl:t sly -.f acting the part of sentinel over th;res:,^; ottd. O "How glorious !» exclaimed Eobin, as, with flash- horizon"* '""' '■""' "^^ ^""^ P--P«"« "How hard to believe," said Sam. m a low voice. " that we may have been brought here tl "But surely you do not think our case so ,)™ perate ?» said Eobin. '" ''"'■ " r hope it is not, but it may be so." " God forbid." responded liobin earnestly As he spoke his arm pressed the little bible which THE BATTEllY AND THE BOILER. 163 he had rescued from the wreck. Thrusting liis hand into his bosom he drew it out. "Darling mother !» he said, "when she gave me this she told me to consult it daily, but especiall^^ in times of trouble or danger. I '11 look into it now Sam." He opened the book, and, selecting the verse that first met his eye, read : " In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them ; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them ; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old." "That's a grand word for us, isn't it?— from Isaiah," said Eobin. " Well, what do you make of it ?" asked Sam, whose religious education had not been attended to as well as that of his friend. " That our God is full of love, and pity, and sympathy, so that we have nothing to fear," said Robin. " But surely you can't regard that as a message to us when you know that you turned to it by mere chance," said Sam. " I do regard it as a special message to us," re- turned Robin with decision. "And what if you had turned up an entirely unsuitable or inapplicable verse?" said Sam. " Thon I should have concluded thai God had no 164 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER special messaire for \m inQf r,^ ^ general comfort and ' "' "' '''' "' *° «>'-" -t the Whole :irt;:o:T'"''"'^'''™"«^^ coiufort is sou'■«?" to Jiuiu 01 tile sail) " A;„'i i.i , , enough, and won't the snn -7 '^ ''''"'^'' the stars by ni^ht It' T " "' '^ "^^^ »«' despondin-fMrrsLpto:""'°"'^'''^.'^-'-'oo "Don't 'mister 'me any more SW -. well aboard ship „„„, we'td-ou;'::,:!' THE BATTERY AND THE COILKIt. 165 or positions, but now we are comrades in distress, and must be on an equal footing." " Very good," replied Sia^g, looking round in his comrades' faces, and raising his voice as if making a speech. " Bein' equal, as you say, I takes the liberty o' callin' a general meetin' o' this free and— if I may be allowed the expression-easy Republic. Moreover, I move myself into the chair and second the motion, which, nobody objectin', is carried unanimously. Gentlemen, the business of this here meetin' is to appoint a commander to this here ship, an' what could be more in accordance with the rule o' three— not to mention the rules o' four and common sense— than a Shipton takin' command. Who's goin' to make the first resloo- tion ? " Entering into the spirit of the thinn- Robin moved that Samuel Shipton be appointed to com- mand the ship and the party, with the title of captain. "And without pay," suggested Slagg. "And / move," said Stumps, who was just beginning to understand the joke, thou^rh a little puzzled by the fact' that it was done in earnest " I move that Robin Wright be first leftenant." "Brayvo, Stumps!" cried Slagg, "your intellec' is growm'. It on'y remains to appoint you ship's monkey and maid-uf- aU- work - specially dirty 16G THE BATTEIiY AND TUL liOlLEK. I work-nnd, then, with a h. .,ty vote o' thanks to .nyself for my oonJuct in the chair, to vacate the same an dissolve the uioetiii'." These matters having been satisfactorily settled the castaways proceeded to prepare breakfast, and while this was being done the recently appointed captam looked once more anxiously round in the hope of seeing the large raft with their late ship- mates on it, but it was not to be seen. Neither raft ship, nor any other sign of man was visible on all the glittering sea. Breakfast was not a tempting meal. The biscuits were, indeed, as good as ship's biscuits ever are and when moistened with sea water formed a com- paratively pleasant as v.dl as strengthening food • but the barrel of i.,,:,., was raw; they had no rneans of cooking it, and had not yet experienced those pangs of hunger which induce men to luxuriate m anything that will allay the craving They therefore breakfasted chiefly on biscuit, merely making an attempt, with wry faces, to swallow a little pork. Observing this. Sam said, in a half-jocular manner : — "^ "Now. my lads, it is quite clear to me that in taking command of this ship, my first duty is to point out the evils that will flow from unrestrained appetite for biscuit :-also to i„.,ist on the cultiva- THE BATTEUY AND THE lUJlLElt. .1 tioii of a love foi raw pork. Yo\i have no notiou how f that bright day was spent by Sam and Eobin in calculating how much pork should f^o to a biscuit, so that they should diminish in an equal ratio, and how much of both it would be safe to allow to each man per diem, seeing that they might be many days, perhaps even weeks, at sea. While the "officers" were thus engaged, Slagg and his friend Stumps busied themselves in making a mast and yard out of one of the planks—split in two for the purpose— and fitting part of their sail to the same. Evening found them with the work done, a small sail hoisted on the rude mast, the remaining part of the canvas fitted more securely as a covering, and the apportioned meal before them. But the sail hung idly from its yard and flapped gently to and fio as the little ark rose and sank on tlie swell, for the calm still prevailed and the gur<'eous ' i - - ; - 1 1 \ i !> MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ 2.8 25 1^ IIIIM 2.2 1: P^ 2.0 tliliU. 1.8 1.4 1.6 ^ >^PPLIED IM/IGE inc 165J East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax 168 TiJE BATTERY ANI> t iiE liUlLKH. ■^unset, with ,ts golden clouds ami bri-ht M„p ,I was so mimiy reflected in the : t ' , ^^' seemed to be floating in the centrerf , '' wi>icin,ad been dipped ii^b:::^'-^"^'^^ When night descended, the scene wa, if „„, - le.stm>„ore i,np..essive, for althougrTho ^2 tne centre of a dark crystal nniverse, whose unutter .ble^depths were rad.nt with star, of varL T^ lucure, until their eyes refused to do their office and the heavy lids began to droop Then - uctantly, they crept beneath the sail-cirth co r ing and lay down to rest. Tlie planks were hard, no doubt, but our cast- aways were hardy ; besides, a few foldrof n superfluous portions of the lar.^e sa lb I, , ■soften the planks here and there ''' '^ "Now. boys," said Slagg, a. he settled himself nth a long-drawn sigh, "the on'y thing we w,l to make us perfectly happy is a subn aZ"^ graph cable 'tween this an' England to L -y good .ight to our friends aC n-L;: they won't be long in sending out to searcilT rt is sad to be obliged to record that, Sla^y, THE /iATTEUY AND THE BOILER. ir.o companions br^ing already asleep, this tremendous and original piece of pleasantry was literally cast upon the waters, where it probably made .10 im- pression whatever on the inhabitants of the slumbering sea. i iM^ 170 THE UATTEliY A.\r. '"he IJQILEli. CHAPTEE XVI. rN WHICH WILL BE FOUND AIOUE SUUPIU.fiS THAN OX:;. Events of the most singular description are often prefaced by incidents of the most commonplace character. Who so inexperienced in the vicissi- tudes of life as not to know this ! Early in the morning that succeeded their second night on the raft, Eobin Wright awoke with a very commonplace, indeed a vulgar, snore; we mi.rht almost call it a snort. Such as it was, however^ it " proved to be a most important link in the chain' of events which it is our province to narrate. To explain : It must be understood that Joha Shanks, or Stumps, among other eccentricities, practised sprawling in his sleep, spreading himself abroad in inconceivable attitudes, shooting out an arm here, or a leg there, to tlie alarm or indignation of bedfellows, insomuch that, when known, bed- fellows refused to remain witli him. Aware of Stumps's propensity, Slagg had so arranged that his friend should lie at tlie stern „f THi: BATTilRY AKD THE LOILEE. 171 the raft with two strands of the binding-cable betv/eeii him and llobin, who lay next to him. J)uiiug the lirst part of the night, Stumps, either overcome by weariness or subdued by his friends' discourses on the stellar world, behaved pretty well. Only once did he fling out and bestow an unmerited blow on the pork-barrel. But, about daybreak, he began to sprawl, gradually working his way to the extreme edge of the raft, where a piece of wood, nailed there on purpose prevented ^^im from rolling off altogether. It did not, however, prevent his tossing one of his long legs over the edge, which he accordingly did. The leg and foot were naked. He preferred to sleep so, even when bedless, havin^^ been brought up in shoe-and-stockingless society. With his foot dipping lightly in the wave, he pro- longed his repose. ■ They were slipping quietly along at the time under the influence of a steady though gentle breeze, which had sprung up and filled their sail soon after they lay down to rest. An early shark, intent on picking up sea-worms, observed Stumps's foot, and licked his lips, no doubt. He sank immediately for much the same reason that little boys retire to take a race before a leap. Turning on his back, accord- ing to custom, he went at the foot like a submarine thunderbolt. Now, it was at that precise moment that Robin t. 172 THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER, ^I'J^^ht snored, as aforp=!'nVl t«i Qf. , 'lioresam. The snore awoto vould have done had he kno.vn wh»t you kno J leader ]srevi>rtViuino„ n ,. -^ khow, wn n u , "'"'^'^''^s^' «ie action was in time else would he have had, for the rest of his life Th h ;;«e than heretofore to his nickname As"' ^ youU s foot and sl,d up the side of his le<. the air ^T: f " ""' ^'''' ^^tumplreceived the ..a u e. Acrobatic was the tumble with which undttb '''"'' '^ '^'y '""""^'^d from under the respective corners of tlieir coverin. and stood up, aghast ! --"veiiug, and " ^°" twopenny turnip," said Slagg, « why did you screech like—" ^ He stopped. There was no need to finish the question, for the fin m' h.„ i- ^ 1 . oi cue nn ot the disappointed sliark describing angry ziff 7n,r= ;„ ti ' . , ° " ■'^ ^'8 ^''gs in the water close bv famished a sufficient ancwer. ^' "He has only grazed me," said Stumps, feelina his leg anxiously. ^ ' ^^""8 "Only grazed you! rather say craved vnn " ..turned Sam, "for a cry like that c'ould Tn ly Ze from a madman. Wliat were you doing ?_wl ^ your feet in the sea ?" waslnng "No, not exactly," replied Stnmn, .„„__., . THE BATTRRY AND THE BOILER. 173 abashed, « but oue of my legs got over the end of the raft sonieliow, and was trailing in the water." " Hallo ! I say, look there, Sam !" said llohin, with sudden animation, pointing to the horizon straight ahead of tJiem ; " is that the big raft or a ship ?' ° " Neither, liobin," replied Sam, after a prolonged and earnest gaze ; <' it must be an island. What^do you think, Slagg?" The incident of tlie shark was almost totaUy for- gotten in the excitement caused by this new dis- covery. For some time Slagg and all the others gazed intently without uttering a word. Tlien Slagg looked round with a deep sigh. " Yes, it's a island," he said ; "no doubt about that." " What a blessing !" exclaimed liobin, with heart- felt emotion. " Well, that depends," said Sam, with a shake of the head. " Islands in the China seas are not always places of refuge— at least for honest people." " By no means," added Slagg ; « I Ve heard say that the pirates there are about the wust set o' cut- throats goin'—though I don't myself believe there 's much difference atween one set and another." The light wind which had carried the raft slowly over the sea, while they were asleep, now freshened into a stiff breeze, and tested the qualities of their craft severely ; but, with a little strengthening-an extra turn of a rope or an additional nail— here and t- J} 174 TIIK liATTEriY AND THE TiOU.Kn. th-e it hel.l pretty uell to,.tl.er. At breaWa.st, winch was served according to regulation, they discussed their situation. ^ ■'You see," said Sam, " this may turn out to be a mall barren island, in which case we .sl,a„ have to leave .t and trust to falling in with some vessel; or It may be inhabited by savages or pirates, in which case we s,,all have to leave it from prudctia motives, ,t they will allow ns to do so. In any case we won t begin by being extravagant with the pro: Visions to-day." ^ As they drew near to the island, the probability of Its being inhabited became greater, because al hough solitary, and, according to Sam'; JZ^ :tun7^r:"^ « ienue aspect. It was not, indeed larce m circumference, but it rose to a considerable h'ei.ht ana was covered with rich vegetation, above wHch waved numerous groups of the cocoa-nut palm A band of light yellow sand fringed the shore, on which tlio waves rolled in a still lighter fringe of foam while two or three indentations seemed to indicaTe' the existence of creeks or openings into the inteX . ,^^f' 'J"' S^'^ the castaways watched thi island as they slowly approached it-the minuter beauties of rock and dell and leafy copse brighteni,,. mto view as the sun mounted the clear blue: sky. '^ What I have thought or dreamed of sometimes THE DATTKRY ANP THE BOILEH. 17j when dear mother used to speak of heaven," muriniired Ptobin, as if communing witli liimself. "Well, I have not thought much of heaven," said Sam, "but I shouldn't wonder if it's sonio- tliing lilve the paradise from whicli Adam and Eve were driven." " There 's no sign o' natives as yet," said Slaf'f'. who, regardless of these remarks, had been gazing at the island with eyes shaded by his liand. "Yes there is; yonder is one sitting on the rocks," said Stumps ; " don't you see him move ?" " That 's not a native," returned Slagg, " it 's too long in the back for a human being. Tt 's a big monkey— a gorilla, maybe. Did yon ever hear tell of gorillas being in them regions ?" "I rather think not," said Sam; "and to my mind it looks more like a rock than anything else." A rock it proved to be, to the discomfiture of Slagg and Stumps ; but the rock was not witliout interest, for it was soon seen that a rop was attached to it, and that the rope stretching acoss the entrance to a creek was lost in tlio foliage on the side opposite to the rock. " Why, I do believe," said Sam, suddenly, in an impressive whisper, " that there is a vessel of some sort at the other end of that rope, behind the point, partly hid by the trees. Don't you see the top of l^r masts ?" i t ri iW 170 Tin; nATTERv and tim.: noir.ER. After long and earnest gn.ing, „„d „,„,,, wlusperod conversation-.hougl, tlere wa., occn.on for caution at such a distance fron: t and-they ean>e to the conclusion that a vessel ay concea ed just within the mouth of the or I owar s „eh the wind was driving then, 1 .; ; "' *'':'^ "PP^^'-'ly had not been discovered by those who owned the vessel, their wisest course would be to land, if possible without attraetin! tenfaon. somewhat farther along the coast. " But how is that to be done," asked liobin "as we have neither oar nor rudder r' ' " Nothing easier," returned Slagg, seizing the axe Stumps fron. find.ng a watery grave, "IVeon'y got^to^o_utahandleatoneend,an'we-vegotaoar In a few minutes the handy youth converted the p.ece plank into a rude oar. with which he steered the raft, so that it gradually drew to th southward of the creek wl,ere the strange vesse ;::ir -^ .ok t.. .„d in another Let Jt' It was evident, from the silence around, that no one was stirring in the vessel, and that their an- proach had not been perceivei Congratulati „ Lemselves on this piece of good fortune, they lowered the.r sail, drew the raft under the bu.h.s THE UATTKUY AND THK UulLEIl. 177 which in some parts of tho inlet canio closu down to tho aoa, and tFien hurried stealthily through a palm -grove towards the vessel. They reached the margin of the grove in a few minutes, and there discovered that the stranger was apparently a Chinese craft, but whether a trading -vessel, or smuggler, or pirate, they iiad no means of knowing. As they lay flat on their feces in the rank grass, peeping through the luxuriant undergrowth, they could see that two men paced the deck with musket on shoulder as if on guard, but no other human beings were visible. '•' Shall we go forward and trust them as honest traders ?" asked Sam in a whisper. " I think not," replied Slagg ; " if all 's true that one hears, there is not much honesty afloat in them seas. My advice is to stay where we are and see what turns up." " What think you, Robin ?" Eobin was of opinion that they should trust the strangers and go for ., rd. Stumps agreed with him, but Sam thought with Slagg. Their indecision, how- ever, was cut short by a most startling occurrence. While they were yet whispering together, the sound of voices was heard in the distance. Our castaways at once sank flatter inu> tlic grass, and became mute. M ■ ■ ill' 1 r i'lH P fa 1 *m% 178 THE IIATTEKV AND THE tiOlLKR. ml III a few minutes the voices drew "raduallv noai^r, „„til tl.ey were quite close to the alanned watchers. Sudaeuly, from among the bushes on the other sKle of an open space just in front of ll,e„, tliere issued a band of men, walking in single file' riieir appearance n.ight have aroused grave anxiety in the most unsuspecting breast, for, besides pos- sessn,g faces in which the effects of dissipation and evil passions were plainly stampe.l. they were armed -as the saying is_to the teeth, with short swords cavalry pistols, and carbines. They were dressed m varied Eastern costume, and appeared to be of Malay origin, though some bore closer resemblance to the Chinese. The man who marched in advance-evidently the leader of the band-was unusually tall and powerful, with a remarkably stern, but not alto- gether forbidding, countenance. " l^irates ! " whispered Slagg. "Looks like them, but "may be smugglers" replied ,Sam in the same cautions tone. Even Eobin's unsuspecting and inexperienced nature would not permit him to believe that they were honest traders. Had any doubts on the sub- ject lingered in their minds, these would have been effectually cleared away by the scenes which immediately followed. While the pirates were still at some distant-. THE BATTKIIY AND THK BOILER. 179 from the shore, sudden sliouts and yells caiiio from the vessel, which had, up to that time, been lyin<,' 80 peacefully at anchor, and it was at ouci- clear that a furious hand-to-hand light was takini; place upon her deck. " It must be the poor slaves who have ri.scn," whispered Sam. The pirat(>s had drawn their swords and pistols at the first sound of the fight, and rushed to the rescue. They well knew that, while they had been on shore, the unfuriunate captives cliidiied in the vessel's hold had succeeded in freeing themselves, and were endeavouring to overcome the few men left to guard them. Slaves captured at various times by the scoun- drels who infest those seas, are sometimes made to work at the oars— whicli are much U3(3d (huin<' calm weather — until they die, or beconu; so worn out as to be useless, when they an- mercilessly thrown overboard. That the slaves referred to on this occasion, animated probably by despair, liad effected their release, and plucked up heart to assault the armed guard, was a nuitter of some surprise to the pirates : not so, however, ^o our ad- venturers, when they saw, foremost among the muti- neers, a man clad in the garb of a European sailor. " That 's the boy as has put 'em up to it," said Jim Slagg, in a suppressed but eager voice. ; f a. ,[ STI 180 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. "they'd never have had the pluck to do it of themselves." • " We 'd better go an' help 'em," said Stumps whose usually stupid face was lighted up with excitement. " Right, lad," exclaimed Slagg, starting up ; but Sam laid his hand firmly on his arm. "Too late," he said; "don't you see that the guard have prevailed. Besides, the pirate crew are in their boats-almost at the vessel. See, they swarm up the side." " Poor, poor sailor !" said Robin Wright, in a voice of the deepest pity. " You may well say that ; no doubt he is killed by this time," said Slagg; "but no~he is tightin' This was indeed true. Some of the slaves rendered desperate no doubt, were still maintainina a hopeless light with handspikes and such anns as they had succeeded in wresting from the guard at the first onset, and the stalwart figure of the European sailor was seen swaying aloft a clubbed musket and felHng a pirate at every blow. Animated by his example, the other slaves fought with resolute bravery, but when the rest of the pirate crew joined the guard and surrounded them, they were instantly overpowered. Then those who had not been already slain were led hastily to the side, a svvord THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 181 was drawn across their throats, or thrust throush them, and the bodies were tossed into the sea. Among those led thus to the side was the brave sailor. Although his features could not be dis- tinguished at such a distance by those in ambush, it could be clearly seen that he came boldly forward, resolved, no doubt, to meet his fate like a man. "Oh, God, spare him !" burst in a voice of agony from Eobin, who sprang up as if with the intention of rushing to the rescue, regardless of consequences, but a second, time Sam Shipton's restraining hand was ready. " What could we do, with the sea between us and the ship ? Even if we were on the deck could we four deliver him from a hundred ?" Eobin sank down again with a groan, but his fascinated eyes still gazed at the pirate vessel. To his great surprise, the sailor at that moment uttered a long and ringing cheer ! The act seemed to over- awe even the bloodstained pirates, for they hesitated an instant. Then one of them pointed his sword at the sailor's back, but at the same moment the leader of the band was seen to strike up the sword and give some hurried directions. A rope was in- stantly brought, with which the arms and legs of the seaman were secured, and he was carried below. " Our prayer has been answered !" exclaimed t ■ri : ,1 it,*. 182 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. Eobin with renewed excitement; " they are goiug to spare lum." ^ ° Sam shook his head. «I fear not, Eobin ; at leaat. If I may judge from what I have read of these vJlains, they have only spared him for a time for the purpose of torturing liim." Eobin shuddered. "Well, I don't know" he said, " whatever they may do God !u^ answered our prayer, for they have spared him ; and if God could deliver him thus at the last moment, surely He can deliver him altogether. But was it not remarkable that he should give such a cheer wl,en-as he must Imve hought-at the point of death, for it sounded more like a cheer of triumph than defiance ?" "It was strange indeed. The effect of strone excitement, I fancy." ® While they were conversing, the pirates were busily engaged in getting up the anchor and hoist- ing the sails of their craft. At the same time the long oars or sweeps were manned by such of the slaves as remained alive, and the vessel slowly ^ided out of tlie creek, and put to sea. Fortunate^ tlie fight had engrossed the attention of those on board so much that they had failed to observe the little raft, winch, s..tho„gh partially concealed by bushes might not otherwise have escaped detection. On,- voyagers were still congratulating themselves on tho.r good fortune m this respect, when the TFTL BATTEltY AND THE BOILER. 183 pirnte ship vas observed to change her course, turn completely round and return towards the land ! "They've seen us!" ejaculated liobin in con- sternation. " Our doom is fixed," said Sam in a tone of bitter despair. Slagg and his friend were so much overwhelmed that they could not speak. On came the vessel — under oars — straight for the creek where the raft lay. There could be no doubt now tliat they had been seen. While they gazed in blank dismay, utterly unable to decide on any course of action, an event occurred which totally altered the aspect of affairs. Suddenly, as if by magic, the pirate ship was converted into a great black-and-white cloud, from out of which there shot an indescribable mass of broken spars and wreckage which fell in all directions in a heavy shower into the sea. Two seconds later and there came a roar as if a crash of the loudest thunder had rent the sky. The powder-magazine had been fired, and the pirate ship had been blown literally to atoms ! When the last of the terrible shower had fallen, nothing whatever of the vessel was to be seen save the floating morsels of the wreck. It was, we might say, a tremendous instance of almost absolute annihilation. ( 184 THE BATTKRY AND THE BOn.ER. Sam Shjpton ran swiftly down to the spot where the raft lay, followed by his companions. "There may he some left alive!" he cried. Another minute and they were afloat. P„shin. wi h the pole, sculling with the rude oar and pachlhng with a plank torn off, they made &; the scene of tlie explosion. "I see something moving." said Stumps, who having no implement to work with, stood up in front and directed their course. Soon they were in the midst of the diiris It was an awful sight, for there, mingled with riven spars and planks ,.nd cabin furniture, and entangled in ravelled cordage, lay the torn lifeless remains of the pirates Sharks were already swimming about in anticipation of a feast. « Did you not see symptoms of lifo somewhere r- asked Sam, as he stood beside Stumps, and looked earnestly round. "Yes, I did, but r don't now-O yes! there It IS again. Give way, Slagg, give way. There I " . f ' 'f^ ""■' ^»<"^ "Alongside of the movin..- oh- ject. It was the body of the gallant saiIor°who had fought so well that day. His limbs were .still fast bound, excepting one arm, ' ' with whicJi no w and THE battei;y and the boiler. 185 then he struck out feebly, as if trying to swim. Lying on his back his mouth and nose were above water. " Gently, gently, boys," said Robin, as they lifted the head out of the water and slowlv drew the shoulders up ; " now, a good heave and— that 's it." The body slid heavily on the raft, and the motion seemed to rouse the seaman's spirit, for he uttered a faint cheor, while they knelt round him, and tried in various ways to restore him to conscious- ness. "Hurrah for old England!" he cried presently, in an imbecile manner, making an abortive (effort to lift his loose arm; "never say die— s' long 's there 's — a shok in th' letter." "Well done, old saltwater!" cried Slagg, unable to restrain a laugh ; " you '11 live to fight yet, or I 'm mistaken." There was indeed some prospect that the poor fellow would recover, for, after a short time, he was able to gaze at his rescuers with an intensity of surprise that betokened the return not only of consciousness but of reason. "Well, well," he said, after gazing around for some time in silence as he lay with his head sup- ported on the sail, "I s'pose it's all right, mid I '11 wake up all square in the mornin', but it 's out o' sight the most comical dream T 've had since I lJ. 186 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. was a babby. I only hope it'll take a pleasanter turn if it's agoin' to continue." With this philosophical reflection the sailor shut his eyes, and disposed himself to sleep until th^ period of real waking should arrive. Thinking this the best tiling he could do in the circumstances, his rescuers turned to examine whether any of the others had survived the explo- sion, but, finding that all were dead or had sunk they returned to the land. Here, after securing the raft, they made a sort of litter, witli the sail spread on the oar and a plank on which they carried the sailor to the sheltered spot whence they had witnessed the fight As the poor man had by that time fallen into a genuine slumber-which appeared to be dreamless-he was left under the care of Stumps and Slagg, while Sam and Robm went off to ascertain whether or not the island was inhabited. " We will go strai^^ht up to the highest point at once, so as to get a bird's-eye view of it " said Sam. "I can't help thinking that it must be in- habited, for these scoundrels would not care to laud I should fancy, unless there was some one to rob " ' " It may be so, Sam. But if they had come to rob, don't you think they .would not have returned to their ship without captives or booty ?" "There is someth we shall see." ng in that. ri,uuin. Cor ne THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEB. 187 CHAPTEE XVII. STRANGE DISCOVERIES ON PIRATK ISL.\ND. On reaching the first rising-ground that lay be- fore them, Robin and his friend received a great disappointment, for, instead of a richly wooded country, which the coast scenery where they landed had led them to expect, they found an exceedingly barren region, as far, at least, as the next ridge in advance. " No use to go further," said Sam, despondingly ; " nothing but barren rocks and a few scrubby bushes here. Evidently there are no inhabitants, for it would be almost impossible to live on such a place." " But it may be better further inland," said Robin. " I can't think that the pirates would come here for nothing. At all events let us go to the next ridge." Without replying, Sam followed Robin, but the next ridge revealed nothing more hopeful. Indeed the prospect thence was, if possible, more depress- ing, for it was seen that the island was small, that Elt,: ii 18S THE BATTKRY AXD THE DOILnE. .ts Side, were so steep all round, ns far as the .yo could reach, that there ,va., apparently no landil' Place except at the spot where they had been driven on shore. The elevated interior seemed as barren as the circumference, and no neighbouring isUnd was to be seen in all the wide field of vision Ihe only hving creatures visible were innumerable sea-birds which circled roun,l the cliffs, and which on espying the intruders, came clamouring, over- head, as if to order them angrily axvay. " H,aving come thus f^r we may as well go to the top and have a look all round." said Kobin, "and see -here is something like a track worn on the rock" bams drooping spirits revived at once He ex ammed the track carefully and pronounced it \ hiunan track. '■ The sea-gulls could not make It, Bobin. Goats, sheep, and cows cannot live without grass, therefore it was not made by them A track is not usually worn on hard rock by the passage of pirates only once or twice over them I here is mystery here. Eobin. Come on i" It will be observed that Robin's spirit was more hopeful than that of his friend, nevertheless Sam be.ng physically more energetic, was, when not depressed, prone to take the lead. He walked smartly forward therefore, followed humbly by his friend, and they soon reached wliat proved to be the summit of the island. THE BATTEUY AND THE BOILER. 189 Here supreme astouishmeiit was the chief in- gredient in their feelings, for they stood on the edge of a slope, at the foot of which, as in a basin, lay what seemed to be a small cultivated garden in the midst of a miniature valley covered with trees and shrubs, through which a tiny rivulet ran. This verdant little gem was so hemmed in by hills that it could not be seen from the sea or any low part of the island. But what surprised the dis- coverers most was the sight of an old woman, bent nearly double, who was busily at work in the garden. Not far from her was an old man, who, from his motions while at work, appeared to be blind. Their costume being nondescript, besides ragged, did not betoken their nationality. Sam and Kobin glanced at each other in silence, then turned to have another gaze at the scene. "We've found," said Sam, slowly and impres- sively, " a robber's nest !" "D'you think so, Sam?" " Think so ! 1 'm sure of it. Just think. There is nothing on such an island as this to attract any one at all — much less robbers or pirates — except the fact that it is unattractive, and, apparently, fai removed from the haunts of honest men. Depend upon it, Robin, that the pirates whom we saw have made this their head-quarters and place of deposit I'm' their booty — their bank as it we^-e, for it's too 1: 1 1 ^^S^^H 190 THE IJATTKKV AND TilK BOILER. h'S> J small for their home ; besides, if it were such, we should see a colony of women and children. No— this is the great Pirate Bank of the Southern 8eas, and yonder we behold the secretary and cashier!" ' "And what," said liobin with a laugh, "if tliere should be a lew clerks in the bank ? We might perhaps find them troublesome fellows to deal witli " " We might, Eobin. Would it not be wise to return and let Slagg and Stumps know what we have discovered, and take counsel together before we act." " Agreed/' said Robin. " Isn't it strange though " he added, as they turned to retrace their steps " that there are no buildings of any kind-only a little garden." "It is somewhat puzzling, I confess, but we shall — " He stopped abruptly, and stood rooted to the ground, for there, on a rock in front of him, with her light, graceful figure, and flowing golden' hair pictured against the blue sky, stood a little girl' apparently about six or seven years of age— an angel as it seemed to the amazed youths ! She had caught sight of the strangers at the very moment they had observed her, and stood gazing at them with a half eager, half terrified look in her large lustrous eyes. With a sudden and irresistible impulse Robin THK BATTERY AND THE DOILEU. 191 e.' tended his arms towards her. She made a little run towards him, then stopped, and the look of fear again came over her beautiful face, llobiu was afraid to advance lest lie should frighten her. So, with an earnest look and smile, he said, " Come here, little one." She answered the invitation by bounding towards our hero and clasping him round the neck, causing him to sit down rathor abruptly on a rock which lay conveniently behind. "Oh! I'm so glad you've come at last!" said the child, in English so good that there could be no question as to her nationality. " I was quite sure mamma would send to fetch me away from this tiresome place, but you 've been so long of coming — so very very long." The thought of this, and perhaps the joy of being '•' sent for " at last, caused her to sob and bury her face in Robin's sympathetic bosom. •' Cheer up, little one, and don't cry," said Robin, passing his hand over her sunny hair, " your Father, at all events, has sent for you, if not your mother." "I have no father," said the child, looking up quickly. " Yes you have, little one ; God is your father." "Did He send you to fetch me?" she asked in surprise. •* 1 hqxro r,o^ +ViP snmnpst flnnbt." nuswered Robin, m ci»: n THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILKH. ihu He sent ug to take care of you, and take you to your motl.er if tliat be ))0S3ibla But tell mu, little one, wliat is your uame i" "Letta." "Aiifl your sum amef* " My what !" exclaimed Letta, opening her lai-e eyes to their widest, causing both Sum and Kobln to laugh. " Your other name, dear," said Sam. " 1 have no other name. Mamma always called me Letta— nothing else." "And what was mamma's name?" asked Robin. "It was mamma, of course," replied Letta, with a look of wonder tliat so silly a question sliould be asked Sam and liobin exchanged looks, and the formel shook his head. " You '11 not get nmch information out of her I fear. Ask her about the pirates," he whispered. "Letta," said Eobin, settling the child more com- fortably on his knee— an attention which slie re- ceived with a sigh of deep contentment,-" are tlie people here kind to you?" "Yes, very kind. Old Meerta is as kind to me almost as mamma used to be, but I don't lo-e '.-r so much-not nearly so much,-and blind iiun'-o is a dear old man." ° " That 's nice. And tlie others-arc they kind to you . '•' THK DAli UV AM) THE BO^' KU. 1D3 "What others? Oh, 1 .siii)pose you moan tlio men wlio conn; iind stay for a time, and then go off again. no ; Thoy are not kind. Tliey are had men — ^•er// naiigh'y ; they often iijlit, and I think call each other bad names, but I don't understand their language very well. They never hurt me, but they are very rough, and I don't like them at all. They all went away this morning. I was so glad, for they won't be back again for a good long while, and Meerta and Bungo won't get any mere hard knocks and whippings till they come back." "Ha! they won't come back in a hurr—not these ones at least," said Sam in a voice that frightened Letta, inducing her to cling clos r to Ilobin. "Don't be afraid, little one," said the latter, "he's only angry with the bad men that went away tliia morning. Are there any of them still remaining here?" " What, in the caves ?" " Ay, in the caves — or anywhere ?" " No they 're all away. Nobody left but me ant Meerta and blind Bungo." " Is it a long time since you came here ?" "0 yes, very very long!" replied the child, with a sari weary look ; " so long that — that you Lull L LiiUixv. II 194 THE BATTKllY AND THE BOILEll. "Come, dear; tell us all about it," said Robin in a coaxing tone,—" all about mamma and liow you came here." " Very well," said Letta, quite pleased with the request. Clearing Iier little throat with the em- phasis of one wlio has a long story to tell, she began with the statement that "mamma was a darlin"" From this, as a starting-point, she gave an amazing and rambling account of the joys and toys of infancy,; which period of life seemed to have been spent in a most beautiful garden full of delicious fruits and sunshine, where the presiding and ever present angel was mamma. Then she told of a dark night, and a sudden awaking in the midst of flames and smoke and piercing cries, when fierce men seized her and carried her away, put her into a ship, where she was dreadfully sick for a long long time, until they landed on a rocky island, and suddenly she found herself " there," —jiomting as she spoke to the little garden below them. While she was yet describing her feelings on arrival, a voice shoutino- Letta was heard, and she instantly struggled from Eobin's knee. " let me go !" she cried. " It 's Meerta calling me, and I never let her call twice." " Wiiy ? Would she be angry ?" " No, but she would be sorry. Do let me go !" "But won't you let us go too ?" asked Sam. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 195 "0 yes, if you want to come. This is the road," she added, as she took Eobin by the hand ; "and you must be very careful how you go, else you'll fall and hurt yourselves." Great was the amazement, and not slight the alarm of Meerta, when she beheld her little charge thus piloting two strangers down the hill. She spoke hurriedly to her blind companion, and at first seemed disposed to hide herself, but the man evidently dissuaded her from such a course, and when Letta ran forward, seized her hard old hands and said that God had sent people to take her back to mamma, she dismissed her fears and took to laughing immoderately. It soon became evident to our adventurers that the woman was in her dotage, while the old man was so frail that only a lev/ of the sands of life remained to ran. They both understood a little English, but spoke in such a remarkably broken manner, that there was little prospect of much additional information being obtained from them. " You hungry— hnngry ?" asked the old woman, with a sudden gleam of hospitality. " Com— com— me gif you for heat." She took Ilcbin by the hand and led him towards a cavern, the mouth of which had not been visible higher up the mountain. Sam followed, led by Letta. The interior of the cavern was lofty and the 1: I'M 196 THE BATTERY AND TUE BOILER. or o floor level. Besides this, it was sumptuously furnished in a fashion singularly out of keepin with the spot and its surroundings. Pictures hun^^ on the walls, Persian rugs lay on the floors. Otto'^ mans, covered with silk and velvet, were strewn about here and there, among easy-chairs of various kinds, som- formed of wickerwork— in the fantastic shapes peculiar to the East— others of wood and cane, having the ungainly and unreasonable shapes esteemed by Western taste. Silver lamps and drink- ing-cups and plates of the finest porcelain were also scattered about, for there was no order in the cavern, either as to its arrangement or the character of its decoration. In the centre stood several large tables of polished wood, on which were the remains of what must have been a substantial feast— the dishes being as varied as the furniture— from the rice and egg messes of Eastern origin, to the pre- served sardines of the West. " Ha ! ha ! " laughed the weird old creature who ushered the dstonished youths into this strange banqueting hall, **the rubber ts— rubbers— you calls dem ?" " Eobbers, she means ; that 's the naughty men," explained Letta, who seemed to enjoy tlie old woman's blunders in the English tongue. " Yis, dats so— roberts an' pyrits— ha ! ha ! dems feed here dis mornin'. You feed dis after- THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEK 197 t i noons. Me keeps house for dem. Dey tinks me alone wid Bungo an' Letta, ho ! ho ! but me 's got cumpiny dis day. Sit down an' grub wat yous can. Doo you good. Doo Letta and Bungo good. Doos all good. Fire away ! Ha ! ha — a ! Keep you'a nose out o' dat pie, Bungo, you brute. Yous git sik eff you heat more." Eegardless of this admonition, the poor old man broke oft a huge mass of pie-crust, which he began to mouth with his toothless gums, a quiet smile indicating at once his indifference to Meerta and consequences, while he mumbled something about its not being every day he got so good a chance. "Das true," remarked the old woman, with another hilarious laugh. " Dey go hoff awful quick dis day." While Sum and Eobin sat down to enjoy a good dinner, or rather breakfast, of which they stood much in need, Letta explained^ in a disjointed rambling fashion, that after a feed of this kind the naughty men usually had a fight, after which they took a long sleep, and then had the dishes cleaned up and the silver things locked away before taking their departure from the cave for " a long, long tnne," by which, no doubt, she indicated the period spent on a pilfering expedition. But on this par- ticular occasion, she added, while the naughty men were seated at the feast, one of their number from 198 THE BATTJ^RY AND THE BOILER. their ship came liastily in and said somethiiicr, she could not tell what, which caused them at oirje to leap up and rush out of the cave, and they had not come back since. "And they're not likely to come back, little one," said Eobin throuj^h a mouthful of rice. " Pla ! ha— a !" laughed Sam through a mouthful of pie-crust. ^ " Ho ! ho !" cried the old woman, with a look of surprise, «yous bery brav boy, I dessay, but if dem roberts doos kum back, you soon laugh on wrong side ob de mout', for dey screw yous limbses off. an' ho i skrunch yous teeth hout, an' roast you 'live, so yous better he.t w'at yous can an' go hof-fast as you couldn't." '' I say, Robin." said Sam, unable to restrain a smile at the expression oi Letta's face, as she listened to this catalogue of horrors, " that speech might have taken away our appetites did we not know that the ' roberts ' are all dead." "Bead !" exclaimed the old woman with a start and a gleam of serious intelligence, such as had not before appeared on her wrinkled visage; "are de roberts all dead ?" "All," replied Sam, who thereupon gave the old pair a full account of what had been witnessed on the shore. Strano-e to sav thp nlrl n — - -^ c^ Ku acty, Lue oiQ uiiiu uiid womau were THE BATTERY AND THE BOlLEll. 199 mucli depressed by tlie news, altlioiigh, from what they afterwards rehited, they had been very cruelly treated by the pirates, by whom they had been enslaved for many years. Nay, old Meerta even dropped a tear or two quietly to their memory, for, as she remarked, by way of explanation or excuse, " dey wasn't all so bad as each oder." However, she soon recovered her composure, and while Sam Shipton returned to the shore to fetch their comrades to the cave, she told Robin, among other tilings, that the pirates had brought Letta to the island two years before, along with a large quantity of booty, but that she did not know where she came from, or to whom she belonged, ♦ Sam Shipton resolved to give his comrades the full benefit of the surprise in store, therefore, on returning to them, he merely said that he bad left Robin in a rather curious place in the interior, where they had discovered both food and drink in abundance, and that he had come to conduct them to it. ' By that time the seaman whom they had rescued had recovered considerably, and was able to walk with assistance, though still rather confused in his mind and disposed to be silent. At first he ex- pressed a desire to be left to sleep where he was, but on being told that the place they were going to was not far off, and that he would be able to rest lonuer |! i- MDfe: 200 THE BATTEHY AND THE UOILER. and much more comfortably there than where he was, he braced himself up and accompanied them, leaning on Sam and Jim Slagg as he staggered along. Need it be said that both Slagg and Stumors shouted with surprise when they came suddenly in sight of the garden ; that they lost the power of utterance on beholding Eobin holding familiar con- verse with an old hag, a blind man, and a small angel; and that they all but fell down on entering ' the pirate's cave ? No, it need not be said ; let us pass, therefore, to the next scene in this amazing drama. Of course Eobin had prepared the inhabitants of the garden for the arrival of his friends. He had also learned that the pirates, in the hurry of depar- ture, had not only left everything lying about, but had left the key of their treasure-cave in the lock. Old Meerta offered to show him the contents, but Eobin determined to await the arrival of his friends before examining the place. When Slagg and Stumps had breakfasted, and the sailor had been laid on. a comfortable couch, where he immediately fell fast asleep, Eobin pulled tlie key of the treasure-cave out of his pocket and asked his comrades to follow him. Wondering at th'3 request, they did so. The cave referred to lay at the inner extremity of the banqueting cavern, and waj guarded by a THE PIRATES' CAVE.- Page 201, THE BATTiCKY AND THE BOILER. 201 massive door of wood. Opening this, Eobin allowed the old woman to enter first and lead the way. She did so with one of her wild " ho ! ho's !" being obviously much excited at the opportunity of show- ing to tJie visitors the contents of a cavern which she had never before been permitted to enter save in the company of the pirates. Entering the small doorway, through which only a subdued light pene- trated, she went to a ledge or natural shelf of rock and took down a silver lamp of beautiful work- manship, which had probably belonged to a church or temple. Lighting it, she ushered them through a natural archway into an inner cavern, round the walls of which were heaped in piles merchandise and wealth of all kinds in great profusion and variety. There were bales of broadcloth and other fabrics from the looms of Tuscany; tweeds from the factories of Scotland ; silks, satins, and velvets in great rolls, mingled with lace, linen, and more delicate fabrics. Close beside these piles, but not mixed with them, were boxes of cutlery and other hardware, and, further on, chests of drawers con- taining spices from the East, chests of sl and coffee, barrels of sugar, and groceries of all kinds. These things were not thrown together in con- fusion, but arranged in systematic order, as if under the management of an expert store-keeper, and a desk with business-books on it seemed to I 202 THE BATTKiiy AND THE BOILKl!. Mcato tl,at a careful record was kept of tl.o Among the iniscellaucous mercliaiiaise stood soma] large and massive chests of ancient material and antique form Taking a bnncl. of small keys from a nad on the wall, the old woman proceeded to open these and exhibit their contents with much of the interest and simple delight exhibited by a ch,ld ,n displaying her treasures to new companions Handm^l the silver lamp to IJobin, who with hi,' comrades looked on in silent surprise, she opened tlie first chest. It was loaded to the lid with jewellery of all kinds, which sparkled in the li-dit with dazzling brilliancy, for even to the inexperi- enced eyes of the observers, many of the gems were obviously of the finest quality, and a:r.ost priceless w value. There was no order in the arrangement of these-bracelets, ear-rings, watches, etc., of Euro- pean manufacture lying side by side with the costly golden wreaths and tiaras of India, and the more massive and gorgeous brooches, nose-rings, neck- nngs, and anklets peculiar to semi-barbaric lands The next chest was filled with gold, silver, and bronze drmking-cups and goblets, lamps, vases, and urns, that had been gathered from the ships of many countries. Then there were chests which contained little barrels full of gold and silver coin of every realm, from the huge golden doubloon of THE liATTERY AND THE BOILER. 203 Spain to the little silver groschen of Germany. Besides all this vaiied wealth, there were piles of arms of all nations —richly chased scimitars of Eastern manufacture, the clumsy cutlasses of En^r. land, long silver-luindled pistols of Oriental form, bluff little "bull-dog" revolvers, cavalry sabres,' breech-loading rifles, flint-lock muskets, shields] spears, bows and arrows— in short, a miscellaneous' armoury much too extensive to be described. It was interesting to observe the monkey-like countenance of old Meerta as she watched the eflect produced on her visitors, her little black eyes sparkling in the lamplight more brightly than the finest gems there ; and not less interesting was it to note the half^amused, more than half-amazed, and partially imbecile gaze of the" still silent visitors. Little Letta enjoyed their looks quite as much as Meerta. "Haven't we get lots of pretty things here?" she said, looking up into Robin's face. " Yes, little one,— wonderful !'^ Eobin revived sufficiently to make this reply and to glance at Sam, Slagg, and Stumps, who returned the glance. Then he relapsed. Snatching the lamp from his hand, old Meerta now led the party to a remote corner of the cave, where a number of large casks were ranged at one' end, and covered with a sheet of leather. I ! 30i niE BAmuV AN,. TI,K UOILKK. "Hu! ha ," laughod their wild suidc i„ „ . of screech, 'here hn^^ , ' "* ■'""'' wsot,,ll,,vhatl,„yenaderestr «flect was powerful as w 11 J "^ '"' "' '"'^' "'« «-.o„,,afewi„e,:::Lih::t^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "■' open barrel of gunpowder I ^ =""' ^"^ '"^«-ir:2erz:;:;rr^^'" seizing the wrist of f), -1 ' ' "^'^^ ^^^ ^^^d -/-hroi;i---:::wriS'" cove^ over the exposed powder Ld hi, 'C'"" "e^rel~tT'"^^-'^''^''^-«"^i. outer cave." ' '"^ "^^^^ ^i"> i' into the uudera'r'LC^;;^t^^^-'>"«*'>e other two, -..as^lrfrrt^et:r;^r:;■-'^ Why, there s enough powder there I do h.i;„ .• said Jim Slam, "to «ni,,. „ "'-' -i «» believe," two." °°' '^^'' ^'^ ^'>»'e island in Tin: BA ;i<:UY AND THE F.MLER. 205 « There, it 's all safe now," said Sam, as ho locked tl.; heavy door and tlirust the key in his pocket ; ;ind I will take care of your treasures for you in future, old lady." " Wass you fric,'hted ?" asked the old woman with a low laugh, in which even F.etta joined. "Frighted, you reckless old thing," replied Sam, seizing a tankard of water and draining it, "of course I was ; if a spark had gone down into that caKk, you would have been considerably frighted too." " I 'm not so sure of that," said Stumps ; " she wouldn't have had time to get a fright." "0 no!" said Meerta ; "I's niver frighted. Many time me stan' by dat keg, t'lnkin', t'inkiu', t'inkin' if me stuff de light in it, and blow de pyrits vid all dere tings to 'warsl smash ; but no— mo tinks dat some of dem wasn't all so bad as eacih Oder." Tliis thought seemed to have the effect of quieting the roused spirit of the poor old woman, for there- after a softened expression overspread her wrinkled face as she went silently about clearing away the d(5bris of the recent feast. t '• I. t 206 THE UATTERY AND THE BOILEli. CIIAPTEE XVIII. THE riRATK's iSLAm- continued. Next morning Sam Shipton awoko from a sound and dreamless slumber. Raising himself on the soft ottoman, or Eastom couch, on which he had spent the night, he .oked round in a state of sleepy wonder, unable at first to remember where he was. Gradually he recalled the circumstances and events of the preceding day. The forms of his compani;ns lay on couches similar to his own in attitudes of repose, and tlie seaman still slept profoundlN' in the position in which he had been laid down when brought in. Through the mouth of the caverti Sam could see the httle garden, glowing like an emerald in the beams of the rising sun, and amongst the bushes he observed the old couple stooping quietly over their labour of gathering weeds. The warm air the bright sunshine, and the soft cries of distant sea- birds, induced Sam to slip into such of his garments as he had put off, and go out quietly without rousin- his companions. *^ THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEli. 207 In a few minutes lie stood on the summit of the islet and saw the wide ocean surroiinding him, like a vast sparkling plain, its myriad wavelets reflecting now the dazzling sun, now the azure vault, the commingling yellow and blue of which resulted in a lovely transparent green, save wliere a few puffs of wind swept over the great expanse and streaked it with lines of darkest blue. "Truly," murnmred Sam, as he gazed in admira- tion at the glorious expanse of sea and sky," Kobin is right when he says that we are not half suffi- ciently impressed with the goodness of the Almighty in placing us in the midst of such a splendid world, with capacity to ai)preciate and enjoy it to the full. I bemn to fear that I am a more ungrateful fellow than I Ve been used to think." For some time he continued to gaze in silence as if that thought were working. From his elevated position he could now see that the islet was not quite so barren as at first he had been led to suppose. Several little valleys and cup- like hollows lay nestling among the otherwise barren hills, like lovely gems in a rough setting. Those, he now perceived, must have been invisible from the sea, and the rugged almost perpendicular cliffs in their neighbourhood had apparently prevented men from landing and discovering their existence. One of the valleys, in particular, was not only larger |m| It t '1=* 208 THE EATTEHY AI^D THE BOILER. than the others., but exceptionally rich in vP.pf f assisting old Meerii . ' ''P' ""=*'" ^«^ ^Hn. H.e to awaL y^^z: ^:i: :z:^ one looks so still that I fear he may be dwt! T :sT;rert"-'^*------JeltJ --raiXrit^^^^^ Hallo. Robin ! awake at last T ''"'"'*^- Eobin, who had been roused by the voices rubb„^ his eyes, yawned vociferously and lonvlT' round. •'■ ""'"^'^ vacantly " Well. now. that 's most extraordinary • it Un-, dream after all !'■ ^ ' ' "" ' a " It's an uncommon pleasant dream if if ■ ren,arked Jim Sla,,, with a .rave ■?""'' a ^rave owre at liobin. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 209 as he sat up on his couch. " T never in all my born days dreamt such a sweet smell of coffee and fried sausages. Why, the old 'ooman 's a-bringin' of 'em in, I do declare. Pinch me, Stumps, to see if I'm awake !" As Stumps was still asleep, Slagg himself resorted to the method referred to, and roused his comrade. In a few minutes they were all seat-ed at breakfast witli the exception of the sailor, wliom it was thought best to leave to his repose until nature should whisper in his ear. " Well now," said Slagg, pausing to rest for a few seconds, " if we had a submarine cable 'tween this and England, and we was to give 'em an account of all we 've seen an' bin doin', they 'd never believe it." " Cer'nly not. They 'd say it wos all a passel o' Hes," remarked Stumps; "but I say, Mr. Sam—" "Come now, Stumps, don't 'Mister' me any more." " Well, I won't do it any more, though 'tain't easy to change one's 'abits. But how is it, sir, that that there electricity works? That's what I wants to know. Does the words run along the cable, — or 'ow ?" " Of course they do. Stumpy," interrupted Slamr they run along the cable like a lot o' little tight- rope dancers, an' when they come to the end'o't '■ \i. 210 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. they jumps off an' ranges 'tem.elves in a row Some imes, in coorse. tl.ey spells wrong. like bad schoolboys, and then they Ve to be walloped an' set rignt. "Hold your noise, Slagg, a.a' let your betters speak, returned Stumps. "WeU, if they don't exactly do that," said Sam Shipton, « there are people who think they can do things even more difficult. I remember once, when I was clerk at a country railroad station and had work the telegraph, an old woman came into the ticket office in a slate of wild despair. She was about the size and shape of Meerta there, but with about an inch a^d a half „,ore nose, and two or three ounces less brain. " -What '3 wrong, madam ? ' I asked, feeUng ouite sorry for the poor old thin" "'Oh! sir/ said she, clasping her hands, 'I've bin au left my passel,_a brown paper one it was -on the seat at the last station, an' there was a' babbys muffler in it_the sweetest thing as ever was-an' f-fi' pu„ t-ten, on'y one sh-shiUin' was b-bad— boo-hoo ! ' _ " She broke down entirely at this point, so, said I, Madam, make your mind quite easy, sit down, and I U telegraph at once;' so I telegraphed, and got a reply back immediately that the parcel had been louud all right, and would be sent on as soon as THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 211 possible. I told this to the old lady, who seemed quite pleased, and went on to the platform to wait. "I was pretty busy for the next quarter of an hour, for it was market day at the nex<- town but I noticed through the window that the old lady was standing on the platform, gazing steadily up at the sky. ^ Broxley-third class,' said a big farmer at that moment, with a head like one of his own turnips " I gave him his ticket, and for five minutes more I was kept pretty busy, when up came the tram ; m got the struggling crowd ; whew ! went the whistle, and away went the whole affair leaving no one on the platform but the porter, and the old woman still staring up at the sky. What 's the matter, madam ?' I asked. Matter ! ' she exclaimed, ' a pretty telooraph yours is to be sure ! wuss than the old carrier by a long way. Here 'ave I bin standin' for full 'alf-an hour with my neck nigh broke, and there 's no sign of it yet.' ^ " ' No sign of what, madam V " ' Of my brown paper passel, to be sure. Didn't you tell me, young man, that they said they 'd send It by telegraph as soon as possible ?' "'No, madam,' I replied, 'I told you they had telegraphed to say they would send it on as soon as possible — mp'^'^i"'- -* - -, » - - f - - Lie ii!e»...xi^, ux cuurae, oj rail, ior we have I i> J 212 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. not yet discovered the method of sending parcels by telegraph-tliough, no doubt, we shall in course of time. If you '11 give me your address I '11 send the parcel to you.* Thank you, young man. Do,' she said, giving me an old envelope with her name on it. ' Be sure you do. I don't mind the money much but I couldn't a-bear to lose thpt muffler. It was such a sweet thing, turned up with yaller, and a present too, which^ it isn't many of 'em comes my way.' " So you see, Stumps, some people have queer notions about the powers of the teleoraph." " But did the old lady get the parcel all right '^ " asked Stumps, who was a sympathetic soul. " Of course she did, and came over to the station next day to thank me, and offer me the bad shillincr by way of reward. Of course I declined it with many expressions of gratitude." While they were thus adding intellectual sauce to the material feast of breakfast, the iv^,cued sailor awoke from his prolonged sleep, ana stretched himself. He was a huge, thick-set man, with a beni.^n expression of countenance, but that phase of his character was somewhat concealed at the time by two black eyes, a swollen nose, a cut lip, and a torn cheek. Poor fellow, he had suffered severely at the hands of the pirates, anrl surlrlopKr «u.„i.„.i ., . THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 213 i-- stretch in which he was indulging with a sharp groan, or growl, as he sat up and pressed his hand to his side. "Why, what's the matter with me, an* where am I ? " he exclaimed, gazing round the cave, while a look of wonder gradually displaced the expression of pain. "You're all right — rescued from the pirates at all events/' answered Sam Shipton, rising from table and sitting down beside the seaman's couch. "Thank God for that!" said the man earnestly, lOugh with a troubled look ; " but how did I escape — where are the rascals ? — what — " "There, now, don't excite yourself, my man; you're not quite yourself in body. Come, let me feel your pulse. Ah, slightly feverish — no wonder. I '11 tell you all about it soon, but at present you must be content merely to know that you are safe in the hands of friends, that you are in the pirates' cave, and that the pirates and their vessel are now at the bottom of the sea." " That 's hardly c'rect, Mr. Shipton," murmured Slagg; '•! would have said they was blow'd to hatoms." The seaman turned and looked at the speaker with what would have been a twinkle if his swelled visage would have permitted, but the effort pro- duced another spa; pain. 2U THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. " I must examine you. friend," said Sam ; " you have been severely handled. Help me to strip him Robin." ' The poor man at once submitted. *' You 're a doctor, sir, I suppose ?" he asked. "No," said Sam, - only an amateur; nevertlielo.s I know what I 'm about. You see, I think that every man in the world, whatever his station or profession, should be at least slightly acquainted with every subject under the sun in connection with which he may be c ailed on to act. In other words, he should know at least a little about surgery, and physic, and law, and carpentering, blacksmithing, building, cooking, riding, swimmin" and-hallo ! why, two of your ribs are broken my man ! " "^ " Sorry to hear it, sir, but not surprised, for I feels as if two or three o' my spines was broken also, and five or six o' my lungs bu'sted. You won't be able to mend 'em, I fear." " Oh, yes, I shall," said Sam cheerily. " Ah ! that 's well. I 'd thowt that p'r'aps you wouldn't have the tools 'andy in these parts for splicin' of em." "Fortunately no tools are required," returned Sam. " I '11 soon put you right, but you '11 have to he still for some time. Here, Eobin, go into the store-cave and fetch me n. fpw vaH° -f ^i,^^ ,-i-,--. - -. ./aivivj ui vilSib Will 06 THE BATTEllY AND THE BOILER. 215 cotton, you remember, near the door. And, I say, mind you keep v, I clear of the powder." When tlie cotton was brought, Sam tore it up into long strips, which he wound somewhat tightly round the sailor's huge chest. "You see," he observed, as he applied the bandages, "broken ribs are not necessarily displaced, but ;he action of breathing separates the ends of them continually, so that they can't get a chance of re-uniting. All we have to do, therefore, is to prevent your taking a full breath, and this is accomplished by tying y6u up tight — so. Now, you can't breathe fully even if you would, and 1 'd recommend you not to try. By the way — what 's your name ? " " Johnson, sir, — John Johnson." " Well, Johnson, I '11 give you something to eat and drink now, after which you '11 have another sleep. To-morrow we '11 have a chat on things in general." " I say," asked Eobin that night, as he and Sam stood star-gazing together beside a small fire wliich had been kindled outside the cavern-mouth for cooking purposes, " is it true that you have studied all the subjects you mentioned to Johnson this morning?" " Quite true. I have not indeed studied them long or profoundly, but J have acquired suiiicieut :-J '^m-- i ^, 1 i 1 1 ! o„, as I di,l this morning, instead of standing helplessly by. or, what might be worse, making I blind attempt to do something on the chance that " "'f ' "« ">« ">'■* f'ing, as once happene.l to yself when a b„„g,i„g i,„,,,^,, ^,,^ ^ a^la of brandy to cnre what he called mulligrumps but what ,n truth turned out to be inflammation ■' "But what think you of the saying that 'a little knowledge^ IS a dangerous thing,' Sam." •; I think that, like most of the world's maxims. 't IS only partially, or relatively, true. If Little Knowledge claims the position and attempts to act the part of Great Knowledge, it becomes dangerous indeed ; but if Little Knowledge walks modestly and only takes action when none but Ignorance stands by, .t is. in my opinion, neither dingerous nor liable to be destructive." While they were speaking, little Letta came out ot tlie cavern and ran towards them. " It is like a dream of the Arabian Ni^-hts to meet such a little angel here." nnu-nu.red °Eobin • what a dreadful blow the loss of her must have' been to her poor mothe-' \" "0! come to Johnson, please." she said, takin" Sam by the hand with a very trustful look and manner. " Why; ho 's not worse, is he ?" TJE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 217 " no ! he has just awakened, and says he is very much better, and so peckish. What does he mean by that?" " Peckish, my dear, is hungry," explained Robin, as they went into the cave togetlier. They found that Johnson was not only peckish but curious, and thirsting for inforniation as well as meat and drink. As his pulse was pronounced by Dr. Shipton to be all right, he was gratified with a hearty supper, a long puU at the tankard of sparkling water, and a good deal of information and small- talk about the pirates, the wreck of the Triton, and the science of electricity. " But you have not told us yet." said Sam, « how it was that you came to fall into the hands of the pirates." " I can soon tell 'ee that," said the seaman, turn- ing slowly on his couch. " Lie still, now, you must not move," said Sam, remonstratively. " But that not movin', doctor, is wuss than down- right pain, by a long way. Hows'ever, I s'pose I must obey orders— anyhow you've got the whip hand o' me just now. Well, as I was sayin', the yarn ain't a long un. I sailed frorii the port o'' Lun'on in a tea-clipper, of which I was the cook ; got out to Hong-Kong all right, shipped a cargo,' and olT again for old T jiand. Wo hadn't ijot f; XT / \ ' V ^M t ^ If 218 TMK BATTKRY AND THE BOTT.KR. when a most horrible gale blew us far out of our course. Wlieii it fell calm, soon arter, we was boarded by a pirate. Our captain fouglit like a hero, but it warn't of no use. They was too many for us ; most of my shipmates was killed, and I was knocked flat on the deck from behind with a hand- spike. On recoverin', I frjund myself in the ship's hold, bound hand and futt, among a lot of unfor- tunits like myself, most of 'em bein' Chinese and Malays. The reptiles untied my hands and set me to an oar. They thrashed us all unmercifully to make us work hard, and killed the weak ones to be rid of 'em. At last we came to an anchor, as I knew by the rattlin' o' the cables, though,' bein' below,* I couldn't see where we was. Then I heard the boats got out, an' all the crew went ashore, as I guessed, except the guard left to watch us. " That night I dreamod a deal about bein' free, an' about former voyages— specially one when I was wrecked in the Atlantic, an' our good ship, the Seahorse, went down in lat. — " " The Seahorse ! " echoed Robin, with an earnest look at the sailor ; " was she an emigrant ship ?" " Ay, that 's just what she was." "Was she lost in the year 1850?" continued Eobin, with increasing excitement. " Jus' so, my lad." THK B/VTTERY AND ".UK BOILKR. 219 "And you were cook?" " You 've hit the nail I'iiir on the head," replied the sailor, with a look of sur[)rise. " Well, now, that is most remarkable," said liol)in, "for I was born on board of that very ship." " You don't mean it," said Johnson, looking eagerly at our hero. " Was you really the babhy as was l^orn to that poor miserable sea-sick gentleman, Mr. Wright— you '11 excuse my sayin' so— in the middle of a thunder-clap an' a flash o' lightnin' as would have split our main-mast an' sent us to the bottom, along wi' the ship, if it hadn't bin for the noo lightnin' conductor that Mr. Harris, the inventor, indooced our skipper to put up !" "Yes, I am that very baby," said Eobin, "and although, of » ..airse, I remember nothing about the thunder uud lightning, or anything else, my father and mother have often told me all about it, and the wonderful deliverance which God mercifully sent when all hope had been given up. And many a time did they speak of you, Johnson, as a right good fellow and a splendid cook." "Much obleedged to 'em," said Johnson, "an' are they both alive ?" "They were both alive and well when T left England." * " Come now, this is pleasant, to meet an old ship- mate in such pecooliar circumstances," said the Ni f:t 220 THE BATTERY AND THF BOILER. sailor, extending his hand, which IJobin shook warmly ; « quite as good as a play, ain't it ?" "Ay," observed Jim Slagg, who with the others had witnessed this meeting with deep interest " an' the babby has kep' the lighten' goin' ever since though he's dropped the thunder, for he's an electrician no less-a manufacturer of lightnin' an' a director of it too." The sailor was a good deal puzzled by this remark but when its purport was explained to him, he gave vent to a vigorous chuckle, notwithstanding Sam's stern order to '* lie still." " Didn't I say so ?" he exclaimed. " Didn't I say distinctly, that night, to the stooard-Thomson was his name-' Stooard/ said I, Hhat there babby what has just bin born will make his mark some'ow an' somew'eres.*" "Well, but I have not made my mark yet" said Eobin, laughing, "so you're not a true prophet, at least time has not yet proved your title." "Not yet proved it!" cried Johnson with vehe- mence, -' why, how much proof do you want ? Here you are, not much more than a babby vet— any 'ow hardly a man-and. besides havin' bin born in thunder, lightnin', wind, an' rain, you Ve laid tlie Atlantic Cable, you've took up lightnin' as a pro- fession-or a pIaything,-you 've helped to save the life of John Jnhnsnn an' vm' ' — --^ 1, tui yQi^ ^.^ ^yj^ comiortabiy THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 221 located in a pirate's island ! If you on'y go on as you 've begun, you '11 make your mark so deep that it '11 never be rubbed out to the end of time. A prophet, indeed ! Why, I 'm shuperior to Mahomet, an' beat Nebuchadnezzar all to sticks," " But you haven't finished your story, Johnson," said Jim Slagg. "That's true— where was I? Ah, dreamin' in the hold of the pirate ship. Well, I woke up with a start all of a suddent, bent on doin' suthin', I scarce knew what, but I wriggled away at the rope that bound me till I got my hands free ; then I freed my legs ; then I loosed some o' the boldest fellows among the slaves, and got handspikes and bits o' wood to arm 'em with. They was clever enough to understand signs, an' I couldn't speak to 'em, not knowin' their lingo, but I signed to 'em to keep quiet as mice. Then I crep' to the powder magazine, which the reckless reptiles fastened very carelessly, and got a bit paper and made a slow match by rubbin' some wet powder on it, and laid it all handy, for I was determined to escape and put an end to their doin's all at once. My plan was to attack and overpower the guard, free and arm all the slaves, blow up the ship, escape on shore, an' have a pitched battle with the pirate crew. Un- fortunately there was a white-livered traitor among us— a sort o' half-an'-half slave—very likely he was I li 222 THE BATTEEY AND THE BOILER. a spy. Anyhow, when he saw what I was about, he shpped over the side and swam quietly ashore. Why he didn't alarm the guards I don't know- p'r'aps he thought we might be too many for 'em and that If we conquered he stood but a small chance. Anyhow he escaped the sharks, and warned the crew in good time, for we was in the very middle of the scrimmage when they suddintly turned up as you saw, an' got the better of us. Hows'ever I managed to bolt below and fire the slow match before they saw what I was after. Then I turned and ^fought my way on deck again, so that they didnt find out. And when they was about to throw me overboard, the thought of the surprise in store for 'em indooced me to give vent to a heartv cheel^ It warn't a right state o' mind, I confess and I was properly punished, for, instead o' killin' me off quick an' comfortable, they tied me hand and futt, took me below, an' laid me not two yards from the slowly burnin' match. I felt raither unhappy I assure you ; an' the reptiles never noticed the match because o' the smoke o' the scrimmage. I do believe it was being so near it as saved me, for when the crash came, I was lifted bodily wi' the planks on which I lay, and, comin' down from the sky, as it appeared to me, I went clean into the sea without damage except the breakin' o' one o' the ropes, which, for-' tunately, set my right arm free." ■ li THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 223 " Come now, Johnson, you must go to sleep after that," said Sam. "You're exciting yourself too much; remember that I am your doctor, and obedience is the first law of nature— when one is out of health." " Very good, sir," returned the seaman ; " but be- fore I turn over Mr. Wright must read me a few verses out o' that bible his mother gave him." " Why, how do you know that my mother gave me ci bible ?" asked Eobin in great surprise. "Didn't I know your mother?" replied the sailor with a flush of enthusiasm ; " an' don't T know that ?he would sooner have let you go to sea without her blessing than without the Word of God ? She was the first human bein' as ever spoke to me about my miserable soul, and the love of God in sendin' His Son to save it. Many a one has asked me about my health, and warned me to fly from drink, and off'ered to help me on in life, but she was the first that ever asked after my soul, or tried to im- press on me that Eternity and its affairs were of more importance than Time. I didn't say much at the time, but the seed that your mother planted nigh twenty years ago has bin watered, thank God, an' kep' alive ever since." There was a tone of seriousness and gratitude in this off-hand seaman's manner, while speaking of his mother, which touched Jfobin deeply. Without a 224 THE BATTEKV AKD IHH BOttBK. -nomenfs hesitation he pulled o„t^- , -m » chapter i„ the Gospel'of i. ""' ^°'' ''^ J^ow you '11 pray " „„; j .. ., -T-isea„de.baLLe: VXlr- '" "^"''"'^ in public before th^„ ., "^ "^ ^''d never prayed «-ourher:7rii;ttirr"^"- courageous-~as evpm. i. • T ^^ Physically 0- by the . oj i::::;r?^ •' ''^ '^-^^ ^' h« example and in!! ' "*' "^^''^ ''"'lo^ed ^orpardon^bi::; ;4~P'.e -'--- -.ed °f Jesus Christ ^' ^'"''"""^ '° ""e name ^-ei,hteeahundrera:d':i.~;'-^^'^e THE BATTERY AND THE BOILF.r,. Oo.r: «< w t-" CHAPTER XIX. AN EXPLOnATION AND AN ACCIDENT. When «, . ,,,e.. and cuHosU, C°to ' a^ and the excUement to decrease, they naturrllv be Of course they did nnf fnr. „ ^ — a refufje, where affp,. ii.^- ° P^ace, fi.. 1 ' ^^^' ^"•^^ ^^eir escape from the sei they should spend a few wppI^. i ' rrif,'! o . ^^^ weeks, perhaps months rn;cr:Htr'^.r "-"'«■■ ^^'^ Know, at tliat time, (hat the islet wis fnr ■' '^' ' P-cixcuiCu a iiietime, on it fll 226 THE BATTERY AND TJIE BOILER. Indeed, a considerable time elapsed before they would admit to themselves that there was a possi- bility of such a fate, although they knew, both from Meerta and Letta, that no ship of any kind, save that of the pirates, had been seen for the last eighteen months, and the few sails that did chance to appear, were merely seen for a few hours like sea-gulls on the horizon, from which they arose and inf J which they vanished. Having then, as we have said, bethought them of examining the resources and nature of the island, they one morning organised an expedition. By that time the sailor, although by no means fit for it, insisted that he was sufficiently restored to accom- pany them. Letta, who was active and strong like a small gazelle, besides being acquainted with the whole region, agreed to act as guide. Stumps, having sprained his ankle slightly, remained at the cave, for the purpose, as he said, of helping Meerta with the garden, but Jim Slagg gave him credit for laziness. "You see," said Sam Shipton, as Letta led them down the rugged mountain-side, " we may as well make ourselves comfortable while we remain here, and I'm inclined to think that a hut, however rough, down in one of these charming valleys, will be more agreeable than the gloomy cavern on the mountain-top." THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 227 " Not so sure o' that, doctor," said Johnson ; " the cave is at all events dry, and a good stronghold in case of a visit from pirates." "But pirates what have bin blow'd to atoms," said Slagg, "ain't likely to turn up again, are they?" " That 's so, lad ; but some of their friends mirrht pay us a visit, you know." "I think not," rejoined Sam; "there is honour among thieves here, no doubt, as elsewhere. I daresay it is well known among the fraternity that the island belongs to a certain set, and the rest will therefore let it alone. What think you, Eobin ?" "I'm inclined to agree with you, Sam, but perhaps Letta is the best authority on that point. Did you ever see any other set of pirates land here, little one, except your — your own set ?" " Only once," answered the child, " another set came, but they only stayed one day. They looked at everything, looked at me an' Meerta an' laughed very much. An' they ate and drank a good deal, and fought a little; but they took nothing away, and never came back.'' " I thought so," rejoined Sam; "now, all we've got to do is to Iioist a flag on the highest peak of the mountain, and when a vessel comes to take us off, load her with as much of the booty as she can carry— and then, hurrah for old Eng- land ! " I: t ifM pi Jl •II 228 THE BATTEIiY AND THE BOILER. "Hooray!" echoed Jim Slagg, "them's exactly my sentiments." •' « Whose is it, then ? " asked Sam ; « the rightful owne. we don't know, and the wrongful owne^rs a. "I tell -ee what it is, ma.es," said Johnson, "the whole 0' .he booty is mine, 'cause why ? it was m as Wowed up the owners, so I 'm entitled to it bv conquest, an' you needn't go to fightin' over it If you behave yourselves, I '11 divide it equally anion, us, share an' share alike." ° "It seems to me, Johnson," said Eobin, "that in s net justice the booty belongs to Letta, Meerta, and blind Bungo, as the natural heirs of the pirates." booty, said the seaman, "and, as sitch, falls to be divided among us." "If that's so," said Slagg, "then I claim Letta for my share, and you, Johnson, can have your pick of Meert land blind Bungo." ^ "Nay Letta is mine, because I was the first to' discover her," said I^obin. "Whom will you „o With, Letta ?" J'"" ^o " With you, of course," replied the child quite earnestly. " Haven't you promised to take me back to mamma?" THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEK. 229 " Indeed I have, little one, and if I ever get the chance, assuredly I will," said Eobiu, with equal earnestness. "I say, doctor," said Johnson to Sam, sitting down on a mossy bank, "I'll stop here and wait for you. That rib ain't all square yet." " Wilful man," said Sam, " didn't I advise you not to come ? There, lie down and take it easy. We '11 bring you some fruit on our return." By this time the party had readied tlie valley in which the lakelet lay, and beautiful indeed was the scene which presented itself as they passed under the grateful shade of the palm-trees. Everywhere, rich tropical vegetation met their gaze, through the openings in which the sunsliine poured like streams of fire. On the little lake numerous flocks of ducks and other fowl were seen swimming in sportive mood, while an occasional splash told of fish of some sort below the surface. Leaving the sailor in a position whence he could observe them for a long distance, the rest of the party pushed on. During their rambles they found the valley to be much richer in vegetation, and more beautiful, than the distant view from the mountain-top had led them to expect. Small though the valley was, it contained, among other trees, the cocoa-nut palm, the bread-fruit, banana, and sandal-wood. There were also pine-apples. 230 THE BATIBRY AND THE BOILER • Wild rice, and custard-apples, some of which lat.or On the coast, too, whore the raft had been cast ashore, were discovered a variety of shell fi h sZ ex e lent food. And some of the sea-fowl turned u^ o be very good eating, though a little fis y^ when ir"' '° "" '■ "'' ^""^^ '» I-^"- one day when they were out on a ramble together "thai tins IS quite a little paradise." ciMli *^''"'' '"'"" "'"' ^^"'"^'^^ '^ ''■''«" «^id the lau J-i "° f"°" '° ''" "'"™'^'^ ^o^-' -th a It Ts the n, T' ''"^'""^ """^-'^"ds that h re half " "'"^ ^^'^''^^'''S - P-'^eot, and wnere happiness is complete " sai7Lttr"1 l' "'" P"^'"- -thout mamma," -M not go to heaven unless inauiml was TlIK BATlEltY AND THE UOILEE. 231 Ptobin was siluiit for somo time, as ho tliouglit of his own mother and tlie talks he used to have with her on this same subject, " Letta," he said at length, earnestly, " Jesus will be in heaven. It was His Spirit who taught you to love mamma as you do, so you are sure to meet her there with Him." " Nobody ta2(f/ht me to love mamma," returned the child quietly ; " I couldn't help it." "True, little one, but it was God who made }ou to ~* couldn't help it.' " Letta was puzzled by this reply. She raise. 1 her bright eyes inquiringly into Roljin's honest face, and said, " But you 'vo promised to take me to her, you know." "Yes, dear little one, but you must not mis- understand me," replied the youth somewhat sadly. " 1 promise that, God helping me, I \vill do the best I can to find out where your mother is ; but you must remember that I have very little to go on. I don't even know your mother's name, or the place where you were taken from. By the way, .\r. idea has just occurred to me. Have you any clothes at the cave ?" •'Of cour.ie I have," answered Letta, with a merry laugh. " Yes ; but I mean the clothes that you had on when you first came here." U- 23J WIB nXTimv AND THE UOILKR. " ^ ^''"'' ''"<»*' ; Meerta knows. Wliy !» " "««""»« your name may be marked on them Come, let u, go back at once and ace. Jies de w ' 7" r '"■« ''»«. for you know I was se t [ o slioot some ducks for dinner " l£i^„g as he spoke, Kobin shouldercl the shot- 'n r " """ "'"P"^" '•'■""' 'he robbers- towaids the lake, soon began to stalk the birds as carefully as if he had been trained to the Tor i;rt;:r, ^'-^'"^"'--'■^^"^edsjfy th.ongh he bushes, until he came within a hnn- tllT °' "r. '""«'" °' '"« "^'^'^'- -•>- a group of some th.rty or forty fat ducks were feed- ;ih.^"^ l.ad fallen behind, and sat dowj t The distance being too great for a shl, and the being too thm to conceal hi„, fiobin lay flat down and began to advance through the long grass IZ e fashion of a snake, pushing his gun before M It was a slow and tedious process, but Eobi.-s h mself, as It were, to within sixty yards of the flock, and then fired both barrels almost simul taneously. Seven dead birds remained beZd when the affrighted flock took wing " It is not very scientific shootr„g," said Uohin, THE DATTEUY AND TIIK I50ILER. 233 apologetically, to liis lair coin])anion, as she assisted hiiii to tie their letrs together; "but our objec* just now is food, not sport." On the way back to the cavern they had to pass over a narrow ledge, on one side of which a precipice descended towards the valley, whih> the other side nise upwards like a wall. It was not necessar iy a dangerous place. They had passed it often bef )n in rsi,rety, none of the party being troubled with -iJdmess ; bu^. at this time Eobin had unfortunately hung his bundle of ducks on the side which had to brush past the rocky wall. As he passed, the bunch struck a projection and threw him off his balance. In the effort to re- cover himself he dislodged a piece of rock under his left foot, and, without even a cry, went headlong over the precipice ! Poor Letta stood rooted to the spot, too horrified to scream. She saw her friend, on whom all her hopes were built, go crashing through the foliage immediately below the precipice edge, and disap- pear. It was the first terrible shock she had ever received. With a convulsive shudder she ran by a dangerously steep route towards the foot of the precipice. "^ But Eobin had not yet met his doom, although he had descended full sixty feet. His fall was '" 'v -"-vcia-x icaiy trues, through wjiich he ^ 234 THE BATTDllY AxND TJIE BOILER. went like an avalanclie ; and a thick solid bush receiving him at the foot, checked his descent entirely, and slid him quietb' off its boughs on to the grass, where he lay, stunned, indeed, but other- wise uninjured. Poor Letta of course was horrified, on reachincr the spot, to find that Eobin could not speak, and was to all appearance dead. In an agony of terror she shrieked, and shook him and called liim by name— to awaken him, as slie afterwards said ; but Kobin's sleep was too deep at that moment to be dispelled by such measures. Letta therefore sprang up and ran as fast as she could to the cavern to tell the terrible news and fetch assistance. Eobin, however, was not left entirely alone in his extremity. It so chanced that a remarkably small monkey was seated among the boughs of a neigh- bouring tree, eating a morsel of fruit, when Let^a's first scream sounded through the grove. Cocking up one ear, it arrested its little hand on tlie way to Its lesser mouth, and listened. Its little black face was corrugated with the wrinkles of care-it might be of fun, we cannut tell. The only large features of the creature were iis eyes, and these seemed to blaze, while the brows rose high, as if in surprise. On hearing the second scream the small monkey laid hold of a bough with its tail, swung itself off and caught another with its feet, sprang twentv f^.t THE BATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. 235 more or less, to the ground, which it reached on its hands, tumbled a somersault inadvertently, and went skipping over the ground at a great rate in the direction of the cries. When it reached the spot, however, Letta had fled, but Robin still lay motionl ss on his buck. It was evident that the small monkey looked on the prostrate youth with alarm and suspicion, yet with *in intense cariosity that no sense of danger could restrain. It walked slowly and inquiringly round him several times, each time drawing closer, while its crouched back and trailing tail betokened abject humility. Then it ventured to put out a small black hand and touch him, drawing it back again as if it had got an electric shock. Then it ventured to touch him again, with less alarm. After that it went close up, and gazed in his face. Familiarity, says the proverb, breeds contempt. The truth of proverbs can be verified by monkeys as well as men. Seeing that nothing came of its ad- vances, that small monkey finally leaped on Robin's chest, sat down thereon, and stared into his open mouth. Still the youth moved not, whereupon the monkey advanced a little and laid its paw upon his nose! Either the touch was more effective tlianLetta's shaking, or time was bringing Robin round, for he felt his nose tickled, and gave way to a tremendous sneeze. It blew the monkey clean off its legs, and I. « i r. 1 ^^M 1 236 THE BATTKItY AND THE BOILER. sent it shrieldng into a neighbouring tree As Eobn stUl lay quiet, the monkey soon recovered and returned to ita former pcition'where, aXsJ of consequences, it again laid hold of the nose -lius time consciousness returned. Robin ooened l^'s eyes with a stare of drea„,y astonishment Te monkey rep ied with a stare of indignant s rple Eobiu, eyebrows rose stiU higher. So did those of the monkey as it leaped back a foot, and formed ^B mouth into a little of remonstra;ce. io „' r: rrr ?^, •'™' '"'" ^^ uncontroii eve of fl- 1 'r *'" ™°"'^^ '^^ ''S-- »" 'he ev of flight, when voices were heard approaching and, next instant, Xetta came running forward' followed at some distance by Sam and the other: ' Claimed -ill'^"' ^"^"' ^^^"''^^'^ ">""■"«'" - It did much for the poor youth's recovery the hearing himself addressed in such endearing Zrms but he experienced a relapse when the monTy responding to the endearments, ran with obviou"' « the child's bosom, and submitted to a wZ " Oh. you darling !" repeated Letta; •■where have you been ? why did you go away , thought you were dead. Naughty thing !" ° ^ Eecollecting Eobin with a shock of self-reproach she dropped the monkey and ran to him. THE BATTECT AND THE BOILEB. 237 « It is an old friend, I see," he said with a languid smile, as she came up. " Yes, yes ; an old pet. I had lost him for a long time. But you re not killed ? Oh ! I'm so glad." " Killed !" repeated Sam, who was down on his knees carefully exaijiining the patient ; " I should think not. He 's not even bruised— only stunned a little. Where did you fall from, Eobin—the tree- top r " No ; from the edge of the precipice." " What ! from the ledge sixty or seventy feet up there ? impossible ! You would certainly have been killed if you had fallen from that." " So I certainly should," returned Eobin, « if God had not in His mercy grown trees and shrubs there, expressly, among other purposes, to save me." In this reply Eobin's mind was running on previous conversations which he had had with his friend on predestination. The idea of shrubs and trees having been ex- pressly grown on an island of the Southern Seas to save an English boy, seemed doubtful to Sam. He did not, however, express his doubts at the time, but reserved the subject for a future " theological discussion." Meanwhile, Slagg, Stumps, and Johnson, having spread some palm branches on a couple of stout I-..,.-, = ..a wUi liciu iimivvn, ana bore ium in safety 238 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. to the pirates' cave, where, for several days, he lay on one of the luxurious couches, tenderly nursed by Letta and the old woman, who, although she still pathetically maintained that the "roberts an' pyrits wasn't all so bad as each oder,» was quite willing to admit that her present visitors were preferable, and that, upon the whole, she was rather iond of them. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEll. 239 CHAPTEE XX. VAniOUS SUBJECTS TREATED OF, AND A GREAT FIGHT DETAILED, It was the habit of Eobin and his friends at this time, the weather being extremely fine and cool, to sit at the mouth of their cavern of an evenini?. chatting about the events of the day, or the pro- spects of the future, or the experiences of the past, while old Meerta busied herself preparing supper over a fire kindled on the ground. No subject was avoided on these occasions, be- cause the friends were harmoniously minded, in addition to which the sweet influences of mingled star-light and fire-light, soft air, and lovely prospect of land and sea— to say nothing of the prospect of supper— all tended to induce a peaceful and for- bearing spirit. "Well, now," said Robin, continuing a subject which often engaged their intelkctual powers, "it seems to me simple enough." " Simple !" exclaimed Johnson, with a half sar- C'.istiG laugh, "w'y, no\v, you an' the doctor 'ave I 5 w^pM«.>«Mnm iM'^. 210 THE IlATTEIiY ANn THE EOlr.En. tr/. d to worrit that electricity into my hr.fn for many months, off an' on, and I do beW ,,„ I .„, "PVaps it-s because you hain't got no brains to woiK npon,' suggested Slagg. "plfiT f '"■" '""='^^l/''''»'«ed the seaman, l^ut look here, now, doctor," he added, tur.in.. to K.uta. : :,,.doa.vonr, and the forefinger of one hand tl.r«st mo tk, pahn of the other,-" look here. You tell, .u a>..t electricity ain't a substance at all." Ifes, tnal s so," assented Sara with a nod •• Wery good. Kow, then, if it ain't a M.bstance at all. It s nothm'. An' if it's „othin', how can you go an' talk of it as somethin' an' give it a name, an tell me it works the telegraph, an' does all manner oi wonderful things ?" "But it does not follow that a thing must be nothing because it isn't a substance. Don't you aee. man, that an idea is something, yet it is not a substanca Thought, which is so potent a factor in this world, is not a substance, yet it cannot be called nothing. It is a condition-it is the result 01 bram-atoms in action. Electricity is sometimes described as an 'invisible imponderable fl.H' b„f, that IS not quite correct, because a fluid • 'sub stance. It is . better definition to .a- .;at elec- THE BATTERY AND THK BOILER. 241 tricity is a manifestatv of energy—a result oj substance in action." " There, I 'm muddled again !" said Johnson, with a look of hopeless incapacity. " Small blame to you, Johnson," murmured Slagg who had done his best to understand, while Stumps sat gazing at the speakers with an expression of blank complacency. " Look here, Johnson," said Sam, " you 've often seen men shaking a carpet, haven't you V " In coorse I have." "Well, have you not observed the waves of the carpet that roll along it when shaken ?" " Yes, I have." " What are these waves ?" "Well, sir, I should say they was the carpet," replied Johnson. "No, the waves are not the carpet. When the waves reach the end of the carpet they disappear. If the waves were the carpet, the carpet would disappear. The same waves in a whip, soft and undulating though they be, result in a loud crack, as you know." " Muddled again," said Johnson. " Ditto," said Slagg. "Why, I'm not muddled a bit!" suddenly ex- claimed Stumps, with a half-contemptuous laugh. " Of coorse you 're not," retorted Slagg. " Brain- .: I' 242 THE BATTERY AND THE 130ILER. less things never git into that state. You ncvei heard of a turnip bein' muddled, did you ?" Stumps became vacant, and Sam went on. "Well, you see, the waves are not substance. They Are a condition— a result of atoma in motion. Now, when the atoms of a substance are disturbed by friction, or by chemical action, they get into a state of violent commotion, and try wildly to fly from, or to, each other. This effort to fly about is energy. ' When the atoms get into a very intense state of commotion they have a tendency to induce explosion, unless a way of escape is found— escape for the energy, not for the atoms. Now, when you cause chemical disturbance in an electric battery, the energy thus evolved is called electricity, and we provide a conductor of escape for it in the shape of a copper or other metal wire, which we may carry to any distance we please, and the energy runs along it, as the wave runs along the carpet, as long as you keep up the commotion in the battery among the excited atoms of copper and zinc." " Mud— no, not quite. I have got a glimmer o' su'thin'," said Johnson. « Ditto," said Slagg. *' Supper," said old Meerta. " Ha ! that 's the battery for me," cried Stumps, jumpnig up. "Not a bad one either/' said Robin, as they THE BATTEIIY AND TUE BOILER. 243 entered the cave ; " alternate plates of beef and greens, steeped in some such acid as lemonade, cause a wonderful commotion in the atoms of the human body." " True, Eobin, and the energy thereby evolved," said Sam, "sometimes bursts forth in brilliant sparks of wit — to say nothing of flashes of absurdity." " An' thunderin' stoopidity," added Slagg, Further converse on the subject was checked at that time by what Sam termed the charging of the human batteries. The evening meal went on in silence and very pleasantly for some time, but before its close it was interrupted in an alarming manner by the sudden entrance of Letta with wild excitement in her eyes. "Oh!" she cried, pointing back to the entrance of the cave, " a ship ! — pirate ship coming ! " A bombshell could scarcely have produced greater effect. Each individual leaped up and darted out, flushing deep red or turning pale, according to temperament. They were not long in verifying the statement. A ledge of rocks concealed, the entrance to the cavern from the sea. Over its edge could be seen the harbour in which they had found the vessel whose total destruction has been described ; and there, sure enough, they beheld a similar vessel, though considerably smaller, in 244 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. the act Of furling her sails and dropping anchor. There could be no doubt as to hor character, for although too di«tai:t. to admit of her crew bein- distingui.^- ■ .. u-light, her rig and general appearance betrayed her. "Not a moment to be lost, Eobin," said Sam Shipton hurriedly, as he led the way back to the cavern, where old Mee...t and blind Bungo, aided by Letta, had already cleared away all evidence of the late feast, leaving only thieo tin cups and three p(-;wter plates on the table, with vianus appropriate thereto. "Ha! you're a knowing old lady," exclaimed Sam, " you understand how to help us, I see." " Me tink so ! " replied Meerta, with an intelli- gent nod. " On'y us free here. All de pyrits gone away. Dem sinners on'y come here for a feed— pYaps for leetil poodre. Soon go away." " Just so," said Sam, " meanwhile we will hide, and return after they are gone, or, better still, if you, Letta, and Bun^o will ;ome and hide with us, I '11 engage . lay a train of powder from the' barrels inside to somewhere outside, and blow the reptiles and cne whole n.cuntain into the s^a ! There 's powder enough to do ^■^" "You tink me one divJ "" deir mded the old wo.uan indignantly. "No, some d pyrits not so bad as each Oder. You let 'em uione ; me let you bne." THE BA'l .KY AND THE BOILER. 245 This gentle intimation that Meerta had their lives in her hand, induced Sam to ask modestly what slie would have him do. " Go," she replied promptly, " take rifles, swords, an' poodre. Hide till pyiits go 'way. If de tind you—fight. BeUer fight dan be skin alive ! " "Unquestionably," said Sara, with a mingled laugh and shudder, in which his companions jofned - as regards the shudder at least, if not the laugh. Acting promptly on the suggestion, Sam armed himself and hi comrades each with a good breech- loading rifle, as much ammunition as he could con- veniently carry, and an English sword. Then, descending the mountain on the side opposite to the harbour they disappeared in the dark and tangled underwood of the palm-grove. Letta went a short distance with them. " They won't kill Meerta or blind Bungo," she said, on the way dov u. "They're too*" useful, though they often treat them badly. Meerta sent me away to hide here the last time the strange bad men came. She thinks I go hide to-night, but I won't ; so, ^uod-night." " But surely you don't mean to put yourself in the power of the pirates ?" said Hobin. "No, never fear," returno 1 the child with a laugh see me.' *' I know how to see them without they f ,^m "■■MaiMRi 346 THE BATTEUY ANB THE BOlr.EH. Before further renionstrance couH be nmdo, tl.e active child had l»unded .,p the pathway and dis- appeared. Xot long after «am and his comrades had taken their depart^ re, the pirates came up to the cavern '» a body^about forty of them-well armed and read, to fight if need be. They were as rascally a set of cut-throats as one could desire to see- or rather, not to see-of various nationality with ugly coimtenances and powerful frames, which were clothed in more or less fantastic Eastern garb. Their language, like themselves, was mixed and, we need scarcely add, unrefined. The little that was interchanged between them and Meerta we must, however, translate. "What! alive still!" cried the ruffian, who appeared to be the leader of the band, flinain. him- self down on a couch with the air of a man who knew the place well, while his men made them- selves at home. Meerta merely smiled to the salutation ; that is to say, she grinned. " Where are they ?" demanded the pirate-chief refernng of course to those who, the reader is' aware, were blown up. " Gone away," answered Meerta. " Far away ?" asked the pirate. " Yes, very far away." THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 247 " Ooin' to be long away ?" *' Ho ! yes, mry \r>\v^y " Where's the little girl they took from Sarawak ?" " Gone away." " Where away ?" " Don't know." " Now, look here, you old hag," said the pirate, drawing a pistol from his belt and levelling it, "tell the truth about that girl, else I'll scatter your brains on the floor. Where has she gone to ?" " Don't know," repeated Meerta, with a look of calm indifference, as she took up a tankard and wiped it out with a cloth. The man steadied the pistol and pressed the trigger. " You better wait till she has given us our grub," quietly suggested one of the men. The leader replaced the weapon in the shawl which formed his girdle, and said, " Get it ready quick — the best you have, and bring us some wine to begin with." Soon after that our friends, while conversing in low tones in the grove, heard the unmistakeable sounds of revelry issue from the cave. "What think you, boys," said Sam suddenly, "shall we go round to the harbour, surprise and kill the guard, seize the pirate-ship, up anchor and leave these villains to enjoy themselves as best they may ?*' t fi' §' n ^ i 1 i 4 Wt \ i . m -' 1 ^ t^< ■ B il'l 1 jH mi'i' '<^l ll III \i 1 1 1 248 l< THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. " What ! and leave Letta, not to mention Meerta and Bungo, behind us ? JSTever !" " I forgot them for the moment," said Sam " No we can't do that." As he spoke the noise of revelry became louder and degenerated into sounds of angry disputation. Ihen several shots were heard, followed by the clashing of steel and loud yells. ^ ;' Surely that was a female voice," said Robin rising and rushing up the steep path timt led to the' cavern, closely followed by his comrades. They had not gone a hundred yards when they were arrested by hearing a rustling in the bushes and the sound of hasty footsteps. Next instant Letta was seen running towards them, with glaring, eyes and streaming hair. She sprang into Robin's arms with a convulsive sob, and hid her w]iite face on his breast. " Speak, Letta, dear child I Are you hurt ?» A ".^""'^ ''''' ^""^ ^'''*'' ^^^'^^"S M^^^ta, she is dead ! They have shot lier and Bungo." She burst again into convulsive sobbing. " Dead ! But are you sure-quite sure ? " said Sam. " Quite. I saw their brains scattered on the wall. Oh, Meerta i— " She ended in a low wail, as tliougli her heart wore broken. THE BATTKUY AND TIIK I'.OILER. 249 ";Now, boys," said Johnson, who had hitherto maintained silence, " we must go to work an' try to cut out the pirate- ship. It 's a good chance, and it *s our only one." " Yes, there 's nothing to prevent us trying it now," said Kobin, sadly, " and the sooner the better." " Lucky that we made up the parcels last night, warn't it ?" said Jim Slagg, as they made hasty arrangements for carrying out their plan. Jim referred to parcels of rare and costly jewels which each of them had selected from the pirate store, put into separate bags and hid away in the woods, to be ready in case of any sudden occasion arising — such as had now actually arisen — to quit the island. Going to the place where these bags were concealed, they slung them over their shoulders and set oil' at a steady run, or trot, for the harbour, each taking his turn in carrying Letta, for the poor child was not fit to walk, much less to run . Stealthy though their movements were, however, they did not altogether escape detection. Two bright eyes had been watching Letta during all her wanderings that night, and two nimble feet had followed her when she ran affrighted from the pirates' stronghold. The party was overtaken before half the distance to the harbour had been gained, and at length, with a cry of satisfaction. ii.iif I i kite-'' L-''i 250 » THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. iiif Letta's favourite— the small monkey— sprang upon her shoulder. In this position, refusing to°move, he was carried to the coast. As had been anticipated, the pirate vessel was found lying in the pool where the former ship had anchored. Being considerably smaller, however, it had been drawn close to the rocks, so that a landing had been effected by means of a broad plank or gangway instead of a boat. Fortunately for our friends, this plank had not been removed after the pirates had left, probably because they deemed themselves in a place of absolute security. As far as they could see, only one sentinel paced the deck. "I shouldn't wonder if the guard is a very small one," whispered Sam to Eobin, as they crept to the edge of the shrubs which lined the harbour, and surveyed their intended prize. " No doubt they expected to meet only with friends here— or with nobody at all, as it has turned out,— and have left just enough to guard their poor slaves." "We shall soon find out," returned Sam. "Now, boys," he said, on rejoining the others in the bush,' " see that your revolvers are charged and handy' but don't use them if you can avoid it." " A cut over the head with cold steel will be sufficiently effective, for we have no desire to kill. Nevertheless, don't be particular. We can't afford to measure our blows with such scoundrels; only if THE BATTERY AND TUE BOILER. 251 we fire we sliall alarm those in the cave, and have less time to get under weigh," " What is to be done with Letta while we attack?" asked Eobin. " 1 11 wait here till you come for me," said Letta, with a sad little smile on her tear-bedewed face ; " I 'm quite used to see fighting." " Good, keep close, and don't move from this spot till we come for you, my little heroine," said Sara. "Now, boys, follow me in single file — tread like mice— don't hurry. There's nothing like keeping cool." " Not much use o' saying that to a feller that 'a red-hot," growled Slagg, as he stood with a flushed face, a revolver in one hand and a cutlass in the other. Sam, armed similarly, glided to the extreme verge of the bushes, between which and the water there was a space of about thirty yards. With a quiet cat-like run he crossed this space, rushed up the plank gangway, and leaped upon the deck, with his comrades close at his heels. The sentinel was taken completely by surprise, but drew his sword never- theless, and sprang at Sam with a shout. The latter, although not a professional warrior, had been taught singlestick at school, and was an expert swordsman. He parried the pirate's furious thrust, and gave liim what is tcclinierilly termed cut tM « iTi™ i W .a |W B BI!| gi p)p < -l.^olr ROBIN RESCUES LETTA. -Page 255. THE BATTICUY AND THE BOILER. 255 Johnson, ready to shove off. I'll fetch Letta," cried Sam, springing to tlie side. He was --Imost run down, as he spoke, by Ivobin with the child in his arms. " Ha ! Robin— well done, my boy. Here, Letta, you understand the language, tell the slaves below to out oars and pnll for their lives. It's their only chance." The poor creatures, who were bound to the thwarts below deck, had been listening with dull surprise to the lighting on deck — not that fighting was by any means unusual in that vessel, but they must have known that they were in harbour, and that the main body of the pirates were on shore. Still greater was their surprise when they received the above order in the sweet gentle tones of a child's voice. Whether they deemed her an angel or not we cannot tell, but their belief in her right to com- mand was evinced by their shoving the oars out with alacrity. A few seconds sufficed to cut the cable, and the gangway fell into the sea with a loud splash as the vessel moved slowly from the land, while Johnson, Eobin, and Slagg thrust with might and main at the boat-hooks. The oars could not be dipped or used until the vessel had been separated a few yards from the laud, and it was daring the delay 1: 1' i 1 256 THE BATTEKY AND Til. BOILER. caused by this operation timf ,i • each oti.er among the diffi. """"'" '" " Pull, pull low for ]ife hnv« " „i he seized the helm ^ ' ""''' ^"^ "' coiiu prevent recapture TTp fi, r eucouraged the slaves to redo^b ed et.t Th " -pouded to the Silver, eeho, but so s^ had tr the Jjance gained that the issue seemed doubtM T1.0 .u ^^T^^^e^- and firing back over the sten, ,*, •I THE BATTKIIY AND THE BOILER. 257 One of tlie sails had fortunately been left un- furled. At this moment a li«;lit ] " of air from th'- land bulgeu it out, and seusi increased their speed. "Hurrah!" shouted Johnson, "lend a hand, boys, to haul taut." The sail was trimmed, and in a few iMnutes the vessel glided quickly away from her pursuers. A loud P>ritish cheer announc m1 the fact alike to pirates and laves, so that 'atter were heartened to greater exertion, whil ik; forn. t were dis- couraged. Tn a few minutes they gave up the chase with a yell of rage, and turned to swim for the hore. About a hundred yards from the mouth of the harbour there lay a small islet—a mere rock. Here Sam resolved to leave the pirate guard, none of whom had been quite killed — indeed two of them had tried unsuccessfully to rise during the fight. " You see," said Sam, as he steered for the rock, " we don't want to have either the doctoring or the killing of such scoundrels. They will be much better with their friends, who will be sure to swim off for them — perhaps use our raft for the purpose, which they will likely find, sooner or later." They soon ranged up alongside of the island, and in a few minutes the bodies of the pirates were landed and laid there side by side. While they * -i I .' 1 ■• I,* > s ... u, \. MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 15.0 1^ 1^ Kl±u 1.4 2B 32 3.6 1 4.0 2.5 — 12.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 _J* APPLIED IM/IGE I nc 165J Eost Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300- Phone (716) 288 - 5989 -Fox 26: THE BATTEEY AND TUB BOILER were be.ng laid down, the man who had fought with he t e °ln; °" ''^°''' ^"^ «' >>- '-if-vith Hefr ■< ''"""° ^"^ ""> l^'ck for him He felled h.m with a blow of his fist The othe^' although sfll alive, were unable to show figh " llien, hoisting the mainsail, and directL th.ir cou.e to the northward, our adventuit riifp J qa.et y over the sea, and soon left Pirate Island ,a^ out "t si;.ht behind them. I J THE liATTEKY AND THE BOILEIi. 259 CHArXER XXI. DEPAUTURE FROM PIUATIC ISLAND AND UOPKFUL NliWS AT SARAWAK. The vessel of vvliich Eobin and his friends had thus become possessed, was one of those numerous native pirate ships which did, and we believe still do, infest some parts of the Malay Archipelago — ships vvliich can assume the form and do the work of simple trading vessels when convenience requires, or can hoist the black flag when circumstances favour. It was not laden witli anything valuable at the time of its capture. The slaves who wrought at the oars when wind failed, were wretched creatures who had been captured among tlie various islands, and many of their, "^ere in the last stage of exhaustion, having been worked almost to death by their inhuman captors, though a good many were still robust and fresh. These latter it was resolved to keep still in fetters, as it was just possible that some of them, if freed, might take a fancy to seize the ship and become pirates ou their own account. They were treated ii ' d 2S0 THE liAmitY AND THE BOILKB. as well as circmstances would admit of. however and ,,ve„ to uuUe.tand tl.t tUey s.Uouia'be la ' and set free as soon as possible. Meanwhile no more work would be required of them than wa absolutely neeessary. Those of then, who were H were treed at once from toil, carefully nurred i-etta and doctored by Sam. At first EoUn and his comrades sailed awa-^ without auv detinif-u ,^„.„ . ■' thin<.8 h.A I ^ P'' '" '''•^''- •'"t after hjgs had been got into order, a council was held nd plans were discussed. It was then that ^ta mentioned what the pirates in the cav ^ Wl' '''"'' '-' '-^-^ ^- '^>- :>o,n "Sarawak!" exclaimed Eobin, "why that's tl,» l;^ethathasbeen owned and governed tl!; B ok ■ ^" "r"""' "8''%'-" they call hi.ullajah Lrooke Perhaps your mother lives there. T,tta." ^Miere is Sarawak ?" asked Stumps, o,.e in- juries in the recent fi-dit weiv „nf at fir,t l.„ ' ^° ^'^'"^■■e as had at last been supposed. "It's in the island of Borneo." replied q»m • "you 're right. Eobin-" ' ^^"'' ;No, he's Kobin Wright," interrupted SW that v'our "' ''T ' '"'"' '' '" '"^^y P-bablo that your parents are there. Letta. and as we have no particular reason for going anywhere ele, and THE BATTERY AND TTIK BOILER. 261 can't hope to make for Entiland in a tub like this, we will just lay her head for Sarawak." This was accordingly done, their new course being nor'- east and by east. It would extend our tale to undue proportions were we to give in detail all the adventures they experienced, dangers tliey encountered, and hair- breadth escapes they made, between that point on the wide southern ocean and the Malay Archipelago. The reader must be content to skip over the voyage, and to know that tliey uiLimately arrived at the port of Sarawak, where they were kindly treated by a deputy, the Eajah himself being absent at the time. During the voyage, the subject of finding Letta's parents became one of engrossing and increasing interest, — so much so, indeed, that even electricity and telegraph-cables sank into secondary importance. They planned, over and over again, the way in which they would set about making inquiries, and the various methods which they would adopt in pursuit of their end. They even took to guessing who Letta's parents would turn out to be, and Sam went so far as to invent and relate romantic stories, in which the father and mother of Letta played a con- spicuous part. He called them Colonel and Mrs. Montmorenci for convenience, which Slagg reduced to Col. and Mrs. Monty " lo^' ^ lUi. o ihort.' 4 363 THE HATTERY ANn TUB ROILER, eaiw It held tlie conversation on that source of 2^yj interest, "^amma," and partly be" use 01 the thing, while, poor child, her hopeful spirit or othe. the romance would become a realitv hrough Eobin, on whom she had l.stowedh r Inghost affections-next, of course, to mamma On landing at Sarawak, Sam Shiptoii went direct to the Government offices to report the capture o the pirate vessel and to make inquiries as to LetLt «, leaving Eobin and the others to watch tL a tl y 1 aned over the side and looked down >"to the c ear water, "that a Englishman shoj d become a Rajah, and get possession o' thi. h e country?" '^^® "I can give you only a slight reply to that ques- tion, replied Eobin, "but Sam will enlighten you more than I can; he seems to be acquaLted Z the Eajahs strange career. All I know is, that he IS said to govern the country well " "Coorious-said Johnson; "/'shouldn't like to settle down i„ sitch a nest o' pirates. Hows'ever every man to his taste, as Jack said when the shark' swallowed his sou'wester. D'ee think it's 1^ THE BATTERY AND THE TOILER. 263 sir, that wc 11 iind out who the parents o' poor Miss Lettais?" Eobin shook his head. " I 'm uot very hopeful. We have so little information to go upon — ^just one word, — Sarawak ! Nevertheless, I ' I't despair, and I '11 certainly not be beat without trying hard. But here comes Sam; he. looks pleased. I think — I hope, he has good news for us." " I 've got something, but not much," replied Sam to the eager inquiries with which he was assailed. " The gentleman whom I saw knew nothing about a little g'rl having been kidnapped from this region within the last two or three years, but an old clerk or secretary, who heard us talking about it, came up scratching his nose with the feather of his quill, and humbly said that he had heard something about a girl disappearing at a fire somewhere, though he couldn't recollect the name of the place, as he was ill at the time, besides being new to the country, but he thought there was a Malay, a drunken old fellow, living some five miles inland, who used to talk about something of the sort, and who had, he fancied, been in the service of the people whose house had been burned. But, altogether, he was very hazy on the subject. "Then we must go and ferret out this old man instantly," said Eobin, buttoning up his coat, as if about to commence the iournev at once. m I 2Qi THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. -no street la„n>s on the coun../i^''''"'^ capt,!::;:'''"" '""• ^"^-'-'-'the,abo„to„r " '■^'"" "■« °"''t leave it in tl.eir I,a,„l, ■^t 'J"' '"'S'" ''a^e to say about it but tl,,t 1,„ x- iiuiiienr , an suppose we wants fn eo,,Un„e our vyage to England, or Jndy. or Cb," ,; '" If we do we must continue it by swinuni,." roturnedSam; " but it n,atters little, forth -; teamer expected to touch here in a few days „ -way to India, so we can take passage ifh '..--.plenty of f„nds--thanks to the pirates - ' t s al very well for you to boast of bein' uoh.^ «d Stumps... but i won. bo able: huTUrr ""'■" -'-™'3 Kobin with a '.-.usli. The Jews will advance you enou-d, o„ your .lewellery to pay your passage." " " Tl'c greed which Slagg referred to had been dis- THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 265 played by Stumps at the time the parcels of coin and precious stones were made up in the cavern for sudden emergency, as before mentioned. On that occasion each man had made up his own parcel, selecting such gems, trinkets, and coin from the pirate horde as suited his fancy. Unfortunately, the sight of so much wealth had roused in the heart of Stumps feelings of avarice, which heretofore had lain dormant, and he stuffed many glittering and superb pieces of jewellery into his bag in a secre- tive manner, as if half asliamed of his new sensa- tions, and half afraid that his right to them might be disputed. Afterwards, on the voyage to Borneo, when the bags were emptied and their costly contents ex- amined, it was discovered that many of Stumps's most glittering gems were mere paste— ahnost worthless — although some of them, of course,* were valuable. Stumps was much laughed at, and in a private confabulation of his comrades, ' - was agreed that they would punish him by contn.sting their own riches with his glittering trash, but that at last they would give him a share which would make all the bags equal. This deceptive treatment, however, wrought more severely on Stumps than they had expected, and roused not only jealous but revengeful feelings in his breast. Next morning, Sam and Robin set off with L^tta = i d it' I?' 266 THE RATTEUY AND THE BOILER. ■jwimaan to search for the old Malay. leaving their comrades 111 cliarge of the vessel. There is something inexpressibly delightful to the feelings m passing through the glades and thickets of tropical forests and plantations after a long sea voyage. The nostrils seem to have been specially prepared, by long abstinence from sweet smells to appreciate the scents and odours of aromatic plants and flowers. The soft shade of foliage, the refresh- "ig green, and the gay colours everywhere fill the eye with pleasure, not less exquisite than that which fills the ears from the warblings and chat- terings of birds, the gentle tones of domestic animals, and the tinkling of rills. The mere solidity of the land, under foot, forms an ele- ment of pleasure after the tossings of the restless sea. and aU the sweet influences put together tend to rouse in the heart a shout of joy and deep gratitude for a world so beautiful, and for powei^ so sensitively capable of enjoying it. Especially powerful were the°s„rrounding influ- ences ou our three friends as they proceeded, mile after mile, into the country, and little wonder for eyes, and nostrils, and ears, which had of late drunk only of the blue heavens and salt sea and the music of the wind, naturally gloated over a land which produces sandal-wood, cinnamon, turmeric ginger, benzoin, camphor, nutmeg, and a host of 1 THE BATTKKY AND THK BOILER. 2G7 other gums and spices ; a land \vhu«c shades aro created by cocoa-nut palms, ebony, banana, bread- fruit, gutta-percha, upas, sosamuni, and a vast variety of other trees and shrubs, the branches of which are laden with fruits, and flowers, and paroquets, and monkeys. Little Letta's heart was full to overflowing, so much so that she could scarcely speak while walk- ing' along holdinff Robin's hand. l»ut there was more than mere emotion in her bosom — memory was strangely busy in her brain, puzzling her with dreamy recognitions both as to sights and sounds. " It's so like home !" she murmured once, looking eagerly round. " Is it ?" said Robin with intense interest. " Look hard at it, little one ; do you recognise any object that used to be in your old home V The child shook her head sadly. " No, not exactly — everything is so like, and— and yet not like, somehow." They came just then upon a clearing among suf^ar-cane, ;. the midst of which stood a half- ruined hut, quite open in front and thatched with broad leaves. On a bench near the entrance was seated an old grey-haired Malay man with a bottle beside liim. Nearer to the visitors a young girl was digging in the ground. " That 's the old Malay, for certain," said Sam ; L if. I 268 THE BATTKHY AND Tin: norrEii. name is." '" °"''' ^'''"'' ^'"" W^ tri'"'' "''"'"'™* "'"""«*'"" ^'-"''iM w„, trembling verv iniipli o., 1 ■ nnn TT T', """"" •=""""•'>■ "t the oI,l ».".. He had to report the question twice bofo e she understood hin,, and tho„ she asked L -«^;UaUnghere,esoffti,eo,d„:n ' ^'■'■' Who is he r responded the "irl ,„ the M , ton^«e"..h,,ti.t.o,dGeor.de-d;:;:.:i :5 She^had soarcelv uttered the w.„-ds when letta uttered a wild cry. ran to the old „„.„, Cjt^ 1>'B arms, and hugged him violently ' " The man was not only surprised but amtated HeWnedtheclnVsholdsoastobeaU:;^ o^^y'' ^Zt' ^'T'" ''' ''^'^''•"'osthystori. Leua'r- y- '^-^ -e-don't you W chilf t^.'"'"^'"'"'"* «"'• J°y. as he clasped the chiJd m his arms. Then qpffinrr i i T, 1 T , -«-'i«ii, setting her down mui "Know you! Wat? Yous hold nuss-hoM ae j.or ! Look ere, Miss Letty. (He TIIK DATTKRY AND TIIF. UOILKIt. 269 started up, put the child down, and, with 8U(hl('tj energy seized the bottle of rum by the neck.) Look 'ere, yous oftin say to iiu; afore you goed awjiy, ' Geo'gie, do, do give up d'iukinV— you 'members ?" "No, I don't remember," said Letta, smiliii<' through her tears. " Ho ! yes, but you said it— bery oftin, an' mo was used to say, 'Yes Miss LeLiy'— de iiold hipper- crit 1 — but I didn't gil) 'im up. I d'ink away wuss dan el)ber. But now — but now — but now (he danced round, each time wliirling the bottle above liis head), me d'ink no more — nebber — nebbcr — mbber more !" With a mighty swing the old man sent the rum- bottle, like a rocket, up among the branches of an ebony-tree, where it was shattered to atoms, and threw an eaves-dropping monkey almost into fits by raining rum and broken glass upon its inquisitive head. When the excitement of the meeting had some- what subsided, Letta suddenly said, " But where is mamma ? Oh ! take me to mamma, Georgie." The old man's joy instantly vanished, and Letta stood pale and trembling before him, pressing her little hands to her breast, and not daring, appar- ently, to ask another question. "Not dead?" she said at length in a low whisper. 'il(i 270 (( Ho! THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. No-no-Miss Letty," replied the man hastily - ' no, not dead, but goed away ; nigh broked her heart when she losted you; git berry sick t'ought she was go for die, but she no die. She' jis turn de corner and come round, an' when she git bedder she goed away." " Where did she go to?" asked Robin, anxiously. "To Bumby," said old George. "To where?" "Bumby." " I suppose you mean Boml)ay ?» said Sara. "Yes, yes— an' me say Bumby." "Is she alive and well?" asked Robin. "Hon' know," replied old George, shaking his head ; " she no write to hold Geo'gie. Nigh^ two hears since she goed away." When the excitement of this meeting be-an to subside, Sam Shipton took the old Malay "aside, and, after prolonged conversation, learned from him the story, of which the following is the substance. Mrs. Langley was the widow of a gentleman who had died in the service of Rajah Brooke. Several years b(>fore-he could not say exactly how many —the widow had retired with her only child, Letta, to a little bungalow on a somewhat out-of-the-way part of the coast which Mr. Langley used to be fond of going to, and called his " shoo ting- box." This had THE BATTERY AND TIIK BOILER. 271 been attacked one night by Labiian pirates, who, after taking all that was valuable, set fire to the house. Mrs. Langley had escaped by a back door into the woods with her old man-servant, George. She had rushed at the first alarm to Letta's bed, but the child was not there. Letta had been awake, had heard the advance of the pirate crew, and had gone into a front room to see who was comiuLr. Supposing that old George must have taken charge of the child, and hearing him calling to her to come away quickly, the widow ran out at the back door as the pirates entered by the front. Too late she found that Ge. ;e had not the child,. and she would have returned to the house, regardless of consequences, if George had not forcibly restrained her. When George returned at daybreak, he found the house a smouldering ruin, the pirates gone, and Letta nowhere to be found. The shock threw Mrs. Langley into a violent fever. She even lost her reason for a time, and when at last she was restored to some decree of health, she went away to Bombay without saying to any one what were her intentions. She could never entirely forgive old George for having pre- vented her returning to the house to share the fate of her child, and left Sarawak without biddimr him farewell, though, as old George himself pathetically remarkedj " Me couldn't 'elp it, you knows. De IIK' :i i' WS^Smasa IP. I f I [.: j i ■ ■ 11 272 THE BATTEKY AND TIIK BWLEK. aooundrils.kiU missia if sl.e goed back, au' dat doos no good to Miss Letty." ^ Tins was all the information that could be by he l:: "'" '"""''' '° P^--'' '0 Bombay severely ried, for many months elapsed ere tliev obtained berths in a vessel bound direct to Bom W so did Stumps, though a slight feelin- of cold nesshad begun to manifest itself in that% rtl" ewels. John Johnson, however, made up his mind to ake servrce with the Eajah. and help to exto miuate the nests of pirates with which tho,, 1 were infested. ^° ^^^ " "'1'"'"^ "I'"" it. sir," said Johnson to Eobin nf r? ""'^' ^-'^ '-" out somethi To , ^ ore long As I said to our stooard on th nS Uiat you was born. 'Stooard ' says I -h1-„ , ^r it, that there babbywha;h:i:i:i:: anu agom under hatches without makin" his mark somehow an- somewheres,' an' you've belurto -ake rt, sir, a'ready, an' you '11 go'on to maSTt sure as my name's John Johnson " ' y,7"T'f^ ''y your good opinion," replied -ttobin, with a laudi " All t ^ • , ■'^J^iea ever m^vh T n i r u ^'' '^^ ''' ^^^^<^ ^hat- evei mark T nuake, I hope may be a good one." THE BATTERY AND THE I30ILKR. 273 Poor ^^obin had little ambition at that time to make ii ;/ kind of mark for himself on the world. His one desire — which had grown into a sort of passion — was to find Letta's mother. Nearly all his thoughts were concentrated on that point, and so great was his personal influence on his comrades, that Sam and Slagg had become almost as enthusi- astic about it as himself, though Stamps remained comparatively indifferent. 1 ! s 274 THE BATTEliY AND THE BOILER. CHAPTEE XXII. BOMBAY— WHERE STUMPS COMES TO GRIEF Once again we must beg the patient reader to bkip with us over time and space, until we find ourselves in the great city of Bombay. It is a great da} for Bombay. Natives and Europeans alike are unusually excited. Somethino- of an unwonted nature is evidently astir. Down at the sea the cause of the excitement is explained, for the Great Eastern steamship has just arrived, laden with the telegraph cable v/hich is to connect England with her possessions in the East. Tiie streets and quays are crowded with the men of many nations and various creeds, to say nothing of varied costume. Turbans and chimney-pots salaam to each other, and fezes nod to straw hats and wide-awakes. Every one is more than usually sympathetic, for all have their minds, eyes, and liopes, more or less, centred on the " big ship," with lier unique and precious cargo. But it is with neither the Great Eastern nor the 11 THE BA.TTESY AND THE BOILER. 275 people— not even with the cable— that we have to do just now. Eemoving our eyes from such, we fix them and our attention on a very small steamer which lies alongside one of the wharves, and shows evidence of having been severely handled by winds and waves. At the time we direct attention to her, a few pasoeiigers were landing from this vessel, and among them were our friends, Sam Sliipton, Eobin Wright, Jim Siagg, John Shanks, alias Stumps, and Letta Langley. Most of the passengers had luggage of some sort, but our friends possessed only a small bag each, slung over their shoulders. A letter from the authorities of Sarawak certified that they were honest men. " Now, Robin," said Sam, as they pushed through the crowds, "there seems to me something auspicious in our arriving about the same time with the Great Eastern, and I hope something may come of it, but our first business is to make inquiries for Mrs. Langley. We will therefore go and find the hotel to which we have been recommended, and make that our headquarters while we are engaged in our search," "Can I lend you a hand, Mr. Shipton ?" asked Slagg, who had become, as it were, irresistibly more respectful to Eobin and Sam since coming amono- civilised people. wi 270 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 'I' "No, Slagg ; our miRsiou is too delicate to admit of numbers. If we require your services we '11 let you know." "Ah! I see— too many cooks apt to spoil the broth. Well, my mission will be to loaf about and see Bombay. You and I will pull together, Stumps." " No," said Stumps, to the surprise of his com- panions, " I Ve got a private mission of my own— at least for this evening." " Well, please yourself. Stumpy," said Slagg with a good-humoured laugh, "you never was the best o' company, so I won't break my heart." At the hotel to which they had been recom- mended two rooms were engaged,— a small single room for Letta, and one with two beds and a sofa for themselves. Having breakfasted and commended Letta to the landlady's care, Sam and Kobin sallied forth to- gether, while Slagg and Stumps went their separate ways, having appointed to meet again in the evening for supper. We will follow the fortunes of Mr. John Shanks. That rather vacant and somewhat degenerate youth, having his precious bag slung from his shoulders, and his left arm round it for further security, sauntered forth and began to view the town. His viewing it consisted chiefly in looking long and steadily at the shop windows of the principal THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 277 streets. There was a slight toucli of cunning, how- ever, in his expression, for he liad rid himself, cleverly as he imagined, of his comrades, and meant to dispose of some of the contents of his bn.M- to the best advantage, without letting them know the result. In the prosecution of his deep-laid plans, Stumps attracted the attention of a gentleman with exceed- ingly black eyes and hair, a hook nose, and rather seedy garments. This gentleman followed Stumps with great care for a considerable time, watched him attentively, seemed to make up his mind about him, and finally ran violently against him. " Oh ! I do beg your pardon, sir. I am so sorry," he said in a slightly foreign accent, with an expres- sion of earnest distress on his not over-clean coun- tenance, "so very, very, sorry; it was a piece of orange peel. I almost fell ; but for your kind as- sistance I should have been down and, perhaps, broke my legs. Thank you, sir; 1 do hope I have not hurt you against the wall. Allow me to dust your sleeve." " Oh ! you've done me no damage, old genTman," said Stumps, rather flattered by the man's attention and urbanity. « I 'm all right ; I ain't so easy hurt. You needn't take on so." " But I cannot help take on so," returned the fleedy man, with an irresistibly bland smile, " it is ? 'It 278 Tllli BATTEllY AND THE 130ILEU. BO good of you to make light of it, yet I might ahuost say you saved my life, for a fall to an elderly man is always very dangerous. Will you not allow me to give my benefactor a drink ? See, here is a sliop." Stumps chanced to be very hot and thirsty at the time ; indeed he had been meditating some such indulgence, and fell into the trap at once. Accept- ing the offer with a " well, I don't mind if I do," he entered the drinking saloon and sat down, while his new friend called for brandy and water. " You have come from a long voyage, I see," said the seedy man, pulling out a small case and offering Stumps a cigar. " How d'ee know that ? " asked Stumps bluntly. " Because I see it in your bronzed face, and, excuse me, somewhat threadbare garments." " Oh ! as to that, old man, I Ve got tin enough to buy a noo rig out, but I *m in no hurry." He glanced unintentionally at his bag as he spoke, and the seedy man glanced at it too — inten- tionally. Of course Stumps's glance let the cat out of the bag ! " Come," said the stranger, when the brandy was put before them, "drink — drink to — to the girls we left behind us !" " I left no girl behind me" said Stumps. " Well then," cried the seedy man. with irresis- THE DATTEUY AND THE BOILEll. 271) tible good humour, " let us drink success to absent iriends and confusion to our foes." Tliis seemed to meet the youth's views, for, with- out a word of comment, he drained his glass nearly to the bottom "Ha! that's good. Nothin' like brandy and water on a hot day." "Except brandy and water on a cold day, my dear, ' returned the Jew— for such he was ; " there is not much to choose between them. Had you not better take off your bag ? it incommodes you in so narrow a seat. Let me help — No ?" " You let alone my bag," growled Stumps angrily, with a sudden clutch at it. " Waiter ! bring a light. My cigar is out," said the Jew, affecting not to observe Stumps's tone or manner. " It is strange," he went on, " how, some- times, you find a bad cigar— a very bad cigar— in the midst of good ones. Yours is going well, I think." " Well enough," answered Stumps, taking another •pull at the brandy and water. The seedy man now launched out into a pleasant light discourse about Bombay and its ways, which highly interested his poor victim. He made no further allusion to the bag, Stumps's behaviour having betrayed all he required to know, namely, t-.hat its contents were valuable. r I 280 THE BATTEKY AND TIIELOILEU. Soon the brandy began to take effjct on Stumps and, as he was unaccustomed to such potent drink besides being unused to self-restraint, he would speedily have made himself a iit subject for the care of tlie police, which would not have suite.l his new friend at all. When, therefore. Stumps put out his hand to grasp his tumbler for another draught, his anxious friend inadvertently knocked It over, and tlien begged his pardon profusely Before Stumps could decide whether to call for another glass at the risk of having to pay for it himself, the Jew pointed to a tall, sallow-faced man who sat in a corner smoking and reading a news- paper. " Bo you see him ?" he asked, in a low mysterious whisper. "Yes; who is he? what about him?" asked the youth in a similar whisper. "He 's an opium-smoker." - "Is he?" said Stumps with a vacant stare. •* What's that?" Upon this text the seedy man delivered a dis- course on the pleasures of opium-smoking, which quite roused the interest and curiosity of his hearer. "But is it so very nice to smoke opium?" he asked, after listening for some time. " Nice, my dear ? 1 should think it is-veiy nice THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 281 but very wrong— oh ! very m rong. Perliaps wo ought not even to speak about it." "Nonsense !" said tlie now lialf-tipsy lad with an air of determination. " I should like to try it. Come, you know where I could liave a pipe. Let 's go." "Not for worlds," said the man with a look ui remonstrance. *' Oil, yes you will," returned Stumps, rising. " Well, you are a wilful man, and if you will I suppose you must," said the Jew. He rose with apparent reluctance, paid the reckoning, and led his miserable victim into one of the numerous dens of iniquity which exist in the lowest parts of that city. There he furnished the lad with a pipe of opium, and, while he was in the state of semi-stupor resulting therefrom, removed his bag of treasure, which he found, to his delight, contained a far richer prize than he had antici- pated, despite the quantity of trash with which it was partly filled. Having secured this, he waited until Stumps had partially recovered, and then led him into one of the most crowded thoroughfares. " Now, my boy," he said affectionately, " I think you are much better. You can walk alone." " I should think I could," he replied, indignantly shaking off the man's grasp. " Wh— what d'ee take me for ?" ■ i. ' ! 382f THE DATTEIIY AND THE DOILER. H^ drew his \/diu{ across his eyes, as if to clear away the cloud that still oppressed him, and stared sternly before him, then he stared, less sternly, on either side, then he whecded round and stared anxiously behind hiii Then clapping his left hand quickly to his .'iide, he became conscious that his bag was gone, and that his late friend had taken an abrupt departure without bidding him larewell. ,;1 TlIK HATTliUY AND Til'^ -OILER. 28a iM CIIArTER XXIII. STUMPS IN UKSPAIR— AND BOMBAY IN BAITURKS. When Mr. John Shanks realised the full extent of his loss, his first impulse was to seize hold of the nearest passer-by and strangle him ; his next, to dash down a narrow street close beside liim in pur- suit of some one; his next, to howl *' stop thief!" and "murder!" and his next, to stare iii o a shop window in blank dismay, and meditate. Of these various impulses, he gave way only to the last. His meditations, however, were t oufused and unsatisfactory. Turning from them ai)ruptly, he hurried along the street at a furious wal c, mut- tering, "I'll go an tell Slagg." Then, i lusin abruptly, "No, I won't, I '11 go an' inform the pieece." Under this new impulse he hurried forward igain, jostling people as he went, and receiving a good deal of rough-handling in return. Presently he came to a dead halt, and with knitted brows and set teeth, hissed, " I '11 go and drown myself." x Uxl Oi uiiis mteniiion i^c oroicc into a rwxi, Jiiti !■ 11 284 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. not being acquainted with the place, found it necessary to ask his way to the port. This some- what sobered him, but did not quite change his mind, so that when he eventually reached the neighbourhood of the shipping, 'he was still going at a quick excited walk. He was stopped by a big and obviously eccentric sea-captain, or mate, who asked him if he happened to know of any active stout young fellow who wanted to ship in a tight little craft about to sail for old England. " No I don't," said Stumps, angrily. " Come now, think again/' said the skipper, in no degree abashed, and putting on a nautical grin, which was meant for a winning smile. " I 'm rather short-handed ; give good wages ; have an amiable temper, a good craft, and a splendid cook. You 're just the active spirited fellow that I want. You '11 ship now, eh?" " No I won't," said Stumps, sulkily, endeavouring to push past. " Well well, no offence. Keep an easy mind, and if you should chance to change it, just come and see me, Captain Bounce, of the Swordfish. There she lies, in all her beauty, quite a picture. Good day." The eccentric skipper passed on, but Stumps did not move. He stood there with his eyes riveted on the pavement, and his lips tightlv comnreHsed. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 285 Evidently the drowning plan had been abandoned for something else — something that caused him to frown, then to smile, then to grow slightly pale, and then to laugh somewhat theatrically. While in this mood he was suddenly puslied to one side by some one who said — "The track's made for walkin' on, not standin', young — Hallo !" It was Slagg who had thus roughly encountered his mate. " Why, Stumps, what 's the matter with you V* " Nothing." " Where 'ave you bin to V* " Nowhere." " Who *s bin afrightenin* of you ?" " Nobody." " Nothin', nowhere, an' nobody," repeated his friend ; " that 's what I calls a coorious combination for a man who 's as white as a sheet one moment, and as red as a turkev-cock the next." " Well, Slagg," said Stumps, recovering himself a little, " the fact is, I've been taken in and robbed." Hereupon he related all the circumstances of his late adventure to his astonished and disgusted comrade, who asserted roundly that he was a big booby, quite unfit to take care of himself. " Hows'ever, we must do the best we can for you," he coniiniied, " so come along to the police-office." 286 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. Information of the ro1)bery was given, and in- quiries instituted without delay, but without avail. Indeed the chief officer held out little hope of ulti- mate success; nevertheless, Slagg endeavoured to buoy up his friend with assurances that they must surely get hold of the thief in the long-run. •' And :^ we don't," he said to Eobin and Sam, during a private conversation on the subject that same night, " we must just give him each a portion of what we have, for the poor stoopid has shared our trials, and ought to share our luck." While Stumps was being thus fleeced in the lower part of the city, Eobin and Sam had gone to make inquiries about Mrs. Langley, and at the Government House they discovered a clerk who had formerly been at Sarawak, and had heard of the fire, the abduction of the little girl, and of Mrs. Larqjley having afterwards gone to Bombay ; but he also told them, to their great regret, that she had left for England six months before their arrival, and he did not know her address, or even the part of England to which she had gone. "But," continued the clerk, who was a very friendly fellow, " I '11 make inquiries, and let you know the result, if you leave me your address. Meanwhile you can amuse yourself by paying a visit to that wonderful ship, the Great Eastern, which has come to lay a submarine telegraph cable i H THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEK. 287 between this and Aden. Of course you have heard of her arrival — perhaps seen her." " yes," replied Robin. " We intend to visit her at once. She is an old acquaintance of mine, as I was in her when she laid the Atlantic cable in 1865. Does Captain Anderson still command her?" " No," answered the clerk, who seemed much interested in what Robin said. " She is now com- manded by Captain Halpin." That evening Robin tried to console poor Letta in her disappointment at not finding her mother, and Sam sought to comfort Stumps for the loss of his treasure. Neither comforter was very suc- cessful. Letta wept in spite of Robin, and Stumps absolutely refused to be comforted ! Next day, however, the tears were dried, and Letta became cheery again in the prospect of a visit to the Great Eastern. But Stumps was no better. Indeed he seemed worse, and flatly refused to accompany them on their trip, although all the world of Bombay was expected to go. *' Stumpf!, Stnmps, Dowu in the dumps ! Down in the dumps so low — ! " Sang Jim Slagg as he waved his hand in farewell on quitting the hotel. " Good-bye, my boy, and get your sjpirits up before we return, if you can." I! ^ I 288 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. II " I '11 try," replied Stumps with a grim smile _ The event which stirred the city of Bombay to Its centre at this time was indeed a memorable one The connecting of India with England direct by a deep-sea cable was a matter of the greatest import- ance, because the land telegraph which existed at the time was wretchedly worked, passing, as it did through several countries, which involved transhition and re-translation, besides subjecting messages to needless delay on the part of unbusiness-like peoples In addition to the brighter prospects which tlie proposed cable was opening up, the presence of the largest ship that had ever yet been constructed was a point of overwhelming attraction, and so great were the crowds that went on board to see the marine wonder, that it was found somewhat difficult to carry on the necessary work of coaling and makin- preparations for the voyage. ° " Eobin," said Sam, as they walked along with Letta between them, « I Ve just discovered that the agent of tlie Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company is an old friend of mine. He has been busy erecting a cable landing-house on the shores of Back Bay, so we '11 go there first and get him to accompany us to the big ship." " Good," said Eobin. " if it is not too far for Letta to walk." The landing-house, which they soon reached. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEft. ^89 Stood near to the " green " where the Bombay and Baroda Eailway tumbled out its stream of cotton until the region became a very sea of bales. It was a little edifice with a thatched roof and Venetian blinds, commanding a fine view of the whole of Back Bay, with Malabar Point to the right and the governor's house imbedded in trees." Long lines of surf marked the position of ugly rocks which were visible at low water, but am^'ong these there was a pathway of soft sand marked off by stakes, along which the shore-end of the cable was to lie. For the reception of the extreme end of the cable there was provided, in the cable-house, a testing table of solid masonry, with a wooden top on which the testing instruments were to stand ; the great delicacy of these instruments rendering a fixed table indispensable. When our friends reached the cable-house, native labourers, in picturesque Oriental costume, were busy thatching its roof or painting it blue' while some were screwing its parts together; for the house, with a view to future telegraphic require- ments, was built so as to come to pieces for sliip- ment to still more distant quarters of the globe. Sam's friend could not go with him, he said, but he would introduce him to a young acquaintance ,i I li,. f 4; among the working engineers who was going off 290 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. with a party in half an hour or so. Accordingly, in a short time they were gliding over the bay and ere long stood on the deck of the big ship. " Oh, Letta ! " said Eobin, with a glitter of enthu- siasm in his eyes, as he gazed round on the well- remembered deck, "it feels like meeting an old friend after a long separation." " How nice !" said Letta. This " how nice " of the child was, so to speak, a point of great attraction to our hero. She always accompanied it with a smile so full of sympathy, interest, and urbanity, that it became doubly significant on her lips. Letta was precocious. She had grown so rapidly in sympathetic capacity and intelligence, since becoming acquainted with her new friends, that Eobin had gradually come to speak to her about his thoughts and feelings very much as he used to speak to cousin Madge when he was a boy. "Yes," he continued, "I had forgotten how bin she was, and she seems to me actually to have grown bigger. There never was a ship like her in the world. Such huge proportions, such a vast Sweep of graceful lines. The chief difference that I observe is the coat of white paint they have given her. She seems to have been whitewashed from stem to stern. It was for the heat, I fancy." ** Yes, Sir, it wor, said a bluff cable -man who THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 291 chanced to overhear the remark, " an' if you wor in the tanks, you 'd *ave iblessed Capt'n Halpin for wot he done. W'y, sir, that coat o' whitewash made a difference o' no less than eight degrees in the cable-tanks the moment it was putt on. Before that we was nigh stooed alive. Arter that we Ve on'y bin baked." "Indeed?" said Robin, but before he could say more the bluff cable-man had returned to his bakery. " Just look here," he continued, turning again to Letta; " the great ships around us seem like little ones, by contrast, and the little ones like boats, —don't they?" "Yes, and the boats like toys," said Letta, "and the people in them like dolls.'* " True, little one, and yonder comes a toy steamer," said Samy who had been contemplating the paying- out gear in silent admiration, « with some rather curious dolls on it." "Oh!" exclaimed Letta, with great surprise, " look, Eobin, look at the horses—just as if we were on shore !" Among the many surprising things on board of the big ship, few were more striking for incongruity than the pair of grey carriage-horses, to which\etta referred, taking their morning exercise composedly up and down one side of the deck, with a groom at their heads. ?3».^' 292 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. The steamer referred to by Sam was one which contained a large party of Hindu and Parsee ladies and children who had come off to see the ship. These streamed into her in a bright procession, and were soon scattered about, making the decks and saloons like Eastern flower-beds with their many- coloured costumes— of red, pink, white, and yellow silks and embroideries, and bracelets, brooches, nose-rings, anklets, and other gold and silver orna- ments. The interest taken by the natives in the Great Eastern was naturally great, and was uncApectedly illustrated in the following manner. Captain Halpin, anticipating difficulties in the matter of coaling and otherwise carrying on the work of the expedition, had resolved to specify particular days for sight-seers, and to admit them by ticket, on which a small fee was charged — the sum thus raised to bo distributed among the crew at the end of the voyage. In order to meet the convenience of the " upper ten " of English at Bombay, the charge at first was two rupees (about 4s.), and it was adver- tised that the ship would afterwards be thrown open at lower rates, but to the surprise of all, from an early hour on the two-rupee day the ship was beset by Parsces, Hindus, and Mohammedans, so that eventually, on all sides— on the decks, the bridge, the paddle-boxes, down in the saloons, out* THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 293 side the cable-tanks, mixed up with the machinery clustering round the huge red buoys, and at tlie door of the testing- room~the snowy robes, and strange head-dresses, bright costumes, brighter eyes brown faces, and turbans far outnumbered the stiff and sombre Europeans. These people evidently regarded the Great Eastern as one of the wonders of the world. "The largest vessel ever seen in I3ombay,» said an enthusiastic Parsee, " used to be the Bates Family, of Liverpool, and now there she lies alongside of us looking like a mere iolly- boat." '' ^ While Sam and his friends were thus standing absorbed by the contemplation of the curious sic^lits and sounds around them, one of the engineer s'taff, who had served on board during the laying of thj 1866 Atlantic cable, chanced to pass, and, recognis- mg Eobin as an old friend, grasped and shook his hand warmly. Eobin was not slow to return the greeting. " Frank Hedley," he exclaimed, " why, I thourrht you had gone to California !" "^ " Eobin Wright," replied the yr ig engineer, « I thought you were dead ! " "Not yet," returned Eobin; "Fm thankful to report myself alive and well." ^ ^" But you ought to be dead," persisted Frank, ^ior you've been mourned as such for nigh a m %\ 294 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. couple of years. At least the vessel in wliich yon sailed has never been heard of, and tlie last time I saw your family, not four months since, they had all gone into mourning for yru." " Poor mother I" murmured Eobin, his eyes filling with tears, "but, please God, we shall meet again before long." " Come— come down with me to the engine-room and have a talk about it," said Frank, « and let your friends come too." Just as he spoke, one of the little brown faced Mohammedan boys fixed his glittering eyes on an opening in the bulwarks of the ship, through which the water could be seen glancing brightly. That innate spirit of curiosity peculiar to small boys all the world over, induced him to creep partly through the opening and glance down at the sparkling fluid. That imperfect notion of balance, not infrequent in small boys, caused him to tip over and cleave the water with his head. His Mohammedan relatives greeted the incident with shrieks of alarm. Eobin, who had seen him tip over, being a good swimmer, and prompt to act, went through the same hole like a fish-torpedo, and caught the brown boy by the hair, as he rose to the surface with staring eyes, out- spread fingers, and a bursting cry. Eope-ends, life-buoys, and other things were flimff ftVPr fllA cifla • rkovo nro..^ ^1 J - 1 J (_, -. _„^ .-JlUv , vtvto TTCiC JJiUU^UU j UUU13 THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 205 dartod forward ; fifty efforts at rescue were made in as many seconds, for tliere was wealth of aid at liand, and in a wonderfully brief space of time the l)rown boy was restored to his grateful friends, while Robin, enveloped in a suit of dry clothes much too large for him, was seated with his friend the engineer down among the great cranks, and wheels, and levers, of the regions below. " It 's well the sharks weren't on the outlook," said Frank Hedley, as he brought forward a small bencli for Letta, Sam, and Jim Slagg. " You won't mind the oily smell, my dear," he said to Letta. "0 no. I rather like it," replied the accom- modating child. "It's said to be fattening," remarked Slagg, "even when taken through the nose." "Come now, let me hear all about my dear mother and the rest of them, Frank," said Piobin. Frank began at once, and, for a considerable time, conversed about the sayings and doings of the Wright family, and of the world at large, and about the loss of the cable-ship ; but gradually and slowly, yet surely, the minds and converse of the little party came round to the all-absorbing topic, like the needle to the pole ! "So, you're actually going to begin to coal to-morrow ?" said Sam. 'es, and we hope to be ready in a few days to « V, 296 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. lay tlie shore-end of the cable/* answered the young engineer. " But have they not got land lines of telegraph M'hich work well enouLrh ? " asked Robin. "Land lines !" exclaimed Frank, with a look of contempt. "Yes, they have, and no doubt the lines are all right enough, but the people through whose countries they pass are all wrong. Why, tlie Government lines are so frequently out of order just now, that their daily condition is reported on as if they were noble invalids. Just listen to this (he caught up a very much soiled and oiled news- paper)—' Telegraph Line Reports, Kurrachee, 2d Feby., 6 P.M.— Cable communication perfect to Fao ; Turkish line is interrupted beyond Semawali ; I'ersian line interrupted beyond Shiraz.' And it ,is constantly like that— the telegraphic disease, though intermittent, is chronic. One can never be sure when the line may be unfit for duty. Some- limes from storms, sometimes from the assassina- tion of the operators in wild districts through which the land wires pass, and sometimes from* the de- struction of lines out of pure mischief, the telegraph is often beaten by the mail." "There seems, indeed, much need for a cable direct," said Sam, "which will make us independent of Turks, Persians, Arabs, and all the rest of them* By the way, how long is your cable ? " TET; nATTERY AND THE BOILER. 207 { I "The cable now in our tanks is 2375 nautical Miles long, but our companion ships, tlio llibernia, Chiltern, and Mawk, carry among them 1225 miles more, making a total of 3G00 nautical miles, which is equal, as you know, to 4050 statute milea This is to suflice for the communication between P -^ibay and Aden, and for the connecting of the Malta and Alexandria lines. They are now laying a cable between England, Gibraltar, and Malta, so that when all is completed there will be one line of direct submarine telegraph unbroken, except at Suez. " Magnificent !'* exclaimed Robin, "why, it won't be long before we shall be able to send a message to India and get a reply in the same day." " In the same day !" cried Sara, slapping his thigh ; " mark my words, as uncle Eik used ti say, you '11 be able to do that, my boy, within the same hour before long." " Come, Sara, don't indulge in prophecy. Tt does not become you," said Eobin. " By the way, Frank, what about uncle Eik? You have scarcely men- tioned him." " Oh ! he 's the same hearty old self-opinionated fellow as ever. Poor fellow, he was terribly cut up about your supposed death. I really believe that he finds it hard even to smile now, much less to laugh. As for Madge, she won't believe that you 'B I li 298 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. are lost— at least she won't admit it, tliough it is easy to see that anxiety has told upon her." " I wonder how my poor old mother has took it," said Slagg, pathetically. "But she's tough, an' can't be got to believe things easy. She'll hold out till I turn up, I dessay, and when I present myself she '11 say, ' I know'd it !' " " But to return to the cable," said Sam, with an apologetic smile. " Is there any great diU'erenco between it and the old ones ?" "Not very much. We have found, however, that a little marine retch called the teredo at- tacks hemp so greedily that we 've had to invent a new compound wherewith to coat it, namely, ground flint or silica, pitch, and tar, which gives the teredo the toothache, I suppose, for it turns him off effectually. We have also got an inter- mediate piece of cable to affix between the heavy shore-end and the light deep-sea portion. There are, of course, several improvements in the details of construction, but essentially it is the same as the cables you have already seen, with its seven copper wires covered with gutta-percha, and other insu- lating and protecting substances." "It's what I calls a tremendious undertakin'," said Slagg. " It is indeed," assented Frank, heartily, for like all tlio rest of the crew, from the captain down- THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 29a wards, he was quite enthusiastic about the ship and her work. " Wliy, when you come to think of it, it's unbelievable. I sometimes half expect to waken up and find it is all a dream. Just fancy. We left England with a freight of 21,000 tons. The day is not long past when I thought a ship of 1000 tons a big one ; what a mite that is to our Leviathan, as she used to be called. We had 5512 tons of cable, 3824 tons of fuel, G499 tons of coal and electric apparatus and appliances when wo started; the whole concern, ship included, being valued at somewhere about two millions sterlinf'. o It may increase your idea of the size and needs of our little household when I tell you that the average quantity of coal burned on the voyage out has been 200 tons a day." " It 's a positive romance in facts and figures," said Sam. " A great reality, you should have said," remarked Eobin. And so, romancing on this reality of facts and figures in many a matter-of-fact statement and figurative rejoinder, they sat there among the great cranks, and valves, and pistons, and levers, until the declining day warned them that it was time to go ashore. •1 I. 300 THE BATTEEY AND THE BOILER. CHAPTEE XXIV. I! SHOWS THE DREADFUL DEPRAVITY OF MAN, AND THE AMAZING EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL TREATMENT ON MAN AND BEAST. \ Meanwhile Stumps went back to the hotel to brood over his misfortunes, and hatch out the plan which his rather unfertile brain had devised. Seated on a chair, with his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands, and his nails between his teeth, he stared at a corner of the room, nibbled and meditated. There was nothing peculiar about the corner of the room at which he stared, save that there stood in it a portmanteau which Sam had bought the day before, and in which were locked his and Eobin's bags of treasure. " If I could only manage to get away by rail to — to— any where, I 'd do it," he muttered. Almost simultaneously he leaped from his chair, reddened, and went to look out at the window, for some one had tapped at the door. " Come in," he said with some hesitation. -jien i maR wants you, sir, Suicl a vv"u uiiur, usneniig THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 301 in the identical captain who had stopped Stuni^js on the street that day. " Excuse me, young man," he said, taking a chair without invitation, " I saw you enter tk'i hotel, and followed you." " Well, and what business had you to follow me?" demanded Stumps, feeling uneasy. " Oh, none— none at all, on'y I find I must sail this afternoon, an' I Ve took a fancy to you, an' hope you Ve made up your mind to ship with me." Stumps hesitated a moment. " Well, yes, I have," he said, with sudden resolu- tion. " When must I be on board ?" " At four, sharp," said the captain, rising. " I like promptitude. All right. Don't fail me." " I won't," said Stumps, with emphasis. When the captain was gone. Stumps went ner* vously to the door and peeped out. Nothing was visible, save the tail of a waiter's retiring coat. Cautiously shutting and bolting the door, he took up a strong walking-cane, and, after some difficulty, forced the lock of the portmanteau therewith. Abs- tracting from it the two bags containing the trea- sures of his mates Eobin and Sam, he wrapped th^m in a handkerchief, and put them into a canvas bag, which he had purchased for the reception of his own wardrobe. Taking this under his arm he went quietly out of the hotel into the street and disappeared. i: i' 'I I ii^ 302 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. He was closely followed by a waiter who kid taken the liberty of peeping through the key-hole when he committed the robbery, and who never lost sight of him till he had seen him embark in a vessel in the harbour, named the Fairy Queen, and heard him give his name as James Gibson. Then he returned to the hotel, giving vent to his senti- ments in the following soliloquy — "Of course it is no business of yours, John Ribbon, whether men choose to open their comrades* portmantys with keys or walkin'-sticks, but it is well for you to note the facts that came under your observation, and to reveal them to them as they concern — for a consideration.** But the waiter did not at that time obtain an opportunity to reveal his facts to those whom they concerned, for Sam, Eobin, Slagg, and Letta did not return to the hotel, but sent a pencil note to Stumps instead, to the effect that they had received an invitation from a telegraph official to pay him a visit at his residence up country ; that, as he was to carry them off in his boat to the other side of the bay, they would not have an opportunity of calling to bid him. Stumps, a temporary farewell ; that he was to make himself as happy as he could in Bom- bay during their absence, keep on the rooms at the hotel, and settle the bills, and that all expenses would be paid by them on their return. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 303 As the youth by whom this message was sent knew nothing about the senders or whither they had gone, and as Stumps did not again make his appearance, the landlord seized the few things that had been left by the supposed runaways. The invitation that had thus suddenly been given and accepted, was received from a gentleman named Eedpath, an official in the Indian telegraph service. They had been introduced to him on board of the Great Eastern by Sam's friend, Frank Hedley, and he became so interested in their adventurous career that he begged them to visit his bungalow in a rather out-of-the-way part of the country, even if only for a few days. " It won't take us long to get there," he said, "for the railway passes within thirty miles of it, and I '11 drive you over as pretty a piece of country as you could wish to see. I have a boat alongside, and must be off at once. Do come." "But there are so many of us,"objected Sam Shipton. " Pooh ! I could take a dozen more of you," re- turned the hospitable electrician; "and my wife rejoices— absolutely rejoices— when I bring home unexpected company." " What a pattern she must be," said Slagg ; " but excuse me, sir, since you are so good as to invite us all, may I make so bold as to ax if you 've got a servants'- 'all?" 304 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. i ' 11 i " Well, I 've not got exactly that," replied Red- path, with an amused look; "but I've got some- thing of the same sort for my servants. Why do you ask?" " Because, sir, I never did sail under false colours, and I ain't agoin' to begin now. I don't set up for a gentleman, and though circumstances has throwed me along wi' two of 'em, so that we 've bin hail- feller-well-met for a time, I ain't agoin' to conde- scend to consort wi' them always. If you 've got a servauts'-'all, I '11 come and thank 'ee ; if not, I '11 go an' keep company wi' Stumps till Mr. Shipton comes back." " Very well, my good fellow, then you shall come, and we '11 find you a berth in the servants'-hall," said Redpath, laughing. " But what about Stumps ?" said Robin ; " he will wonder what has -.ome over us. Could we not return to the hotel first ?" " Impossible," said the electrician ; '' I have not time to wait. My leave has expired. ."Asides, you can write him a note." So the note was written, as we have shown, and the party set out on their inland journey. Before starting, however, Frank Hedley, the en- gineer, took Sam and Robin aside. "Now, think over what I have mentioned," he said, " and make up your minds. You see, I have 1- '5 THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 305 .o,„e influence at headquarters, and am q„i,e sure I can get you both a berth on board to rellaco he n>en ,vho have left us. I think I can even Zn o tofiudacor„erforSIagg,ifheisnotpartic2:° Wv, '^^ -"' '-ve Stun,ps behind, you as Zf; ^'" "'^ '" ^'' ^'"™P^ ^'""Sglod aboard as a stoker or somethinc^ if nn.,«ii,u k ^ . trniTi T J up, °' Possible, but to say rSdlt:^^^'^"''^^"^"^^^-"''--^^^^^^ "But shall we have time for this trip if you should prove successful V asked Sam "rionty of time," returned his friend; "coalin^isa slow as well as a dirty process an,I tn =1 ■ Z ° "Well then, Frank." said Sam; "adieu till w« meet as shipmates." aaieu, till we The railway soon conveyed our adventurers a cous,derable distance into the interior of the cou ly A the s afon where Bedpath and his guests go't them all, and the road over which they rapidly tad given to rt Every .,pecies of beautiful scenery 806 THE BATTERY AND TIIE BOILER. 1 presented itself — from the low scrubby plain, with clumps of tropical plants here and there, to undu- lating uplands and hills. " You must have some difficulties in your tele- graph operations here," said Eobin to Redpath, " with which we have not to contend in Europe." " A few," replied his friend, '• especially in the wilder parts of the East. Would you believe it," he added, addressing himself to Letta, " that wild animals freq^uently give us great trouble ? When- ever a wild pig, a tiger, or a buffalo, takes it into his head to scratch himself, he uses one of our tele- graph posts if he finds it handy. Elephants some- times butt them down with their thick heads, by way of pastime, I suppose, for they are not usually fond of posts and wire as food. Then bandicoots and porcupines burrow under them and bring them to the ground, while kites and crows sit on the wires and weigh them down. Monkeys, as usual, are most mischievous, for they lay hold of the wires with tails and paws, swinging from one to another, and thus form living conductors, which tend to mix and confuse the messages." " But does not the electricity hurt the monkeys V asked Letta. " no ! It does them no injury ; and birds sitting on the wires are never killed by it, as many people suppose. The electricity passes them unharmed, THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 307 and keeps faithfully to the wire. If a monkey, in- deed, had a tail long enough to reach from the wire to the ground, and were to wet itself thoroughly, it might perhaps draw off some of the current, but for- tunately the tails of monkeys are limited. We often fmd rows of birds lying dead below our telegraph lines, but these have been kiUed by flying against th^m, the wires being scarcely visible among ti°ees." "And what about savages, sir?" asked Jim Slagg, who had become deeply interested in the telT- graphist's discourse ; " don't they bother you some- times ?" " Of course they do," replied Eedpath, with a laugh, "and do us damage at times, though we bother them too, occasionally." " How do you manage that, sir ? " asked Jim. " Well, you must know we have been much hin- dered in our work by the corruptness and stupidity of Eastern officials in many places, and by the destructive propensities and rapacity of Kurds and wandering Arabs and semi-savages, who have found our posts in the desert good for firewood and our wires for arrow-heads or some such implements. Some of our pioneers in wild regions have been killed by robbers when laying the lines, while others have escaped only by fighting for their lives. Super- stition, too, has interfered with us sadly, though sometimes it has come to our aid" m 308 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. \i\ " There was one eccentric Iriahman — one of the beat servants I ever had," continued Ilcdpath, "who once made a sort of torpedo arrangement which achieved wonderful success. The fellow is with me still, and it is a treat to hear Flinn, that 's his name, tell the story, but the fun of it mostly lies in the expressive animation of his own face, and the richness of his brogue as he tells it. "*I was away in the dissert somewheres,' he is wont to say, 'I don't rightly remimber where, for my brain 's no better than a sive at geagraphy, but it was a wild place, anyhow— bad luck to it ! Well, we had sot up a line o' telegraph in it, an' wan o' the posts was stuck in the ground not far from a pool o' wather where the wild bastes was used to dhrink of a night, an' they tuk a mighty likin' to this pobt, which they scrubbed an' scraped at till tliey broke it agin an' agin. Och ! it 's me heart was broke intirely wi' them. At last I putt me brains in steep an' got up an invintion. It wouldn't be aisy to explain it, specially to ouscientific people. No matter, it was an electrical arrangement, which I fixed to the post, an' bein' curious to know how it would work, I wint down to the pool an' hid me- silf in a hole of a rock, wid a big stone over me an' ferns all round about. I tuk me rifle, av coorse, just for company, you know, but not to shoot, for I 'm not bloodthirsty, by no means. Well, I hadn't bin THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 309 long down whin a nistle in tho laves towld me that somethin' was coniin', an' sure enough down trotted a little deer-as purty a thing as you could wish to see. It took a dhriiik, tremblin' all the time an' there was good cause, for another rustlin' was heard. Off wint the deer, just as a panther o' some sort jumped out o' the jungle an' followed it. Bad luck go wid ye ! says I ; but I 'd scarce said it wliin a loud crashing in the jungle towld me a buffalo or an elephant was comin'. It was an elephant Ho wint an' took a long pull at the pool. After that he goes straight to the post. Ha! says I, it's au owld friend o' yours, I see. When he putt his great side agin' it, for the purpose of scratchin' he got a shock from my electrical contrivance that caused his tail to stand upon end, and the hairs at Its point to quiver. Wid a grunt he stood back an' gave the post a look o' surprise, as much as to say. Did ye do that a-purpose, ye spalpeen ? Then he tried it again, an' got another shock that sot up his dander, for he twisted his long nose round the post, goin' to pull it down, no doubt, but he got another shock on the nose that made him squeal an' draw back. Then he lowered his great head for a charge. It's all over wid ye now, me post, savs I ; but the baste changed its mind, and wint off wid its tail an' trunk in the air, trumpetin' as if it had got the toothache. Well, after that uothiu' §1 .1 310 niE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. came for some time, and I think I must have gone off to slape, for I was awoke by a most tremendious roar. Lookin' up I saw a tiger sprawlin' on hia back beside the post ! Av coorse the shock wasn't enough to have knocked the baste over. I suppose it had tripped in the surprise. Anyhow it jumped up and seized the post with claws an' teeth, whin av coorse it got another shock that caused it to jump back about six yards, with its tail curled, its hair all on end, all its claws out, an* its eyes blazin'. You seem to feel it, says I — in to meself, for fear he'd hear me. He didn't try it again, but wint away into the bush like a war-rocket. After that, five or six little wild pigs came down, an' the smallest wan wint straight up to the post an* putt his nose to it. He drew back wid a jerk, an* gave a scream that seemed to rend all his vitals. You don't like it, thinks I ; but, faix, it looked as if I was wrong, for he tried it again. Another shock he got, burst himself a'most wid a most fearful yell, an' bolted. His brothers didn't seem to under- stand it quite. They looked after him in surprise. Then the biggest wan gave a wriggle of his curly tail, an' wint to the post as if to inquire what was the matter. When he got it on the nose the effect was surprisin*. The curl of his tail came straight out, an' it quivered for a minute all over, wid its „,M^ ,^ Open. The oCruech had stuck in hia THE LATTEItV AND THE DOILER. 311 throat, but it carae out at last so fierce that tlio other pigs had to join in self-defence. I stuck my fingers in my ears and shut me eyes. When I opened them again the pigs were gone. It's my opinion they were all dissolved, like the zino plates in a used-up battery ; but I can't prove that Well, while I was cogitatin' on the result of my little invintion, what should walk out o' the woods but a man ! At first I tuk him for a big monkey, for the light wasn't very good, but he had a gun on his shoulder, an' some bits o' clothes oi:, so I knew him for a human. Like the rest o' them, he wiut up to the post an' looked at it, but didn't touch it. Then he came to the pool an' tuk a dhrink, un' spread out his blanket, an' began to arrange matters for spendin' the r'^st o' the night there. Av coorse he pulled out liis axe, for he couldn't do widout fire to kape the wild bastes off. An' what does he do but go straight up to my post an' lilt his axe for a good cut. Hallo ! says I, pretty loud, for I was a'most too late. Whew ! What a jump he gave ! — six futt if it was an inch. Whin he came down he staggered with his back agin the post. That was enough. The jump he tuk before was nothin' to what he did after. I all but lost sight of him among the branches. When he returned to the ground it was flat on his face he fell, an', row! in* over his head, came up on his knees with a roar 312 THE BATTERY AND TIW, BOILER. iii that putt the tigers and pigs to shame. Sarves you right, says I, steppin' out of my hole. Av coorse he thought I was a divil of some sort, for he turned as white in the face as a brown man could, an* bolted without so much as sayin' farewell. The way that nigger laid his legs along the ground was a caution. Ostriches are a joke to it. I picked up his blanket an' fetched it home as a keepsake, an* from that day to this the telegraph posts have been held sacred by man an' baste all over that part of the country.'" "I'd like to meet wi' the feller that told that yarn," said Jim Slagg. " So should I," said Letta, laughing. "You shall both have your wish, for there he stands," said Eedpath, as they dashed round the corner of a bit of jungle, on the other side of which lay as pretty a bungalow as one could wish to see. A man-servant who had heard the wlieels, was ready at the gate to receive the reins, while under the verandah stood a pretty little woman to receive the visitors. Beside her was a black nurse with a white baby. " Here wo are, Flinn," said Redpatli, leaping to the ground. "All well, eh?" "Sure we're niver anything else here, sor," re- plied Eiinn, with a modest amile. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 313 *' I *ve just been relating your electrical experi- ences to my friends," said the master. " Ah ! now, it 's drawin' the long bow you Ve been," returned the man ; " I see it in their faces." " I have rather diluted the dose than otherwise," returned Eedpath. "Let me introduce Mr. Slagg. He wishes to see Indian life in the ' servants' hall/ Let him see it, and treat him well." " Yours to command," said Flinn, with a nod as he led the horses away. " This way, Mr. Slug." * " Slagg, if you please, Mr. Flinn," said Jim. " The difference between a a an' a w ain't much, but the results is powerful sometimes." While Slagg was led away to the region of the bungalow appropriated to the domestics, his friends were introduced to pretty little Mrs. Eedpath, and immediately found themselves thoroughly at home under the powerful influence of Indian hospitality. Although, being in the immediate neighbourhood of a veritable Indian jungle, it was natural that both Sam and Eobin should wish to see a little sport among large game, their professional enthusi- asm rose superior to their sporting tendencies, and they decided next day to accompany their host on a short trip of inspection to a neighbouring tele- graph station. Letta being made over to the care of the hostess, was forthwith installed as assistant nurse to the white baby, whom she already regarded ;|i: ! B tf ■ rm M 1 ^^-fl v:m 1 314 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. ii llli It as a delicious doll— so readily does female nature adapt itself to its appropriate channels ! Not less readily did Jim Slagg adapt himself to one of the peculiar channels of man's nature. Sport was one of Slagg's weaknesses, though he had enjoyed very little of it, poor fellow, in the course of his life. To shoot a lion, a tiger, or an elephant, was, in Slagg's estimation, the highest possible summit of earthly felicity. He ^was young, you see, at that time, and moderately foolish! But although he had often dreamed of such bliss, he had never before expected to be within reach of it. His knowledge of sport, moreover, was entirely theoretic. He knew indeed how to load a rifle and pull the trigger, but nothing more. " You haven't got many tigers in these parts, I suppose ?" he said to Flinn as they sauntered towards the house after seeing the electrical party off. He asked the question with hesitation, being impressed with a strange disbelief in tigers, except in a menagerie, and feeling nearly as much asliamed as if he had asked whether they kept elephants in the sugar-basia To his relief Flinn did not laugh, but replied quite gravely — " Och ! yes, we 've got a few, but they don't often come nigh the house. We have to thravel a bit into the jungle, and camp out, whin we wants wan. I heard master say he 'd have a try at 'em to-morrow, THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 315 80 you 11 see the fun, for we Ve all got to turn ont whin we go after tigers. If you 're fond o' sport in a small way, howiver, I can give ye a turn amonc' the birds an' small game to-day." "There's nothing I'd like better," said Slagg, jumping at the offer like a hungry trout at a fly. " Come along, then," returned the groom heartily ; " we '11 take shot-guns, an' a spalpeen of a black boy to carry a spare rifle an' the bag." In a few minutes the two men, with fowlinfr- o pieces on their shoulders, and a remarkably attenu- ated black boy at their heels carrying a large bore rifle, entered the jungle behind the electriciau'a bungalow. .( 316 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. CHAPTER XXV. A GREAT I-IELD-DAT, IN WHICH SLAQG DISTINGUISHES HIMSELP. Now, although we have said that Jim Slagg knew how to pull a trigger, it does not follow That he knew how to avoid pulling that important little piece of metal He was aware, of course, that the keepmg of his forefinger off the trigger was a point of importance, but how to keep it off when in a state of nervous expectation, he knew not, because his memory and the forefinger of his right hand appeared to get disconnected at such times, and it did not occur to him, just at first, that there was such an arrangement in gun-locks as half-cock. Flinn reminded him of the fact, however, when soon after entering the jungle, his straw hat was' blown off his head by an accidental discharge of Slagg's gun. "Niver mention it," said Flinn, picking up his riven headpiece, while poor Slagg overwhelmed him with protestations and apologies, and the black boy stood behind exposing his teeth and gums and the fi" THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 317 xvliites of his eyes freely; "niver mei ion it, Mr. Slagg; accidents will happen, you know, in the best regulated families. As for me beaver, it 's better riddled than whole in this warm weather,, Maybe you 'd as well carry your gun at what sodgers call •the showlder,' wid the muzzle pintin' at the moon- so; that 'sit. Don't blame yoursilf, Mr. Slagg. Sure, it 's worse than that I was when I begood, for the nasty thing I carried wint off somehow of its own accord, an' I shot me mother's finest pig— wan barrel into the tail, an' the other into the hid. You see, they both wint off a'most at the same moment.' We must learn by exparience, av coorse. You 've not had much shootin' yet, I suppose ?" Poor, self-condemned Slagg admitted that he had not, and humbly attended toFlinn's instructions, after which they proceeded on their way ; but it might have been observed that Flinn kept a corner of his eye steadily on his new friend during the remainder of that day, while the attenuated black kept so close to Slagg's elbow as to render the pointing of the muzzle of his gun at him an impossibility. Presently there was heard among the bushes a whirring of wings, and up flew a covey of large birds of the turkey species. Flinn stepped briskly aside, saying, "Now thin, let drive!" while the attenuated black fell cautiously in rear. «■■ II Bang bang I went ttlagg's gun. i. 318 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. "Oh !" he cried, conscience-stricken; "there, if I haven't done it again !" "Done it! av coorse ye have!" cried Flinn picking up an enormous bird; "it cudn't have bin nater done by a sportin' lord." " Then it ain't a tame one ?" asked Slagg eagerly. "No more a tame wan than yoursilf, an' the best ofaitin'too/'said Flinn. Jim Slagg went on quietly loading his gun, and diC not thmk it necessary to explain that he had supposed the birds to be tame turkeys, that his piece had a second time gone off by accident, and that he had taken no aim at all ! After that, however, he managed to subdue his feelmgs a little, and accidentally bagged a few more birds of strange form and beautiful plumage, by the simple process of shutting his eyes and firing into «ie middle of flocks, to the immense satisfaction of Flmn, who applauded all his successes and explained away all his failures in the most amiable manner. If the frequent expanding of the mouth from ear to ear, the exposure of white teeth and red gums and the shutting up of glittering eyes, indicated enjoyment, the attenuated boy must have been in a blissful condition that day. "Why don't ye shoot yerself, ]\fister Flinn?" asked Slagg on one occasion while reloading. " Bekaise it shuits me better to look on/' a°nswered THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 319 the self-denying man. « You see, T 'm nsod to it ; besides, I 'm a marciful man, and don't care to shoot only for divarshion." ^ " What 's that r cried Slagg, suddenly pointing his gun straight upwards at two brilliant black eyes which were gazing straight down at him, " Howld on— och ! don't " Flinn thrust the gun aside, but he was too late to prevent the explosion, which was followed by a lamentable cry, as a huge monkey fell into Slagg's arms, knocked him over with the shock, Ind bounded off his breast into its native woods, shrieking. " Arrah ! he's niver a bit the worse," cried Flinn, laughing, in spite of his native politeness, " it was the fright knocked him off the branch. If you 'd only given him wan shot he might have stud it, but two was too much for him. But plaise! Mister Slagg. don't fire at monkeys again. I niver do it mesUf, an' can't stand by to see it. It's so like murther, an' the only wan I iver shot in me life was so like me own owld gran'mother that I've niver quite got over it." Slagg willingly promised never again to fire at monkeys, and they proceeded on their way. They had not gone far, when another whirring of v^ings was heard, but this time the noise waa 1 1 S20 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. " What is it ?" asked Slagg eagerly, preparing for action. "Sure it's a paycock," said Flinn. «A what-cock?" asked Slagg, who afterwards described the noise to be like the flapping of a mainsail. " A ^fl^?/-cock. Splendid aitin'. Fire, avic !" "What! fire at that?" cried Slagg, as a creature of enormous size and gorg:^ous plumage rose above the bushes. ' " Ye must be jokin'. I couldiit fire at that." "Faix, an' ye naidn't fire at it now" returned Flinn with a quiet smile, "for it's a mile out o' range by this time. Better luck—och ! if there isn't another. Now, thin, don't be in a hurry. Be aisy. Whatever ye do, be aisy.* While he spoke another huge bird appeared, and as Slagg beheld its size and spreading wings and tail, he took aim with the feelings of a cold-blooded murderer. That is to say, he shut both eyes and pulled both triggers. This double action had be- come a confirmed habit by that time, and Flinn commended it on the principle that there was " nothin' like makin' cocksure of everythinf^ !" Re-opening his eyes and lowering his gun, Slagg beheld the peacock sailing away in the far dis- tance. "Sure ye've missed it, but after all it's a most *1 fl THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 821 awkward bird to hit— specially when ye don't pint the gun quite straight. An' the tail, too, is apt to throw even a crack-shot out— so it is. Niver mind; there 's plenty more where that wan came from." Thus encouraged, our sportsman reloaded and continued his progress. It is said that fortune favours the brave, and on that occasion the proverb was verified. There can be no question that our friend Jim Slagg was brave. All Irishmen are courageous, therefore it is equally certain that Flinn was brave, and the attenuated black could not have been otherwise than brave, else he would not have continued to enjoy himself in the dangerous neighbourhood of Slagg's gun. As a consequence, therefore, fortune did favour the sportsmen that day, for it brought them unex- pectedly into the presence of the king of India's forests— a royal Bengal tiger— tawny skin, round face, glaring eyes, and black stripes complete from nose to tail ! There was no doubt in Flinn's mind about it, as his actions proved, but there were consider- able doubts in Slagg's mind, as was evinced by his immediate petrifaction— not with fear, of course, but with something or other remarkably similar. Slagg chanced to be walking in advance at the time, making his way with some trouble through a 1^ 522 THE BATTERY AND TRE BOILER. Ill ratlier dense bit of jungle. He liad by that time recovered liis self-possession so much that he was able to let his mind wander to other subjects besides sport. At the moment when the rencontre occurred he chanced to be wandering in spirit among tlie groves of Pirate Island. On turning sharp rouad a bend in the track, he found himself face to face with tlie tiger, which crouched instantly for a spring. As we have said, the sportsman was instantly petrified. He^ could not believe his eyes ! He must have cfelieved something, however, else he would not have gazed with such dreadful intensity. Yes, there, a few feet before him, crouched the tenant of the menagerie, without the cage-the creature of picture story-books endued with life ! Had Slagg's life depended on his putting his gun to his shoulder he would have lost it, for he could not move. His fingers, however, were gifted with independent action. They gave a spasmodic jerk, and both barrels, chancing to be levelled cor- rectly, sent their charges full into the tiger's face. Small shot may tickle a tiger but it cannot Idll. With a roar like thunder the brute sprang on its audacious enemy. Fortunately Slagg made an in- voluntary step to the rear at tlie moment, and fell fiat on his back, so that the animal hal^ blinded THE BATTERY AND THE UOILER. 323 hy shot and smoke, went over him, and aliohted almost at the feet of Flinn. That worthy was equal to the occasion. At the sound of his friend's double shot he had seized the large rifle and leaped forward in time to meet the baffled tiger. Quick as light his practised hand discharged the heavy bullet, which, passing over the animal's head, went into its spine near the haunches, so that when it tried a second spring its hind legs refused their office, and it rolled over fuming and struggling in an agony of pain and rage. Flinn ran a few paces backward so as to reload in comparative safety, while Slagg followed his example, but in desperate haste. Before he had lialf charged the first barrel, a second shot from the heavy rifle laid the royal monster dead on the ground. "Well done!" cried Flinn, seizing his friend's hand and wringing it. "It's Nimrod you are, no less. I niver saw a purtier shot. An', faix, it 's not eveiy man that kills a ti.' er his first day out" " But I didn't kill it," said Slagg modestly. " Sure but ye drew first blood, me boy, so the tiger's yours, an' I wish you joy. Come, we'll g;) liome now an' git help to fetch the carcass. Won't they open their two eyes aich of them whin they see it ! Here, ye black spalpeen, take the rifle an' give me the gau." !t ita 324 THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. ill In a few minutes tlie fortunate hunters were wending their way rapidly homeward, and that night the whole party, while enjoying their supper, feasted their eyes on the magnificent form of the royal Bengal tiger as it lay on the verandah, in front of the electrician's bungalow. THE BAXTDIiY AND THE BOILE fi. 325 CHAPTER XXVI. BEOrxg WrTR A DISAPPmNTMKVT, CONTINUES WITH A ORBAT IlISt;i.mo.V, AND EMja with a SKUIES OI- 8UUPUISK8. At the brealvf, Ht-table next morning a telegram was hand.d to Eodpath. There was nothing un- usual in thi. On the contrary, it seemed peculiarly natural tliat telegrams should be frequent visitors at the house of a telegraphist, but it was not so natural that Eedpath should first look at the missive with surprise, and then toss it across the table to Sam. " It is for you, Mr. Shipton." "For me? Impossible! I am supposed to be dead at home," exclaimed Sam, tearing it open. " Oh it 's from Frank Hedley, and-well, he has been successful after all! Listen, Eobin. Excuse me, Mrs. Eedpath. May I read it alr.ud ?" " By all means," answered the pretty little woman who would probably have answered the same if he had asked leave to go to bed in his boots. *' ' Your affair settled ' "-continued Sam, reading. Great Eastern starts almost immediately. Come Without delay,'" i" 'il! ! ' 320 . THE BATTiJRY AJfD TIIF BOILED. "How provoking!" exclaimed the pretty little "And I had counted on showing you some capital sport m our jungles, where we have all sorts of lar..e game. But of course you cannot do otherwise th^u Obey the summons at once." " Of course not," said Sam and EoWn together Fiinu left the room and entered the servants' quarters with something like a groan. " Sure it 's bad luck has followed me iver since I left owld Ireland." "What's wrong with you?" asked Slagg, looking xp from the slice of peacock breast with which ha was regaling himself. " The matter ? Ocb, it 's bad luck 's the matter! irasn t our frindship only just begood, an' isn't it gom to be cut short all of a suddiut, niver more to be renewed V In pathetic tones, and with many Hibernian com- ments, the poor man communicated the news brought by the telegram. But regrets were of no avail • the orders were peremptory; the chance of returninc. to England in such circumstances too good to be lightly thrown awoy; so that same forenoon saw tlie whole party, with the skin of the royal ti-er on their way back to the city of Bombay. " ' It is easier to imagine than to describe the stat^ THE BATTERY AND THE EOILEK. 327 of mind into which they were thrown when, on returning to their hotel, they discovered the perfidy of Stumps. Fortunately, they had enough of money left to discharge the hotel bill, and redeem their property. " You 're quite sure of the name of the vessel he sailed in ? " asked Sam of the waiter who had so cleverly obtained and so cautiously retained his in- formation as to the proceeding"^ of Stumps. " Quite sure, sir," replied the waiter. " The ship's name was Fairy Queen, bound lor the port of Lon- don, and the thief— the gen'lem'n, I mean — shipped in the name of James Gibson." Having received the "consideration" which he had anticipated, and had afterwards given up aa lost, the waiter retired, and Sam, with his friends, went to inquire after the great cable with which they now felt them3elves to be specially connected. " Letta," said Eobin, as they went along, " you and I must part for a time.'* " Oh ! must we ? " asked the child, with a dis- tressed look. " Yes, but only for a very short time, dear," re- turned Eobin. " You know we cannot get you a berth on board the Great Eastern. Tliey won't even take you as chief engineer or captain ! " " But why not as the captain's daughter— or liis wife?" said LcLta, who thoroughly understood and enjoy cd a juke. '^1 328 THE BATTEIiY AND THE BOILER. i I I r ' J 1 ' "Because, Letta, you are engaged to me," replied iiobm, with an offended look. " yes ; I forgot that. Well ?» Well, what we have arranged is this. I have met with many kind people here, some of whom have been greatly interested in your story, and one of them-a very nice lady, who is going home-has offered to take you with her, and deliver you safelv to my mother in England, there to wait till I come home and marry you." "How nice!" exclaimed Letta; "and you'll be sure to come home soon ?" " Yes, quite sure, and very soon." This arrangement, being deemed satisfactory was afterwards carried into effect, and Letta sailed a few days later in one of the regular steamers for iingland vid the Suez Canal. Meanwhile the Great Eastern still lay at her moorings, completing the arrangements for her voyage. During this period our hero lived in a whirl of excitement. It seemed to himself as if he were f hP subject of an amazing but by no means unpleasant dream, the only dark spots in which were the departure of Letta and the depravity of John Shanks, alias James Gibson, alias Stumps. " Oh ! Stumps, Stumps," he soliloquised, sadly one day while standing on "the green" in the uu- THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 329 romantic shade of a huge bale of cotton, "how could you behave so after being our trusted comrade so long!" *' Never mind Stumps just now," said Sam Shipton, making his appearance at the moment, "but come along with me at once, for we have received an invitation, through my good and re- markable friend Frank Hedley, to the grand enter- tainment to be given to-night at the palace of tlie chief and Bahee Sahib of Junkhundee." "And who may that be?" asked Eobin, with an incredulous smile. "What! know you not the great chief whose praise is in the mouths of all— Hindu, Mohammedan, Jew, and Gentile, because he feeds and entertains them all like a prince ?" " He is the creation of your own brain, Sam. I fancy." " No indeed," protested Sam, earnestly, « I do not jest. The Bahee Sahib is a wealthy young Mahratta chieftain, who has been consistently loyal to us, and who entertains mixed parties of English- men and natives in European style, and does his best to break down the barriers of prejudice and caste. He has been hospitably received on board tlie Great Eastern, it seems, and is now getting up a grand affair in honour of Captain Hulpinaud hia officers. So, come along." I -f. ^^ 330 K I I dress THE BATTEltY AND THE BOILER. But, my dear Sam, you forget, we have not a of our fin ^'^"T "'' '"" '" '^' P^-^^^"' «°"<■ I 333 . THE BATTEHy AND THE BOILER. ^ .old not have commanded much applause fron> whatever chanced to be provided. In another room, however, they fend ,, pc- fomer of much greater capacii.y-a man who possessed considerable powe« as a n,usician, low comed,an,and local aatirist; he was noted f r hh dchneations of native characto. .ud succeeded in n afaug he Parsees laugh heartily at his caricatare o(Ue Hmdu., whUe he convulsed the Hindus juth «., oien.r «kit. on the Parsees. He also made effective r-.erence to the Great Easi. rn and her work, biu„gmg „ut the humorous aspects of tele- graphy and of quick communication between India and England. f. "?r':i1 '' ^° ^"'^ '^^'^ ''^ <=*" toa ™ythin. to eat, said Sam, when tired of this man " "Who is that?" asked Eobin, as they moved through the crowd. got hold of Captain Halpin, and seems greatly pleased to lead him about." ^ _ The Eajah did indeed exhibit much satisfaction m his beaming brown face at having got hold of so noted a character as the commander of the monster ship, and It was pleasant to see the almos,^ child- like glee with which, taking the capta..^ y tha THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 339 hand, he threaded his way through the crowd, intro- ducing him right and left to his friends. Not less pleasant was it to observe the lively interest with which the natives regarded the captain when they learned who he was. At this point in the evening's proceedings, a gentleman in civilian costume came up to Sam Shipton, and asked him if he were acquainted with Mr. Davis— one of the petty officers of the Great Eastern. " I know him slightly," said Sam. " He has got into trouble, sir," said the stranger, "and begged me to find you, if possible, and take you to him. I have been on board the Great Eastern looking for you, and was directed here." " That 's strange," returned Sam, " I have seldom spoken to the man. Are you sure he did not send you for some one else— one of his mess- mates ?" " Quite sure, sir. And he bade me urge you to go quickly, else you may be too late." «WeU— lead the way. Come, Eobin, I'm sorry to quit this gay and festive scene — especially be- fore supper— but it can't be helped. You'll go with me, and we can return together." The stranger seemed to hesitate a moment, as if annoyed at Eobin being thus asked to go, but, as if quickly making up liis mind, led them out of the t1 f i^ I / 334 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. h'' h m into ;;r'' """ " ™"' ^''"^- -"''-ted tl. m xnto one of the poorer districts of the city. What sort of trouble has the man got into?" asked Sam as they went along. ° g<" ""»' yoILS ?"''""" He will tell yon when ance T' I T^"''' ' "" ""'y ^ -^^^-l acquaint- ance of his, and came on this errand to oblige him -lely because he seemed in great mental dLZ' and was very urgent." "isiress Soon the conversation turned upon cable-laying and, finding that Eobin had been at th^ lo I the Atlantic cable of I85fi T * ^""^ °^ oi,„ i. ii, *®' *'>« stranger inouired about the attempts that had been madp f 1 1 that cable. ^"^ ^ '"J»''« "Tell me, now, would yon think it a sin " he said nth a peculiar look at Sam, "to drive a nai inS sum of ten thousand pounds ?" "Of course I would," said Sam, looking at his conductor with surprise. - 1 wonder that yo'u Id ask the question." ^ »"ouia -iZ'smt"''/°" "™'"'" '^'"™«<^ ^■'^ "- witu a smile, "at any question which aims at tho «ves ig.tio„ of that great enigma styled tlhujl »md ? I am fond of the study of character and of «.ose principles of good and evil which i;fl:enoe men. u„der given circumstances and conditions the commission of a certain sin i» „,»,.,,„"' THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. S35 blameworthy than the commission of the same sin under different conditions and circumstances. Do you not think so ?" " Of course I do," said Sam. "The man who, having been born and brought up among pickpockets, and under strong temptation commits a theft, is not nearly so guilty as the man would be who, having been trained under refined and Christian influences^ sliould commit a similar theft; but I do not see the application of your argument, for your question did not refer to the relative depth of guilt, but to the sinfulness or innocence of a certain dastardly act for a tempting sum of money." " I may not have put my question very philo- sophically," returned the stranger, " but I wo^ild like to have your opinion as to whether you think, ur/! -;- any circumstances of distress— poverty, for instance, with those dependent on one dying of hunger— a man would be justified in destroying the power of a telegraph cable for a sum of money— part, let us suppose, paid in advance, and the remainder after the deed had been accomplished." " My opinion is that no circumstances whatever would justify such an act," said Sam with indigna- tion. " Don't you agree with me, Eobin ? " "Of course I do," said Eobin with even greater indignation. *''Aud / quite agree with you, gentlemen," said 1% . 336 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. Hit' the stranger, with a wider smile than before; "but I like to have my opinions corroborated or com- bated by .-■„., ^ ,j3. We have now wached our for tl,., ceilmg of the passage is rather low, and the poor people here cannot afford to light it The recent discussion 1,-,^ diverted Sam's mind from he character ox the place into which he had been led, bat a suspicion which had been growin.. now assailed him forcibly. "Keep your stick handy," he whispered to Eobin at the same time grasping more firmly a stout cudgel which he carried. These precautions seemed needless, however for the stranger, opening vith a latch-key a .oi at the further end of the dark passage, ushered them into . dimly lighted roor,,, where about a doz.,. men were seated round a table drinking and smokmg. ^ The men rose on the entrance of the visitors and received tli-m with cour -sy. __ " Mr. Davis will be glad to' see you, sir," said one : he has been h much ar.iety, but here he comes and will speak for himselt." A door at the other end A tl,e room opeuPd, and a taU slightly-built n. , en' .red. Sam .aw at once rnat he was not Davi • "Fooir growled this man, with a suvage look THE BA TERY AND THE BOILER. 33^ at thfe stranger who had conducted tliem there, *' you have brought the wrong man ! " " I had already begun to suspect as much," re- turned the other, with a light laugh. Swallowing his disgust, apparently, with an effort, the slim man turned to Sam and said, "A mistake has been made, sir. One or two of my friends here will conduct you to any part of the city you may wish to go to." "I requir- no assistance." said Sam, flushing with sudden indignation. « I believe that you are conspirators, and will take particular note of your dwelling, in order that I may spoil your game." He was about to turn and quit the room, when he was suddenly seized from behind by two power- ful men, who seemed to have come on the scene by rising through the floor ! At the same moment Eobin was similarly secured. They did n )t, how- ever, submit tamely. Both were strong-bodied as well as high-spirited, and Sam was large as well as strong. But whnt, were their powers xm^V such odds ! For a few seconds they struggled funuusly. Then, feeling that their efforts were fruitless, they ceas( .' "It is as well to go quietly, my fine fellows," said the slim man in a slightly sarcastic tone. " We are not only more ^han a matcl for yon, 1 ufc wc happen to belong to class of gentlemen who ¥ irjs ;|4 "338 k f ■■■ ?j THK RATTKIJY AND THE BOILER. don't allow trifles to stand in their way. At the same time we object to iniinJer whon we can get along without it. Some of us will therefore con- duct you to another part of the city. Now, I give you fair warning, if you struggle or try to make a noise on the way, we will silence you in a manner that will effectually keep you quiet for ever. Just hive your knives handy, men, and don't exercise forbearance if these gentlemen turn out to be fools." A prick in their necks by the point of some sharp instrument emphasised these words to Robin and Sam, and, at the same time, proved that the subordinates were quite ready, perhaps even anxious, to obey their superior. They suffered themselves,' therefore, to be blindfolded, and led out of the house. Of course once or twice they both thought of making a sudden struggle and endeavouring to throw off their captors, but the vice-like strength of the fingers that held them, and the recollectLn Df the sharp instruments near their necks induced discretion; besides, the absence of the sound of footsteps told them that they could not count on aid from passers-by, even if the dwellers in such a region had been willing to assist them, which was not probable. After passing quickly along several streets, the men who led them stopped and relaxed their holri THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 339 '• Now, you stand quiet for half a minute," said one of them gruffly ; " there 'a a knife close to each of your spines at this moment." Thus warned, the captives stood still for nearly a minute. Then Sam lost patience. " Well," he said, angrily, " how long do you mean to keep us here V Receiving no reply, he suddenly pulled the hand- kerchief from his eyes and assumed the pugilistic attitude with the celerity of one whose Hfe may depend on his action, but the only enemy to bo seen was Robin, who, having also pulled down the handkerchief, stood staring at his comrade in niuto surprise. " They 're gone !" cried Sam, bursting into a fit of laughter. "The villains ! The scoundrels ! But wlio can they be ? I fear there can be little doubt as to what mischief they are up to." " We have not the smallest clew to trace them by," said Robin, with a vexed expression. " Not the smallest. I don't even know what quarter of the town we are in now," returned Sam. "The handkerchiefs!" exclaimed Robin with sudden animation. "Well, what of them?" •• They -they may have names in the corn.prs," Again the risible Sam burst into a loud laugh, ag the idea of scouudrels possessing any handkerchieft I 340 ^ 4 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. of their own at all, much less having their names marked in the corners ; and poor Eobin, whose me- mories of maternal care had prompted tne thought, felt some degree of confusion, which was deepened when he discovered that the kerchiefs with which their eyes had been bound were their own. They were startled by a gruff voice demanding to know what they were laughing at and kicking up such a row at that time of the morning ! It was one of the guardians of the night, who became very polite on drawing nearer and being in- formed, in a mild voice, by Sam that they had lost their way and would be much indebted for guid- ance, for Sam thought it best to say nothing about their adventure until they had had ample time to think it over and decide what was best to be done. Having been directed how to go, having lost themselves a second time, and been directed again by another guardian, they found themselves at last in the neighbourhood of the port, and here the sound of loud voices, as if engaged in some noc- turnal orgies, was heard in the distance. "As we seem in for a night of adventure," said Sam, " we may as well accept our fate and go see what it 's all about." " Agreed," said Robin. Hurrying forward, they came upon a remarkable THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 341 and picturesque scene, the engineers of the Greot li^astern had chosen the previous day for the laying of the mile of land-line witli which the cable was to be connected. The burying of it in its appointed home had commenced at half- past six in the even- ing and had continued all through tlie night. It was about 2 a.m. when our adventurers came upon the scene. The trench was cut through ground on which a number of soldiers were encamped, whoso white tents looked ghostlike in the feeble star- light, and lines of naked natives were seen, waving lanterns, pushing along the mysterious cable, or, with hands and feet busily pressing down the loose soil that covered the buried portion. The whole operation was conducted with a super- abundance of noise, for the burying of a rope in a a trench three feet deep was in itself such a tremendous joke to the coolies, tliat they entered upon it with much excitement as a sort of unusual piece of fun. That they were in some degree also impressed with the mysterious and im- portant object of their work might have been gathered from their chant :— " Good are the cable- wallahs, great are their names; good are the cable- wallahs, wah ! wah ! wah ! great are the cable- wallahs, wah •" which they continued without in- termission all through the night, to tlieir own intense delight and to the annoyance no doubt of i i h S42 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. «!' .<•. the military unfortunates who were encanipod on the ground. Besides the naked fellows who, in their excite- ment and activity, resembled good-humoured, brown demons, there were many other figures in English dress moving about, directing and encouraging, running from point to point, flitting to and fro liirj wills-o'-the-wisp, for all bore lights, and plunged ever and anon out of sight in the trench. Between three and four o'clock the work was completed ; tests were taken, the portion of cable was pro- nounced perfect, and communication was thus established between the cable-house and Earapart liow. This was the first link in the great chain of submarine telegraphy between India and England. " Now, Eobin," said Sam, with a tremendou^yawn, " as we 've seen the first act in the play, it is time,' I think, to go home to bed." With a yawn that rivalled that of his comrade, Eobin admitted the propriety of the proposal, and,' half an hour later, they turned in, to sleep-' "perchance to dream 1" TUE BATTEEY AND THE BCILER. 313 CHAriER XXVII. DESCUIBKS SKVERAL IMPORTANT BVENTS. The laying of this thick shore-end of the cable was an important point in the great work. By that time Robin and cousin Sara had been regularly installed as members of the expedition, and were told off with many others to assist at the operation. The Chiltern carried the great coil in her tanks. After rounding Colaba Point into Back Bay, she found a barge waiting to receive some two-and-a- half miles of the cable, with which she was to pro- ceed to the shore. The barge resembled a huge Noah's Ark, having a canvas awning to protect the cable, which was very sensitive to heat. A measure of anxiety is natural at the begin- ning of most enterprises, and there were some who dreaded a " hitch " with superstitious fear, as if it would be a bad omen. But all went well. "Now then, boys— shove her along; push her through/-' said an experienced leader among the 344 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEB. IM fl'i, ifd li- i cable-hands, who grasped the great coil and guided It. The men took up the words at once, and to this species of spoken chorus, « shove her alon- push her through," the snaky coil was sent rattlin" • over the pulley-wheels by the tank and alon.. the wooden gutter prepared for it, to the payinlout wheel at the Chatern's stern, whence it plu°nc.ed down into the barge, where other experienced hands coiled It carefully round and round the entire deck It is difficult to describe the almost tender solici- tude with which all this was done. The cable was passed carefully-sa carefully-through aU the hu-e staples that were to direct its course from the fore- tank to the wheel at the stern. Then it was made to pass over a wheel here and under a wheel there to restrain its impetuosity, besides being passed three times rourd a drum, which controlled the paying out. A man stood ready at a wheel, which, by a few rapid turns, could bring the whole affair to a standstill should anything go wrong. In the fore-tank eight men guided each coil to prevent entanglemejit, and on deck men were stationed a few feet apart all along to the stern, to watch every foot as it passed out. Three hours completed the transfer. Then the barge went slowly shoreward, dropping the cable into the sea as she went. It was quite a solemn procession ! First went a Government steam-tug, flaunting flags from deck i . THE BATTEPvY AND THE BOILER. 345 ik to trucks as thick as they coula hang. Then came the barge with her precious cargo. Then two boats i'ull of cable-hanas, and an official gig pulled by a Chinaman, while the steam-launch Electric kept buzzing about as if superintending all. When the tug had drawn the barge shoreward as far as she could with safety, the smaller *' Electric " took her place. When she also had advanced as far as her draught allowed, a boat carried tp the shore a hawser, one end of which was attached to the cable. Then the cable-hands dropped over the sides of the barge up to waist, chest, or neck (ac- cording to size), and, ranging themselves on cither side of the rope and cable, dragged the latter to the shore, up the trench made for its reception, and laid its end on the great stone table, where it was made fast, tested by the electricians, as we have said, and pronounced perfect A few more days had to pass before the insati- able Great Eastern was filled with coal and reported ready for sea. Then, as a matter of course, she wound lip with a grand feast — a luncheon — on board, at which many of the leading authorities ftwd merchants of Bombay were present, with a brilliant company which entirely filled the spacious saiocij'X "Owing to circumstances," said Sam to Bobin ♦t.^u .J»»« »< ^..«- ^.i.;-,!, ...-^ i,„..^ .,_ L 1 -^J i.' if M iH' 346' THE BATTERY AITD THE BOILER. I cannot be included among the guests at this apv proaching feast." " I 'ra Sony for that, Sara," said our hero. " Why so, Eobin ? Does a morbid devotion to chicken and ham, or sweets, influence you?" " Not at all, though I make no pretence of indif- ference to such things, but I should so much like to hear the speeches." " Well, my boy, your desire shall be gratified. Through the influence of our, I might almost say miraculous, friend, Frank Hedley, we shall be per- mitted to witness the proceedings from a retired corner of the saloon, in company with crockery and waiters and other dSris of the feast." At the appointed time the company assembled, and enjoyed as good a luncheon as money could procure. " How some people do eat ! " murmured Eobin from his corner to Sam, who sat beside him. '* Yes, for it is their nature to," replied Sam. After the first toast was drunk the company braced themselves to the mental work of the after- noon, and although, as a matter of course, a good deal of twaddle was spoken, there was also much that threw light on the subject of ocean telegraphy. One of the leading merchants said, in his opening remarks: '^Few of those present, I daresay, are really familiar with the hist oiy of oc , „i- .•\j\.u.ij. fccic^iujjiiy. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 347 "All!" whispered Eobin to Sam, "that's tlie man for me. He 's sure to tell us a good deal that we don't know, and although I have been ransacking Bombay ever since I arrived for information, I don't yet feel that I know much." " Hold your tongue, Eobin, and listen," said Sara. "Mind your foot, sir," remonstrated one of the steward's assistants, who had a lugubrious coun- tenance. Eobin took his fo6t out of a soup tureen, and applied himself to listen. "When I reflect," continued the merchant, "that it is now fourteen years since the first ocean tele- graph of any importance was laid,— when I re- member that the first cable was laid after an infinity of personal effort on the part of those who had to raise the capital,— when I mention that it was really a work of house-to-house visitation, when sums of £500 to £1000, and even £10,000 were raised by private subscription, with a view to laying a telegraph cable between England and America"! when I reflect that the Queen's Government granted the use of one of its most splendid vessels, the Agamemnon {Hear ! hear ! and applause), and that the American Government granted the use of an equally fine vessel, the Niagara {Hear ! hear ! and another round of applause, directed at the American Consul, who was present),— 348 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. W I (" Five glasses smashed that round," growled the lugubrious waiter.) " When I reflect," continued the merchant, « that the expedition set out in 1857 with the greatest hopefulness, but proved a total failure-that the earnest men (Hear! hear!) connected with it a-ain set to work the following year, and laid another cable {Applause), which, after passing through it a few messages of great importance to England and America {Hear !) also ceased communication, which so damped the courage of all concerned, that for seven or eight weary years nothing was attempted -no, I should not say nothing, for during that period Mr. Cyrus Field (thunders of long-continued applause, during which the lugubrious waiter counted the demolition of six glasses and two dessert plates) without whose able and persevering advocacy it is' ft question whether to this day we should have had ocean telegraphy carried out at all— durin- that period, I say, Mr. Cyrus Field never gave himself rest until he had inspired others with some of the enthusiasm that burned so brightly in himself which resulted in the renewed effort of 1865 with' its failure and loss of 1213 miles of cable,--when I think of the indomitable pluck and confidence shown by such men as Thomas Brassey, Sir Samuel Canning Sir James Anderson, Sir Daniel Gooch, Sir Eichard Glass, Mr. Geornre Elliot Mr Pnn.^o. n.„._:„ THE CATTEKY AND THE BOILEH. 319 Slierard Osborn, and others— men of mind, and men of capital and men who could see no difficulties— and I liko men who can see no difficulties {Hear ! hear ! and loud applause), — (" You'll see more difficulties than ye bargain for, if ye go through life makin' people smash crockery like that," growled the lugubrious waiter.) " When I think of these men, and of the formation of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company {Applause), and the successful laying of ,the 1866 cable, and the picking up and compleLn of the old cable {Loud cheers), — (" Hm 1 a decanter gone this time. Will you take your foot out of the soup tureen, sir," from the lugubrious man, and an impatient "hush!" from Kobin.) " When I think of all these things, and a great deal more that I cannot venture to inflict on the indulgent company {Go on !) I feel that the toast which I have the honour to propose deserves a foremost place in the toasts of the day, and that you will heartily respond to it, namely, Success to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, for that Company has :aid scores of cables since its formation, and has now successfully commenced, and will doubtless triumphantly complete, the laying of the cable which we have met to celebrate to-day —the fourth great enterprise, I may remark, which ■ 1 ?j i 350 THE BATTEKY AND THE liOILEII. tl,e Company has u„dertaken_tl,e cable that i, soon to connect India with England » The merchant sat down annd thunders of ap- plause, dnnng which the reckoning of breakages .- M and finall, abandoned b/the Ing^r: nntlrlf ""TT^ ^""' """"^'^ ^"* ^reat interest "nd profound attention, and the fonner treasured in expe tafons as the following :_That only „i„e months prev,o„sly had they commenced the con! truction of the cable which was now about to be .d the Irench Atlantic cable; that in a few week, they hoped to connect Uombavwith JIalta, and two months i,ter with England- tbnf » f , ■.fto- 1 < T. , ^"o'"""^. tnat, a few months a ter .aat, England would be connected with the Straus ol Malacca and Singapore. " I„ short." said one gentleman at the close of his speech. " we hope that ,n 1871 India will be connected, chiefly by Bubmanne telegraph, with China, Australia. Europe and America, and that your morning messages .^^u' reach home about the same hour at which they are r . "" ''?■ """"'"S- °f <=°'"'^«- for the difference n time; and that afternoon and evening messanea from Europe will be in your hands at an early ho' next morniiifT " ^ "^ At this point the heat and unoleasant t..r^.. TIIR IJATTEUY AND 1 P.OILER. 3M IS nround him '-egan to t(3ll pon Kobin, and he f^uggested that they had better go on deck for a litllo fresh air. "I'll not budge/' said Sam, positiv dy. "Why, the best is yet to come." Saying this, to the surprise of Eobin, Sam rose, went forward to the tal ' lud asked permission to make a lew remarks. " Who is he ?— what .h !" exclaimed the chair- man. "Turn him out," cried one. "Sit down," cried another. " No, no, let him speak," cried a third. " Don't you know it is Samuel Shipton, the great electrician?" " Bravo ! go on ! speak out !" cried several voices, accompanied by loud applause. " Gentlemen," began Sam in his softest voice, " I regard this as one of the greatest occasions of— of— my life" {Hear! hear! from a fussy guest; and H^lsh ! hush ! and then we shall hear here better, from an angry one). " I little thought," continued . Sam, warming apparently with his subject— or the heat, "little tliought that on this gi-eat occasion I could— could— I could (wo2cld or should; go on, man, from an impatient guest). "Oh, Sam, don't stick !" cried Eobin, in an agony of anxiety. '' Who 's that ? Put x^im out !" chorused several voices indignuniJy. % MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ 2.8 3.2 lilM m 1.4 2.5 [ 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 ^ APPLIED IM^GE Inc 165.5 East Main Street Rochester, New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (:'16) 288- 5989 - Fox 352 THE DATTERY AND THE BOILER. %m i; H "There, sir, youVe put your foot in it at last' said the lugubrious waiter. Kobin tliought he referred to the interruption. but the waiter's eyes and forefinger directed his attention to the soup tureen, which, in his eagerness he had sacrificed with a stamp. Finding that no further notice was taken of the interruption, ho Jistened, while Sam continued :— " Yes, gentlemen, I have some difficulty in start- ing, but, once sot agoing, gentlemen, I can keep on like an alarum clock. What nonsense have some of you fellows been talking! Some of you have remarked that you shall be able to exchange messages with England in a few hours. Allow n°o to assure you that before long you will accomplish tiiat leat m a lew minutes." "Pooh ! pooh r ejaculated an irascible old ^^entle- man with a bald head. ° "Bid you say 'pooh!' sir?" demanded Sam, with a terrible frown. "I did, sir," replied the old gentleman, with a contemptuous smile. "Then, sir, take that." Sam hurled a wine decanter at the old gentleman winch, missing its mark, fell with a loud crash at the feet of liobin, who awoke with a start to find bam sliaking him by the arm. " Wake up, Robin." ho. said • " min v-,. » ^ i >. , __ saiu ^ man, y^u ve ioat the bange THE LATTEIIY AKD THE BOILKR. J53 bost speech of the evening. Come-coine on ,leck now, you 've liad quite enough of it." "Yes an' done enough 0' damage too," growled the lugubrious waiter. So Bobin became gradually aware that Sam's speech was a mere fancy, while' the smashing of the soup tureen was ? hard fact. It may not, however, be out of place to remmk here that the prophecy made by Sam in ]\oh\n'< dream, did afterwards become a great reality r 354 THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILEt V. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE OAHLE LAID. " I SAY,; Robin," said Samuel Shipton, as he en- countered our hero and Slagg that same evening in the streets of Bombaj^ "the government land tele- graph was reported this morning to have recovered its health." "Well, what of that?" " I have taken advantage of the lucid interval to send a telegram to uncle Rik. No doubt your father has by this time received the telegram we sent announcing our safety and arrival here, so th.' one won't take them by surprise." " But what is it about ?" asked Robin. " It is sent," replied Sam, " with the intention of converting uncle Rik into a thief- catcher. That stupid waiter told me only this morning that the time he followed Stumps to the harbour, he over- heard a sailor conversing witli Inm and praisiuf^ a certain tavern named the Tartar, near London Brid'^e to Vr'hich he promised to introduce him on their THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 355 »ri(ige, their arrival in England ; so if, struck me that by tele- graphing to uncle Kik to find out the owners of the Fairy Queen and the position of the Tartar, he might lay hold of Stumps on his arrival and recover our stolen property." ^ " But I hope he won't put him in limbo, sir," said Jim Slagg. " I Ve no objection to recover our pro- perty, bt^t somehow I don't like to have tlie poor fellow transported. You see I can't help thinkin' he was half- cracked when he did it." " He must take his chance, I suppose," said ^""am, tiioughtfully. " flowever, the telegram is oflf, and, if it ever reaches him, uncle Eik will act with discretion." " I agree with Jim," said Eobin, " and should be Sony to be the means of ruining our old comrade." " It did not strike me in that liglit," returned Sam, a little troubled at the thought. " But it can't be helped now. In any case I suppose he could not be tried till we appear as witnesses against him.'* " I ain't much of a lawyer," said Slagg, " but it do seem to me that they couldn't very well take him up without some proof that the property wasn't liis." " It may be so," returned Sam ; " we shall see when we get home. Meanwhile it behoves us to square up here, for the Great Eastern starts early to-morrow and we must be on r)oard in "ood time to-night." 356 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. Now, you must not imagine, good reader, that we intend to drag you a second time through all the details of laying a deep-sea cable. The process of laying was much the same in its general principles as that already described, but of course marked by all the improvements in machinery, etc., which time and experience had suggested. Moreover, the laying of the Indian cable was eminently, we might almost say monotonously, successful, and, consequently, devoid of stirring incident. We shall therefore merely touch on one or two features of interest connected with it, and then pass on to the more important incidents of our story. When Robin and his comrades drew near to the big ship, she was surrounded by a perfect fleet of rative boats, whose owners were endeavouring to persuade the sailors to purchase bananas and other fruits and vegetables; paroquets, sticks, monkeys, and fancy wares. Next morning, the 14th of February 1870, the Great Eastern lifted her mighty anchor, and spliced the end of the 2375 miles of cable she had on board to the shore-end, which had been laid by the Chiltern. This splice was effected in the presence of the Governor of Bombay, Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, who, with a small party, accompanied the Great Eastern a short distance on its way. Then, embarking in his 3'acht, they bade God-speed to the expedition, \ \ THE BATTEllY AND THE BOILER. 357 that we all the ocess of inciples rked by ch time 3 laying ' almost luently, lerefore interest 3 more r to the fleet of ring to d other )nkeys, ro, the spliced I board liltern. of the I who, las tern ing in ^liUon, gave them three ringing clieers, and the voyage to Aden began. Soon tlie cable-layers were gliding merrily over the bright blue sea at the rate of five or six knots an hour, with the cable going quietly over the stern, the machinery working smoothly, the electrical con- dition of the cable improving as the sea deepened, and flocks of flying-fish hovering o.^er the crisp and curly waves, as if they were specially interested in the expedition, and wished to bear it comijany. All went well, yet were they well prepared for accident or disaster, as Sam informed Kobin on the morning of the 16th while sitting at breakfast. " They have got two gongs, as you Ve observed, no doubt," he said, "which are never to be sounded except when mischief is brewing. The first intima- tion of fault or disaster wiU be a note from one of these gongs, wlien the ship will be instantly stopped, the brakes put on, and the engines reversed." "Everything is splendidly prepared and provided for," said Eobin ; " hand me the sugar, Sam." "The elasticity and good behaviour of the big ship are all that could be desired," remarked one of the engineers, "though slie carries 3000 tons more dead- weight than when she started with the Atlantic cable in 1865." At that moment there was a lull of consternation round the break fast- table, for a drumming upon jnetal U, 358 THE LATTERY AND THE BOILER. N was heard ! For one instant there was a gaze of doubt round the table. Then they rose en masse ; cups were upset, and chairs tlirown over ; the cabin was crossed at racing speed,— Captain Halpin leading —the staircase surmounted, and a rush made to the testing- room. There all was quiet and orderly; the operators placidly pursuing their labours, working out their calculations, or watching the tell-tale spot of liglit on the scale, and all looking up in silent surprise at the sudden hubbub round their door. It was a false alarm, caused by the steady dripping of a shower-bath on its metal bottom! That was all, but it was sufficient to prove how intensely men were on the qui vive. It was a wonderful scene, the deck of the Great Eastern— incomprehensible by those who have not seen it. The cabins, offices, workshops, and machinery formed a continuous line of buildings up the centre of the vessel's deck, dividing it into two streets an eighth oi a mile long. At the end of one of these were the wheels and drums running from the top of the aft-tank to the stern ; and between them and the two thoroughfares were wooden houses which shut them out from view. There was a farm- yard also, where cattle were regularly turned out for exercise ; there were goats which were allowed to go free about tlie decks, and chickens which took THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. 359 gaze of . masse ; le cabin leading e to tlie perators it their 3f light surprise t was a g of a A^as all, \y men e Great ive not s, and ings up ito two i of one •om the n them houses I farm- ed out llowed :h took the liberty of doing ho, .sometimes, without leave ; there were parrots being taken home by the sailors, which slirieked thoir opinions noisily ; and thtre were numerous monkeys, which gambolled in mis- chievous lun, or sat still, the embodiment of ludi- crous despair j v.hile, intermingling with the general noise could be heard the rattle of the paying-out wheels, as the cable passed with solemn dignity and unvarying persistency over the stern into the sea. It seemed almost unheeded, so perfect and self- acting was the machinery ; but it was, never- tlieless, watched by keen sleepless eyes — as the mouse is watched by the cat — night and day. The perfection not only achieved but expected, was somewhat absurdly brought out by the elec- trician in the cable-house at Bombay, who one day complained to the operators on board the Great Eastern that the reply to one of his questions had been from three to twelve seconds late ! It must be understood, however, that although the testin^ of the cable went on continuously during the whole voyage, the sending of messages was not frequent, as that interfered with the general worlv. Accord- ingly, communication with the shore was limited to a daily statement from the ship of her position at noon, and to the acknowledgment of the same by the electrician at Bombay. One of the greatest dangers in paying out consists 3G0 TIIR nATTERV AND TlIK BOILER. iii«^ I ni changing from tank to tank vvlieii one is emptied, and a full one has to be commenced. This was always an occasion of great interest and anxiety About midnight of the lOtli the change to the lore-tank was made, and nearly every soul in the ship turned out to see it. The moon was partially obscured, but darkness was made visible by a row of lanterns hung at short intervals alon- the trough through which the cable was to be passed makmg the ship look inconceivably Ion- As' Eobin Wright hurried along the deck he observed that both port and starboard watches were on duty hid in the deep shadow of the wheels, or standing by the bulwark, ready for action. Traversin.^ the entire length of the deck-past the houses o"f the sheep and pigs; past the great life-boats; past the half-closed door of the testing-room, where the operators maintained their unceasing watch in a flood 01 light; past the captain's cabin, a species of land-mark or half-way house ; past a group of cows and goats lying on the deck chewing the cud peacefully, and past offices and deck-cabins too numerous to mention,-he came at last to the fore- tank, which was so full of cable that the hands ready to act, and standing on the upper coil had to stoop to save their ] .ds from the deck above. The after-tank, on the contrary, was by that time emptied, 'Ill's was iety. ! to the 1 in tlie )artially :' by a Hig the passed, ?. As bserved ti duty ianding ng the of the ast the re the 1 ill a species oiip of lie cud IS too i fore- hands 1, had deck t time -«'i THE LAST COIL. -Page 361. m H 0^ 1^/ r Jm.. THE HATTKKY ANI. IIIK LOILKII. ao 1 a l.uge yuwnin;,. ,,i(, (wcnty-five feet deoj., li..I„,,l by numerous s«i„-;i„. ],,,,^, ,,■„, ,, „a,,,,,,;,„,„„ cl.urcl, v,it|, i„ ,,„,„„, ,i,,, i,i„i,,„„.„,„_ „,,,.,„,. to ).e last coil of the cul,le. Tl.at coil or luj-.r was ull four miles long, lut it would soon run out therelore all was in rcndinoss. The eaj.tai,. was' K.vng d,ree(ions in a low voiee, and seeing that every one was in his place. The ehiefs of the enguieers and eleetrioiaus were on the alert, Kvctv ew minutes a deep voiee fro.u below announced the number of "turns" before the last one. At last the operation was successfully accomplished and the danger past, and the cable was soon run- ning out from the fore-tank as su.oothly as it had run out of the other. The tendency of one flake or coil of cable to stick to the coil i,„n.ediately below, and produce a wild irremediable entanglement before the sl,ip could be stopped, was another danger, but these and all other mishaps of a serious nature were escaped and the unusually prosperous voyage was brou.d.t a close on the 27th of February, when the Great I'-astem reached Aden in a gale of wind-as if to remrnd the cable-layers of what might have been -and the cable was c.t and buoyed i„ forty tathoms water. The continuation of the cable up the Eed Sea ° ="<^eessful termination of the great enter-' m V the THE BATTEKY AND THE BOILER. prise, and the start of our hero and his com- panions for Old England after their work was done, we must unwillingly leave to the reader's imagina- tioiL his corn- was done, J iraagina- TIIE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 363 CIIAPTEE XXIX. UNCLE RIK'S ADVENTUnES. Unclk RrK seated in Mr. Wri.l.fs drawing- room ; Mr. Wrigl,t in an ea , .chair near the window ; Mra Wright-with much of the Instre gone out of her fine eyes-lying languidly on the sofa; Madge Mayland at work on some incompre- hensible piece of netting beside her aunt,-all in deep mourning. Uncle Eik lias just opened a telegram, at which he stares, open eyed and mouthed, without speak- ing, while his ruddy cheeks grow pale. " Not bad news, I trust, brother," said poor Mrs ^ Mght, to whom the worst news had been con- veyed when she heard of the wreck of the Triton Nothmg could exceed that, she felt, in bitterness "What is it, Eik?" said Mr. Wright, anxiously " Oh ! nothing-nothing Tliat is to say, not bad news, certainly, but amazing news. Boh ' I 'm a fool." He stopped short after thi« complimentary asser- 364 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. tioii, for uncle Rik had somewhere read or lieard that joy can kill, and he feared to become an ac- complice in a murder. " Come, Rik, don't keep us in suspense," said his brother, rising ; " something has happened." "0 yes, something has indeed happened," cried Eilv, " for this telegram is from Sam Shipton." " Then Eobin is alive ! " cried Mrs. Wright, leap- ing up, while Madge turned perfectly white. "No-that is to say- yes— it may be so-of course must be so-for,-bah ! what an ass I am ! Listen." He proceeded to read Sam's telegram, wliile Mrs Wright covered her face with her hands and sank trembling on the sofa. The telegram having suffered rather severe muti- lation at the hands of the foreigners by whom it was transmitted, conveyed a very confusing idea of the facts that were intended, but the puzzling over it by the whole party, and the gradual, though not perfect, elucidation of its meaning, liad perhaps the effect of softening the joyful intelligence to a bear- able extent. " Now," said uncle Rik, while the perspiration of mental effort and anxiety stood on his bald fore- head, "this is the outcome of it all. Sam clearly says 'all well,' which means, of course, that Robin is alive — thnnU- dnA f/-.r» fl,«4. rri--,„ 1 _...., ,^.^ ixiau xiien he rerers to a THE BAll ' Y AND TIIF BOILEE. 365 51 heard } an ac- said his 1," cried 1." it, leap- so-— of ! I am ! le Mrs. d sank B muti- hom it ■dea of ig over ?h not ps the L bear- Jon of fore- learly Robin 1 to a previous telegram, which, of course, must be lost, for it hasn't come to hand. Bali ! I wonder the nasty things ever do come to hand. Anyhow, that telegram must have been meant to announce their safe arrival at Bombay, undoubtedly." " Of course -I see it now," said Uis. Wright, with a deep sigh. " Of course," echoed Eik. " Then there 's some queer reference to a ship and a Fiery Queen, and a Stamps and a Shunks, and a Gibson, and a thief, and three bags, and the port of Loudon, which of course means London, and a public-house named, apparently. Torture—" " Tartar, I think, uncle," said Madge. « Well, Tartar if you like, it 's much the same if you catch him. And it winds up with a girl —which is not surprisin'— who is to be exp^'ec- torated — " •■ Expected, surely," said Madge, witli a rather hysterical laugh, for the conflicting feelings within her tended rather to tears. " So be it, Madge— expected, with an unreadable name beginning with an L,— and that 's all ; and a pretty penny he must have paid to send us such a lot o' rubbish." " It has brought the oil of gladness to our hearts, brother," said Mr. Wriglit, "and is worth its cost.' But, now, what do you intend to do ?" m r 366 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. " Do !" exclaimed Piik, who was never happier than when he could explode his feelings in action. " I '11 go this moment to the port of London, find out the owners of the Fiery Queen, make particular inquiries about the Stanipses, Shunkses, and Gibsons, visit Torture public-houses— though they 're all that, more or less — and see if I can hear anything about girls to bt rjxpectorated, with names beginning with L. There — these are my sailing directions, so — up anchor and away !" Uncle Rik immediately obeyed his own commands, and spent the remainder of that day in what he styled cruising. And he cruised to some pur- pose, for although he failed to obtain any informa- tion as to the girl, he discovered the owners of the Fairy— not Fiery — Queen, who said that she was expected home in a few weeks, but that they knew nothing whatever about the rather remarkable names which he submitted for their consideration. With this amount of information he was fain to rest content, and returned in an elevated state of mind to his brother's house. Some weeks after these events, the Wright family was again seated round the social board, as uncle Eik called it, when two visitors were announced. The social meal happening to be tea, and the draw- ing-room at that time in dishabille, owing to carpet disturbances, the visitors were shown into the 'MM ^'^i THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 367 lier than . "I'll Ind out irticular jibsons, all that, g about ng with so — up imands, vliat he le pur- aforma- 3 of the she was sy knew 3 names With to rest if mind : family s uncje ounced. 3 draw- > carpet to the dining room— a lady, accompanied by a pretty little girl. " Excuse my calling at an unusual hour," said the lady, " but I trust the occasion of my visit will be a suflicient excuse. I have just arrived from Bombay, and hasten to present a letter from your son, and to deliver over my interesting charge, this dear child, Letta Langley, whom — " "The expectorated girl!" shouted uncle Rik, leaping up, " begins with an L,— two L's indeed. IJah, I 'm an idiot I Excuse my excitement, madam —pray go on," Slightly surprised, but more amused, the lady went on to tell all she knew about IJobin and his friends, v/hile the happy mother read snatches of Eobin's letter through her tears, and Mr. Wright and Madge plied the lady with questions and tea, and Letta, taking at once to uncle Eik, ecstatified, amazed and hoiTified that retired sea-captain with her charming earnest little ways, her wonderful ex- periences, and her intimate acquaintance with pirates and their habits. A letter from Eobin to his mother, and another from Sam to Mr. Wright, arrived next morning, and proved to be those which had been written imme- diately after their landing at Bombay, and had been posted, so the writers thought, at the time their first telegram was despatched. But the letters had been e! 5 368 THE BATTERY AND THE DOILER. !■ ]i given to Stumps to post, and Stumps was not blesscable to ik took of her 3uiiced, m. and THE BATTEliY AND THE BOILER. 3G9 With Similar delicacy of feeling we now draw a curtain over the meeting of the mother and the long-lost child. " It's almost too much for me, tough old sea-do- though I am, this perpetual cruisin' about after strange runaway craft," said uncle Rik, as he and Letta walked hand in hand aloiig the streets one day some weeks later. " Here have I been beatin' about for I don't know how long, and I'm only in the middle of it yet. We expect the Fairy Queen in port to-night or to-morrow." "But you won't hurt poor Stumps when you catch him, will you ?" pleaded Letta, looking ear- nestly up into her companion's jovial iaoe. " He was very nice and kind to me, you know, on Pirate Island." "No, I'll not hurt him, little- old woman," said Kik. " Indeed, I don't know yet for certain that Stumps is a thief; it may be Shunks or it may be Gibson, you see, who is the thief. However, we '11 find out before long. Now then, good-bye, I'll be back soon." He shook hands with Letta at Mr. Wright's house, she and her mother having agreed to reside therj until Robin's return home. Wending his way through tlie streets until he reached one of the great arteries of the metropolis, he go* into a 'bus and soon luund himself on the 2 A iHtl if 370 THE BATTKRY AND THE BOILER. banks of the Tliames. Arrived at the docks, one of the first vessels his eyes fell on was tlie Fairy Queen. Goin" on board, the first man he met was the captain, to whom he said, touching his hat — " Excuse me, captain ; may I ask if you have a nan in your crew named Stumps?" " No, sir, no such name on my books." " Nor one named Shunks ?" " No, not even Shunks," replied the cni)lain, with a sternly-humorous look, as if he thought the visitor were jesting. " Nor Gibson ?" continued Rik. "Yes, I've got one named Gibson. What d'ye want with him ? " " Well, I have reason to believe that he is — or was — a friend of a friend of mine, and I sliould like to see him." " Oh ! indeed," responded the captain, regarding his visitor with a doubtful look. " Well, Gibson has just got leave to go ashore, and I heard him say to one of his mates he was going to the Tartar public-house, so you'll see him there, probably, for. he is not invisible or'narily. But I don't know where the Tartar is." "But I know," returned Captain Rik; "thank you. I '11 go seek him there." Stumps sat alone in one of the boxes of the Tartar public-house, which at that hour chanced to s, one of f Queen, was the I have a ain, with le visitor liat d'ye le is — or ould like 'egarding , Gibson 3ard hiui tie Tartar jably, lor, I't know ; "thank is of the lanced to THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 37 1 be nearly empty. His face was buried in his han.ls and a pot of untasted beer stood at his ell.ow' roor Stumps ! Conscience Iiad been remarkably busy witli him on tlie voyage home. He wouhl have given worlds to have got back to JJumbay, return the ill-gotten bags, and confess Ids guilt but It was too kite— too late ! There is something very awful in these words too late ! We read of and hear them often, and we use tliem sometimes, lightly it may be, but it is only when they can be used by ourselves with reference to something very serious, that we have a glimmer- ing of their terrible significance. There is a proverb "It IS never too late to mend," which is misleading! When the dream of life is over, and the doom is fixed, It ^5 too late to mend No doubt the proverb IS meant to refer to our condition while this life ■ lasts, but even here it is misleading. When the murderer withdraws the knife and gazes, it may be, horror-struck at the expressionless face of his ^ victim, it is too late. He cannot mend the severed -thread of life. When the reckless drunkard draws near the end of his career, and looks in the mirror and starts to see the wreck of his former self, it is too late. Health will never more return. I^ot too late, blessed be God, for the salvation of the soul, but too late for the recovery of all that was held dear in the life of earth. I! 372 THE BATTEIIY AND TIIK BOILKR. Yes, Stunips had many a time while on the sea muttered to himself, " Too late ! " He did so once again in that low public- house near the docks. Uncle Eik overheard him, and a feeling of profound pity arose within him. " I beg pardon," he said, and at the first word Stumps looked quickly, almost fiercely, up, "your name, I believe, is Gibson." " No, it isn't— I, that is to say— Well, yes it is. Sailors has got aliases, you know, sometimes. What d' ye want wi' me ? " "You were acquainted in Bombay," resumed Captain Wright, very quietly, as he sat down opposite to Stumps, "with a young man named Wright— Robin Wright?" Stumps's face became deadly pale. "Ah! I see you were," resumed the captain; "and you and he had something to do, now, with bags of some sort ? " The captain was, as the reader knows, pro- foundly ignorant of everything connected with the bags except their existence, but he had his sus- picions, and thought this a rather knowing way of inducing Stumps to commit himself. His surprise, then, may be imagined when Stumps, instead of replying, leaped up and dashed wildly out of the room, overturning the pot of beer upon Captain Eik's legs. your THE BATTERY AND THE noiLER. 373 Stumps shot like an arrow past the lanrllord a retired pugilist, who chanced to be in the doorway Captain Rik, recovering, darted after him, but was arrested by the landlord. " Not quite so fast, old genTman ! As you Vo had some of your mate's beer, you 'd better pay for it. "Let me go !- stop him!" cried the captain, struggling. As well might he have struggled in the grasp of Hercules. His reason asserted itself the instant the fugitive was out of sight. He silently paid for the beer, went back to the Fairy Queen to inform the captain that his man Gibson was a thief-to which the captain replied that it was very probable, but that It was nb business of liis-and then wandered sadly back to tell the Wright family how Gibson, alias Stumps, alias Sliunks, had been found and lost. fi MM 374 ^T?K " ^TTPVV AND THE DOILER. CHAPTER XXX. I !fi ritl 1: THR WRiailT FAMILY HKITNITRD. AND SAM HKCOMKS nrOIILY BLECTlilOAL. i That much-abused and oft-neglected meal called tea had always 1 )een a scene of great festivity and good-fellowship in the Wright family. Circum- stances, uncontrollable of course, had from the ueginning necessitated a dinner at one o'clock, so that they assembled round the family board at six each evening, in a hungry and happy frame of body and mind (which late diners would envy if they understood it), with the prospect of an evening — not bed — before them. In the earlier years of the family, the meal had been, so to speak, a riotous one, for both Eobin and Madge had uncontrollable spirits, with ten- dencies to drop spoons on the flocr, and overturn jugs of milk on the table. Later on, the meai became a jolly one, and, still later, a chatty one — especially t-^cr uncle Eik and cousin Sam began to be frequent, \'C-.^s. I TIID HATTKUY AND Tltl TOILER. HU But never in ;Jl the experi( nee of the family had the favourite meal heeii m jolly, ,o prolilic of spoony and porcelain accidents, so chatty, and so generally riotous, as it was on a certain evenin*; in June of the year 1870, shortly after the return home of IJobin and his companions. Besides the orif^inal Wri^jht family, consisting of father, mother, Robin, and Madge, there were assem- bled uncle Rik, Sam Shiptou, Mrs. Langley, Letta, and — no— not Jim Slagg. The circle was unavoid- ably incomplete, foi Jim had a mother, and Jim had said with indignant emphasis, "did they suppose all the teas an' dinners an' suppers, to say nothin' o' breakfasts, an' messmates an' chums an' friends, crammed and jiinimed into one enormous mass o' temptation, would indooce him to delay his return to that old lady for the smallest fraction of an hour ? " No, Jim Slagg was not at the table, but the household cat was under it, and the demoral- ising attentions that creature received on that occasion went far to undo the careful training of previous years. The occasion of the gathering was not simple, it was compound. First, it was in commemoration of Robin's birthday ; second, it was to celebrate the appointment of Sam Shipton to an influential posi- tion on the electrical ^taff of the Telegraph Con- struction and Maintenance Company, also Sara's 376 THR BATTERY AND THE BOILER. engagement to Marjory May] and ; third, to cele- brate the appointment of Eobin "Wright to a sufficiently lucrative and hopeful post under Sam ; and, lastly, to enjoy the passing hour. " Ladies and gentlemen," said uncle Rik, getting on his feet with some difficulty, when the tea, toast, muffins, eggs, and other fare had blunted the appetites, " I rise to propose the toast of the even- ing, and mark you, I don't mean to use any butter witli this toast {Hear, from Sam) unless I 'm egged on {Oh !) to do it — so I charge you to charge your cups with tea, since we 're not allowed grog in this tee-total ship— though I'm free to confess that I go in with you there, for I 've long since given up the use o' that pernicious thougli pleasant beverage, takin' it always neat, now, in the form of cold water, varied occasionally with hot tea and coffee. My toast, ladies «ind gentlemen, is Eob — (Rik put his hand to his throat to ease off his neck- tie) is Robin Wright, whom I 've known, off an' on, as a babby, boy, an' man, almost ever since that night — now twenty years ago, more or less — wlien he was launched upon the sea in thunder, lightning, and in rain. I've known him, I say — ever since — off an' on — and I 'm bound to say that — " The captain paused. He had meant to be funny, but the occasion proved too much for him. "Bless you, Robin, my lad," he gasped, suddenly THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 377 Stretching his large hand across the table and grasping that of his nephew, which was quickly extended. After shaking it with intense vigour he sat promptly down and blew his nose. The thunders of applause which burst from Sam and Mr. Wright were joined in even by the ladies, who, in the excess of their sympathy, made use of knife-handles and spoons with such manly vigour that several pieces of crockery went "by ''the board," as the captain himself remarked, and the household cat became positively electrified and negatively mad, inasmuch as it was repelled by the horrors around, and denied itself the remaining pleasure of the tea-table by flying wildly from the room. Of course, Eobin attempted a reply, but was equally unsuccessful in expressing his real senti- ments, or the true state of his feelings, but uncle Ptik came to the rescue by turning sharply on Sam and demanding — " Do you really mean to tell me, sir, that, after all your experience, you still believe in telegraphs and steamboats ?" Sam promptly asserted that he really did mean that. "Of course," returned the captain, "you can't help believing in their existence- for facts are fiicts —but are you so soft, so unphilosophical, so idiotical 378 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. as to believe in their continuance? That's the point, lad— their continuance. Are you not aware that, in course o' time, rust they must — " '* An' then they '11 bu'st," interpolated Eobin. " Hee ! hee ! ha !" giggled Letta, who, during all this time, had been gazing with sparkling eyes and parted lips, from one speaker to another, utterly forgetful of, and therefore thoroughly enjoying, her own existencp. " Yes, then they '11 bu'st," repeated Eik, with an approving nod at Eobin ; " you 're Hght, my boy, and the sooner they do it the better, for I 'm quite sick of their flashings and crashings." " I rather suspect, Sam," said Mr. Wright, " that the gentlemen with whom you dined the other day would not agree with uncle Eik." "Whom do you refer to, George?" asked Mrs. Wright. " Has he not yet told you of the grand * inaugural fete,' as they call it, that was given at the house of Mr. Pender, chairman of the Telegraph Con- struction and Maintenance Company, to celebrate the opening of direct submarine telegraphic com- munication with India ?" "Not a word," replied Mrs. Wright, looking at Sam. "You never mentioned it to me" said Madge, with a reproachful glance in the same direction. I 3's the aware in. •ing all I'-es and utterly ng, her v^ith an oy, and ite sick t, "that ler day id Mrs. augural e house h Con- elebrate ic com- iking at Madge, non. THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER 379 "Because, Madge, we have been so busy in talking about something else," said Sam, " that I really forgot all about it." "Do tell us about it now," said Mrs. Lan^ley who, hke her daughter, had been listening in silence up to this point. "A deal 0' rubbish was spoken. I daresay," ob- served the captain, commencing to another muffin, and demanding more tea. " A deal of sometliing was spoken, at all events " said Sam, " and what is more to the point, an amazin- lieal was done. Come, before speaking about it" let me propose a toast-Success to Batteries and Boilers ! " " Amen to that !" said Robin, with enthusiasm. "If they deserve it," said the captain, with caution. The toast having been drunk with all the lionours Sam began by saying that the f^te was a great occasion, and included brilliant company. " There were present, of course," he said, " nearly all the great electrical and engineering lights of the day, also the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, with a lot of aristocrats, whom it is not necessary to mention in the presence of a democratic sea-dog like uncle Rik." "Don't yaw about to defame me, but keep to oui uuuiou, oam. fl 380 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. "Well, you have no idea what an amount of interest and enthusiasm the affair created. You all know, of course, that the Indian cable, which Eobin and I bad a hand in laying, is now connected with the lines that pass between Suez, Alexandria, Malta, Gibraltar, Lisbon, and England ; and the company assembled at Mr. Pender's house witnessed the sending of the first messages direct from London to Bombay ; and how long, do you think, it took to send the first message, and receive a reply ?— only five minutes !" " You don't mean it, Sam !" exclaimed Rik, tiettinf^ excited, in spite of his professed unbelief. "Indeed I do," replied Sam, warming with his subject. " I tell you the sober truth, however diflicult it may be for you to believe it. You may see it in the papers of the 24th or 25th, I suppose. Here is my note-book, in which I jotted down the most interesting points. " The proceedings of the evening were opened by the managing director in London sending a telegram to the managei at Bombay. *"How are you all V was the brief /rs^ telegram by Sir James Anderson. * All well,' was the briefer first reply from Bombay. The question fled from London at 9.18 exactly — I had my watch in my hand at the time — and the answer came back at 9.23 — just five minutes. I can tell you it was THE BATTEIiY AND THE BOILEIi. 381 ount of You all li Robin ied with I, Malta, ompany led the ndon to took to ?— only getting dth his J i Hi cult ee it in Here is e most ned by slegram legram IS the iiestion watch e back it was hard to believe that the whole thing was not a practical joke. In fact, the message and reply were almost instantaneous, the live minutes being chiefly occupied in manipulating the instruments at either end. The second message between the same parties occupied the same time. After that Sir Bartle Frere sent a telegram to Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, the Governor of Eombay, as follows :—' Sir Bartle Frere wishes health and prosperity to all old friends in Bomhay: This was received by the Company's superintendent at Bombay, and the acknowledg- ment of its receipt sent back in four minutes and Hfty seconds ! But the reply from the Governor, • Your old friend returns your good wishes,' did not come to us for thirty-six minutes, because the mes- sage had to be sent to the Governor's house, and it found his Excellency in bed. "Next, a message was sent by Lady Mayo in London to Lord Mayo at Simla, which, with the acknowledgment of it, occupied 15 minutes in trans- mission. Of course time was lost in some cases, because the persons telegraphed to were not on the spot at the moment. The Prince of Wales tele- graphed to the Viceroy of India, '/ congratulate your Excellency on England and India leing now connected by a submarine cable. I feel assured this grand achievement will prove of immense benefit to m^ cvcywrc xjj uiv A^iirjjirc. US duccesa w Ulus matter 382 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. of imperial interest' which telegram passed out, and the acknowledgment of its receipt in India was returned to London, all within eleven minutes, but, as in tlie former case, the Viceroy was in bed, so that his reply was not received till forty-five minutes liad elapsed. Had tlie Viceroy been at the Indian end of tiic wire, he and the Prince could have conversed at an average rate of five minutes a sentence. " >'(i},ny other messages were sent to and fro," continued Sam, turning over the leaves of liis note- book, " not only from London to India, but to each of the intermediate stations on the cable line, so that we had direct intercourse that night with the King of Portugal, the Governors of Gibraltar, Malta, and Aden, and the Khedive of Egypt. But that was not all. We put the old and the new world into communication, so that the 'press of India sent salam to the press of America.' Sir James Anderson also telegraphed to Cyrus W. Field, Esq., the father of submarine telegraphy in my estimation {Hear, hear, from Eobin), and he sent a reply, which began, ' Your message of this evenimj received ly me hcfore five o'clock this afternoon! Mark that. Captain Eik, the message received hcfore it was sent, so to speak !" " Ay, ay, lad — / know — difference of longitude, — fire away." "Well, I have fired away most of my ammunition m.: THE BATTEItY AND THE HOILER. 383 now," returned Sam, •* and if you don't liaul down your colours, it must be because you have nailed them to the mast and are blind to reason. I may add, however, that the Viceroy of India sent a telegram to the President of the United States, to which he got a reply in seven hours and forty minutes, but the slowness of this message was accounted for by the fact of accidental and partly unavoidable delay in transmission both in Washing- ton and London. At 1.30 a.m. of the 24th the traffic of the line became pressing, and all complimentary messages ceased with one from Bombay, which said, * Sun just risen ; delightfully cool ; raining.' " "Doesn't it seem as if the Baron Monkhausen's tales were possible after all ?" remarked Mrs. Wright, looking as if her mind had got slightly confused. " The Baron's tales are mere child's-play, mother," said Eobin, "to the grand facts of electricity." " That 's so, Eobin," said Sam, still turning over the leaves of his note-book, "and we had some magnificent experiments or illustrations at the f^te, v/hich go far to prove the truth of your remark- experiments which were so beautiful that they would have made the eyes of Letta sparkle even more gorgeously than they are doing at present, if she had seen them." Letta blushed, returned to self-consciousness for a moment, looked down, laughed, looked up as M mm iM f\ mm^ably on less but window k several -r, came nd were Stumps ng, and ad, and spend by the niE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. 399 CHAPTER XXXri. IN WHICH rriK STORT KINDS A '.kaU.T," AND THE Kr.ECTRICAL CUKUKNT RNDS, » _ Now, it is not in tl,e nature of things tlmt mnn in his present state, should attain to f„ll sati.sfac' t.on. He may, indeed lie should, attain to content- ment, but as long as there are higher and better things withm his reaeh, he must of necessity remain in some degree unsatisfied. So™ such idea must have been passing through Eobin Wright's brain one fine morning, as he sloX paced the deck of a small schooner with his friend &am Shipton, for he suddenly broke a prolon„ed silence with the following remark :— " I don't know how it is, Sam, but although I am surrounded with everything that should make a fellow happy. I'm-I'm not happy. In feet, I •„ as miserable as it is possible to be I" _ " Come now, Eobin, don't exaggerate," said Sam m a remonstrative tone. "Hyperbole is very objectionable, especially in young men. You know a. that if you were tied to a hno-p aruUrr 1?% y-\»rr^ ~ .- -.1 vvci n oiOW m 400 THE BATTERY AND THE DOILER. m-A i Hi fire, you would be more miserable than you are at present." Ptol)in smiled and admitted the trutli of tliis, but nevertheless reiterated his assertion that he was decidedly unhappy. This conversation, we may remark, took place on board of Sam Shipton's yacht, off the west coast of Scotland, several years after the events narrated in the previous chapter. "Well, now, it is strange," said Sam, with an earnestly sympathetic air and tone of voice, but with the faintest possible twinkle in the extreme corner of one of his eyes. "Let me see — everything, as you justly remark, ought to make you happy here. The weather, to begin with — people always begin with the weather, you know— is splendid, though there is a thundery look about the horizon to the west'ard. Then our yacht, the Gleam, is a perfect duck, both as to her sea-going and sailing qualities, and Captain James Slagg is a perfect seaman, while Stumps is a superlative steward and cook. Our time is our own, and the world before us where to choose. Then, as to our companion- ship, what female society could be more agreeable than that of my wife Madge, and lier bo^om friend Letta, who, since she has grown up, has become one of the most ^beautiful, fascinating?, charminor, — but why go on, when, in the language of the poet, H I TIIK nATTEIiY AND THE noiLEU. 401 'adoqnatc word' is IS waritin' I ' And Letta's mother ^ second only to herself. Then as to the men cou d there be found anywhere finer fellows than' uncle RiIc and Ebenezer Smith, and Frank Hedley .---to say nothing of myself and our splendid little boy Sammy? I can't understand it, Eobin. You 're not ill, are you ? " " 111 ! no. Never was better in my life " "Well, then, what is it? Be confidential, my »3oy. The witcliing hour of sunrise is fitted for confidential communications. You 're not in love are — " ' "Hush, Sam! the skylight is open. Come forward to the bows. Yes, Sam, I am in love." " Well, Robin, I can't pretend ignorance, for I know It— at least I have seen it." " Seen it ! " echoed Eobin, " how is that ? I have never by word or look given the slightest indication to any one of the state of my feelings." "True, EoWd, as regards words, but there are other modes of indication, as must be well known to a celebrated electrician like yourself. The fact IS, my dear boy, that yon and Letta have been rubbing your intellects togetl.er for so many years that you have electrified each otl.er-the ono posi- tively, the other negatively; and even a Manx eat wiUi an absent mind and no tail could hardly fail to observe the telegraphic communication which 2c II I- 402 Till) IIATTEIIY AND THE BOILER. you have established by means of that adinirabk) duplex instrument, a pair of eyes." " You distress me very much, Sam/' returned Eobin, seriously. " I assure you I have never con- sciously done anything of the sort, and I have never opened my lips to Letta on the subject — I dare not." " I believe you as to your consciousness ; but, to be serious, Ilobin, why should being in love make you miserable ? " " Because it makes me doubt whether Letta cares for me." " Nonsense, Robin. Take my advice, put an end to your doubts, and make sure of your ground by takin; -• heart and proposing to Letta." " I dare not, Sam. It is all very well fur a fine manly fellow like you to give such advice, but 1 am such a poor, miserable sort of — " "Hallo, fasser!" cried a merry voice at that moment, "how red de sun am !" The owner of the voice — a mere chip of a child, in perfect miniature middy costume — ran up to its father and was hoisted on his shoulder. "Yes, the sun is very red, like your own face, Sammy, my boy, to say nothing of cousin Eobin's. Where is mamma ?" The question was answered by mamma herself, our old friend Madge Mayland, coming up the com- THK BATOHV AND THIS BOlLEil. 403 P«ni„u hatch.-tall, dark, beautiful, like the .pint of departed „,,.ht. She was followed by Letta- g«ecf«l. lUi, .uimy, like the .pirit of the cor„;„g "Sunbearu ahoy !" came up through the cabin "Well, grunkle Itik, w'at is it ?" shouted Sa,u,ny III sdvery toues, from his father's shoulder "Grunkle" was the outcome of various eflbrts ,„ade to Jeach Samu.y to call the old captain grand- "Where have you stowed away ,„y hair- brush you raseaU" cried the voice of thunder "It's under „,y bunk, grunkle ; I was bracki,,., yous boots vith it." " The thunder subsided ' ...pestuous n.utterings, and Sammy, leehng that he had beg.u. the day wdl struggled out of his father's arms and went cL-eor-' ing round the deck into every possible position „f danger He kept them all lively uuta Stumps cau^hrm and e.tingu.shed h.m, for. tl,„e. J, ;■ Uncle Eik," said Sam, while that meal w,« be,ng d,scussod in the snuggest little cuUn .hat could be imagmed, "did you hear of the extra- ordinary manner in which a whale was caught by a telegrajih cable lately ?" I / n 404 TirE BArrERY AND THE BOILEIt. 11. I I! I " No, I didn't, Sam, an' what *s more, I wouldn't believe it if I did." " It is true, nevertlieless," said Sam, breaking his fifth egg — sea breezes being appetising. "How did it happen, Sam ?" asked Madge. "In a very curious manner, Madge. It will amuse Letta, for I know she takes a deep interest in cables." " Indeed it jwill," said Letta, who was the soul of earnest simplicity ; "I delight in electric cables." Eobin looked at Letta, and wislied that he were an electric cable ! "It happened to the Persian Gulf cable, quite recently," continued Sam, addressing himself to Letta. " The cable between Kurrachee and Gwadur, a distance of 300 miles, suddenly failed one evening Now, you must know that electrical science has advanced with such rapid strides of late, that we have the power to discover pretty nearly the exact position of a fault in a cable. Of course I cannot expect a young lady to understand the technical details of the mode in which this is done, but you will understand that by tests taken at either end the damage appeared to be about 118 miles from Kurrachee, and a telegraph steamer was sent with an electrical and engineering staff to repair it. The steamer reached the supposed locality early on the morning of the second day out, and proceeded THE BATTERY AND T,,. BOILER. 405 at once to .grapple for the cable, tl,„„.h a tlnV.V f prevailed at the time n„^ „ t, " '""^ ^°S The aonndin J It 1 , '''' ■''* "*^ "'""'"S- ^ xiuiij^s at the place were verv ir>.o i ■mplying a rugged bottom of ,uhlZ ° "' top.9 and valleys 0„ ,■ a '""""'"« mountain re8i.,t.nJ '"'^'°" "" 'h" <=a''Ie unusual resistance was experienced as if ,> """S'lal rocks, and when, after great dTffi, T ^°"' °^ "P they found that thi^: Su^d 'k r,"""' " an immense whale, with twoa„Ta h^f, ' '""^ °' believlt""''-^^"'"^"''^'' -*«'''-. "I don. " But I do, uncle." retnrnprl q his sixth egg "for rTTt ' "' ^' "^^""^ ^&fe> ror 1 read tue aomnnf ^^ -^ • one of the engineering journal.,, in Th eh dl ': naiBes were eiven TIip cf ^^ ^"'^ Witeh. command d bye p.^:r^"^' ^ '"■"- -operators were l.n'de:t.^r7;rc^ body of the huge creature was found tlT decomposing, the jaws falli," Z^ ^^ '^Pf ? the surface, and sharks had evid nX 1 T''''"' ingit The tail whiM "^'"^t'-V been devour- » • xne tan, which measured twelve feet ,„, was covered with barm.c)p» .<■ «. ^'"^''^^' „ p . , "arnacles at the extremities " over a sub--'— > • - "" ^ ^ ^^^'^ ^oo" - 3ub.„„.„, precipice, and, thinking the chanc^ thi 406 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. a good one no doubt for scraping off the barnacles and other parasites that annoy whales very much, had probably twisted the cable round him with a flip of his tail. Anyhow, the fact is unquestionable that it held him fast until he was fished up dead by the electricians and engineers." "How strange!" murmured Letta. « It is indeed," responded Eobin, " the most extra- ordinary case I ever heard of, though cables are subject to many singular accidents. I remember one case of accident to the cable across the river Yar, in the Isle of Wight. A bullock fell from the deck of a vessel, and, in its struggles, caught the cable and broke it." " I have read of several very singular cases," said Sam, "in which cables have been attacked and damaged by inhabitants of the sea. The Cuba and Florida cable was once damaged by the bite of some large fish, and a similar accident happened to the China cable. In the Malta-Alexandria cable, a piece of the core from which the sheathing had been worn was found to have been bitten by a shark, and pieces of the teeth were found sticking in the gutta-percha." " I thought it was to the Singapore cable that that happened," said Eobiu. " No, but something similar happened to it. That cable was laid in December. In the following THE BATTEItY AND THE BOILEE, 407 March a stoppage occurred. The fault was spotted at 200 railes from Siugapore. When hauled up the cable was found to have been pierced, and bits of crushed bone were sticking in the hole. The piece was cut out and sent to Mr. Frank Buckland who, after long and careful examination, came to' the conclusion tliat it had been the work of a saw-fish." * "Dear me, Mr. Shipton," said Mrs. Langley, "you speak as if everv part of the world were connected by electric cable.s." "And such is tlic case," said Sam; «we have now direct com . Mcation by submarine cable and laud telegraph ,: every part of Europe; with Canada and the Umted States ; down South America, nearly to Cape Horn; with Africa from Algiers to the Cape of Good Hope; with India from Afghanistan to Ceylon ; w:tl. China from Pekin to Hong-Kon. ■ and down through the Malacca Archipelago, Au°s- traha, and Tasmania." "I say, Sam, are you a member of the Eoyal Geogr^ph,cal Society, or a walking atlas?" aslfcd "In .short," continued Sam, not heeding the in- terruption, ■' there isn't a civilised quarter of the globe which is not tied to us by telegraph, and om whzch we might not hear any morning of the events of the preceding day." 408 THE BATTEUY AND THE HOILER. "Always excepting Central Africa and the two poles," said the captain. "I said civilised quarters/' retorted Sam, "and, as far as I kno.v, the poles are inhabitod only by bears." " True, I forgot, the poles are barely civilised," said uncle Eik. "Now, Master Sammy," growled a deep voice from the adjoining galley, "you keep your hands out o' that copper." " Fasser," shouted a silvery voice from the same region, "'Tumps is naughty. I wants to wass my hands in de soup, an' he won't let me." " Quite right. Keep him in order. Stumps," said the unfeeling Sam, senior. "Dere— pa says I 's kite right, an' to keep you in order, 'Tumps," said the silvery voice. (Then, after a few minutes), « Grunkle Eik, is you finish bekfist?" " Ay, ay. Sunbeam, quite finished." " Den come on deck an' p'ay vid me," Uncle Rik rose with a laugh, and obediently went on deck to play. But the play did not last long, for that day ominous clouds rose in the west, and, overspreading the sky, soon drenched the little' yacht with rain. Towards evening the rain ceased, but the wind increased to a gale, and the weather showed signs of becoming wliat is known among Tim BATTERY AND THE BOIMB. 409 soamen, «.e believe, as dirty. Ere long the low •"uttenngs of thnnder increased to mighty peX and vivid flashes, that lit up tlie seene with the brilliancy of full moonlight. t""Klly, to Eobm, as tliey stood looking over the b«s;.. What is the land we see fa; aw;:: ' " l^" ^^'""-l ■'f M"l V returned Eolun Eik who' '' I' ""1 '"*'' '"^^■" S™-=-> C-P'-'-n E.k who overheard the remark. -< We want plenty of sea-room on a night like this." taiTVr ^"^ T""""" """"S''." observed "Cap- am Slagg. with the confidence of a man wZ Ws well what he is about, .she stood ; a "!r^ '''',''^"«'''S '"'"-'f -t'> >>is legs well apart. You ye got a lightning conductor on the mast of ourse V observed Captain Eik to Sam. ' "No," replied Sam. "Sam!" exclaimed the captain in a tone of "Well, unc!e Eik," replied Sam with a lau^h yachts are not always fitted with conductoT ' But I m not so bad as you think me. I ,,3 ordered a special conductor with some tri.li „ novelties of oonstrudio " ^ for the yacht, b uf it 410 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. m was not ready when we started, so we had to sail without it. However, it is not once in a thousand times that a vessel is struck by lightning." While Sam was yet speaking, a flash of lightning almost blinded them, and the little schooner re- ceived a shock which told of disaster. Next moment the roar of reverberating thunder drowned the crash of timber as the topmast went overboard, carrying the bowsprit and its gear along with it. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the schooner became unmanageable, owing to the mass of wreck- age which hung to her. Jim Slagg, seizing an axe, sprang to thie side to cut this away, ably seconded by all the men on board, but before it could be accomplished the Gleam had drifted dangerously near to the rocks on the coast of Mull. To add to the confusion, the darkness became intense. Captain Eik, forgetting or ignoring his years, had thrown off his coat and was working like a hero with the rest. The ladies, unable to remain below, were clinging to the stern rails, Madge holding her little boy tightly in her arms, and the spray dashing wildly over all. Another moment and the Gleam struck on the rocks with tremendous violence. Only by the light- ning could they see the wild rocky shore on which they had drifted. THE BATTEET AND THE BOILEH. 4 J J Instinctively each me,.hev of the little crew drew towards those nearest and dearest "Get out the boat!" shouted Captain Sla™ • but the men could not obey, for a heavy sea hli ant.e.pated the.n, and the little dingy wa's Tl e ^y careering shorev;ard, bottom up. ^ The iiext wave lifted the Gleam like a cork and A flash of hghtmng revealed for a moment a ran^e of frownmg chffs, as if to add ho^or to a scene th: was already sufficiently appalling. Then all wa agam dark as Erebus. In a frenzy of resolution Captain Rik seized an »e with the view of extemporising a raft. S the Gleam parted amidships, and we might Imost «>ywentout.eavinghercrewstrugglingi„aewave? Sam had seized his wife with his strong left arm -he happened to be left-handed-and buffeted th waves with his right. Madge held on to Sammy wi h the power of maternal love. Sam was aware riir ""■"^"---' ----rd^ Eobin's arm had been round Letta's waist- unknown to himself or her!_when the Gleam struck. It did not relax when he felt that they were afloat. Frank Hedley gallantly oiTered t^ take charge of Mrs. Langley. a...L, u^,u^ uuauie 10 swim, confessed 412 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILEE. ■ J isf"-' the fact, with something of a gasp, to Captain Rik, who considerately told him never to mind. " I can swim for both," he said, tying a piece of rope-yarn tight round his waist, for he had long before cast off coat, vest, and braces ; " but you ought to be ashamed of yourself, a man come to your time o' life, an' not able to swim !" " But I never lived near the sea, a..d had no one to teach me," pleaded Ebenezer in a tremblingly apologetic voice, for the roar of united wind, waves, and thunder was really tremendous even to those' who could swim. "What 0' that?" returned Captain Eik, sternly. "Was there no river or pond nigh ? Even a horse- trough or a washing-tub would have sufficed to make a man of you. As for teaching— what teach- ing did you want ? Swimmin' ain't Latin or Greek ! It ain't even mathematics— only aquatics. All the brute beasts swim—even donkeys swim without teaching. Boh ! bah ! There, lay hold o' me— so. Now, mind, if you try to take me round the neck with your two arms I 'U plant my fist on the bridge of your nose, an' let you go to Davy Jones's locker." A flash of lightning revealed Captain Rilc's face in such a way that Ebenezer Smith resolved to obey him to the letter. It was at this point of their conversation that the Gleam went down— or out— and they sank with a ain Rik, piece of ad long )ut you ome to no one blingly waves, 3 those iternly. horse- zed to teach- jTieek ! yi the ithout le — so. ! neck bridge icker." 3 face ^ed to it the ith a THE BATTEKY AND THE BOiLEIl. 413 gui^le, coming up next moment, however, with a Strange to say, after the fir.t phmgo and over Jrow am.l the boiling waves, the swimmers f ml themselves in almost still water Madge, and speakmg in the calm tone of a man takiiig an evening stroll. J Is that you, Slagg?" asked Sam. who was strik- ing out vigorously. . exif vo,""'' I.' '"" '"' "'^'»"- " ^"" '^'^ "° "««• to well. We ve bin washed clean over the reef bv the wave that sank us, into a sort „■ nafral harbour :i: rhiX b'" '^"" ^'°" '"- ^-^^-^^Jz: 61., whieh. bem- a sax-footer, you 'll toueh easy." So I do .'» exclaimed Sam, letting down his feet. Madge, darhng, cheer up. we've got soundin... Give_Samn.y to Slagg. There, we'Hdo fau.ously Only those who have been for a few mouaents in dead y perU can understand the feeling of intense ehef that came to Sam Shipton's heart when he felt his toes touch ground on that eventfd night. rhe feeling was expressed in his tone of voice as he asked Slagg whether he had seen auv of the Others. any 414 THE BATTEllY AND THE BOILEll. " No, sir, I ain't seen 'em for want o' light, but I 've lieerd 'cui. Stuni[)3 is splutteriu' behind us like a grampus. If you 11 hold on a bit an' listen you '11 hear him. He 's a bad swinnner, and it 's all he can do to save hisself. If he only knowed he could reach bottom with his long legs, he 'd find it easier. Not quite so tight, Sammy, my buy, and keep off the wind-pipe—so ; you 're quite safe, my lad. As for the rest of 'em; sir, they all swim like ducks except Mr. Ebby sneezer Smith, but he 's took charge on by Captin liik, so you may keep your mind easy. There's a bit o' flat beach hereabouts, an' no sea inside the reef, so we '11 git ashore easy enough- let 's be thankful." Jim Slagg was right. They got ashore without difficulty, and they were thankful— profoundly so— when they had time to think of the danger they had escaped. After a few minutes' rest and wringing of salt water from their garments, they proceeded inland to search for shelter, and well was it for the ship- wrecked party that the captain of the lost yacht was acquainted with the lie of the land, for it was a rugged shore, with intermingled fields and morasses, and wooded rocky heights, among which it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to thread one's way in the dark without severe damage to the shins, i But Jim Slagg led tliera to a cottage not far from TUB BATTESY AND TUB DOILEli. 415 the sea, wl.ere they received fro,„ tl,e f..,„il„ i'es:doiit there af- ti,,. »• Mmil^ Scottish welcome. "i-uty It IS not uiieommon. ne «ii<.>io„f r natures t„ „„ 1 ^ , ■ ^"^P^ct, for eccentric natures to undertake the most important matters at the most unsuitable times and in H ridiculous manners Af ^^ '"""^ wl,;i» .f 7""°'s- At aU events Eohin WrioJit wh e tumbling among the rocks and rugged .rou d .^e ' 0? d c \ "" "'""'"' ''""- ^"-'•-ecl the fleavUy on the arm of her preserver. But Eobin w :c he had only got the length of conceiving .f - had been a suggestion from beneath. It wt d be unfan-, mean, contemptible, he thought to take advantage of the darkness and the elemental nit passed liP f.Tf fi . '^™'' ^'^^ as each morrow pas ed i,e fejfc that more morrows must come and .o tor It was quite obvionq Hi^f T.f^- . ^' o.>]y as a brother. ^"' ''"^'''"^ '""'' At last unable to bear it, our unhappy hero ^uddenly discovered that one of the morZs was the last of his leave of ah««nce so he .,-• . — i-^if, SO ne Siiici gooa-uye »^ 416 THE DATTKKY AUD THE BOILER. IJ: m despair, and parted from his companions, who could not resist tlie genial hospitality of their now friends in the cottage on the west of Mull. Teh days later Sam got a letter frou) Robin, telling him that he had received a cable telegram from India, from their friend Kedpath, offering him a good situation there, and that, having reached tlie lowest depths, of despair, he had resolved to accrpt it. and was sorry he sliould not have an opportunity of saying good-bye. as he was urged to start without a day's delay. Sam was staying with his friends at the Oban Hotel at the time, having at last managed to tear himself away from the cottage in Mull He instantly ran out and telegraphed— "Don't accept on any account." Then he souglit Mvz. Langley, and opened Robin's case to her. Mrs. Langley listened with a smile of mtelligence, and soon after went to her daughter's room, the window of which commanded a splendid view of tlie western sea. "Letta, dear, are you moralising or meditating?" " Both, mamma." " Well, I will try to help you," said Mrs. Langley, seating herself by the window. " By the way°did you hear that Mr. Wright has been offered a lucra- tive appointment in the Telegraph Department of India, and is going off at once ;-has not time 118, who leir now I, telling m from him a hed the ) accept ii'tunity ivithout ? Oban to tear Robin's . smile ghter's )lenclid ting?" ngley, -y, did hicra- ent of time THE BATTKUV AND THE BOIMR. 417 even _to say good-bye to l.is old f.iond Sam Sl.ip- tetta turned very palo, then extremely red then covered her face With hoth hands andUttl _ "So Letta,you love him," »aid her mother, gently. Why did you not let me '.now .vis sooner r Oh, mamma !" said poo ■• J .tta, ■ why do you put me on the subject— and— and— " "I.etta„dear," said her mother, tenderly "would you w.sh to prevent his going away if yt iTf, Open your heart to your mother, darlin." and^Sr'""'^^ ^^'^^ ""''■ ^"«'«^ -"' '» Sam "Robin must not go to India." JLVTT'' T' '^ *^ ^'^°'*«^' -"«-vable route to London, where he found Eobin in his room fevenshly packing his portmanteau, and said- itobin, you must not go to India " From that text he preached an eloquent lay- se^on, which he wound up with L words, Nov, my boy, you must just propose to h«r J. uiice. ' " "" ~" 418 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. " But I can't, Sam. I haven't got the pluck, I 'm such a miserable sort of fellow— how could I expect such a creature to throw herself' away on me? Besides, it's all very well your saying you have good ground for believing she cares for me ; but how can you know ? Of course you have not dared to speak to her?" Eobiir lookfed actually fierce at the bare idea of such a thing. " No, I have not dared," said Sam. "Well, then. It is merely your good-natured fancy. No, my dear fellow, it is my fate. I must bow to it. And I know that if I were to wait till I see her again, all my courage would have oozed away — " "But I don't intend that you shall wait, Eobin," interrupted Sam. « You need not go on talking so selfishly about yourself. You must consider the girl. I 'm not going to stand by and see injustice done to her. You have paid marJced attention to her. and are bound in honour to lay yourself at her ft t even at the risk of a refusal." " But how, Sam ? I tell you if I wait—" " Then don't wait,— telegraph." Eobin gazed at hi friend in stupefied amazement, "What! make a proposal of marriage by tele- graph ?" "Even so, Eobin. You began life with elec- THE BAlmy AND THE BOILER. "Prom Mr. R. WricrU t j Iangley,_Hotel,Ob: ' t °' *" ''''" ^•''«'' , May I come to see you r '" ''''""' " "° '""g^^- Tresentiiig this to his friVn.! « despatch it ?" ''' ^^"^ ««id, " May I Kobin nodded, smiled, and looked foolish ^n hour later Mrs fn„„i ." """'sn- daughter, took up fpen f ^' '"""« ''^^de her '■From Miss Lei T , ""°'' '^ '''"°"^'- London.-S3 " '"°°"'^^- °'''"'- "> «. Wright, Presenting this to her dnnoi,*. ,. send it?" "'"^'"'g'"^'-. she said, "May 1 I«tta once more coverori i,» ». and blushed. ''*' *^'' ''^'^ ''^r hand.. Thus it came to mqq fi,af - wen as his carerwl ' :rdt t^ T '"'^ telegraph. ^«tiaea by the electric But the best ofit wasfhaf v i- ,. after all-as if to do desptl , . '" '" *° '"'^^'^ «aid he must not go 1 ° '"' ''■'^"''^' ^^° had -^''^ I^-, and he hu' ntedXT,^,^ ^"^ J-ngles of that land in Z ^ ''™"sl> the «edpath,andhisLlrT!''''''''\fr-^ afterwards. »iP rof ' 1 T *»■»"» 1 J '-■"'■li.il »an Flinn. 4„,,, ]„„^ "■oEuglaud, a sturdy middle 420 THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER. *« aged man, with a wife whose beauty was unabated because it consisted, chiefly, in that love of heart to God and man wliich lends never-fading loveliness to the human countenance. Awaiting them at home was a troop of little ones — the first home-instalment of a troop of lesser ones who accompanied the parent stems. All ol these, besides' being gifted with galvanic energy and flashing eyes, were impressed with the strong con- viction, strange to say, that batteries, boilers, and submarine cables, were the most important things in the whole world, and the only subjects worth being played at by reasonable human children. THE END. PRINTKD BY T. AND A. CONSTABLK, PRINTERS TO HER MAJtaTT. AT THE KUINBUROH UNIVERSITY PRESS. ^ORKS BY^. BALLANTYJ^E. J^^tfSlUS5of\:M::^ '" '"^ «-<'»• A Tale ■ "There i» pie„?,lTfZ«„ti„ a^' T'''' ^^''''"' '^'"=<'" °^ Madagascar ifs,^°Y,?el°^ ™^ ANDES; a T„o of Adventure WWon7^I,^Sf.r"lte%S: B'"«*ne Us ,o« „„„. „, ^^ ,„„. „, and Rescue in the Itoh^i"^^ ' ^ Story of Life and Death ^^|J^c!?3^t^,°NDS. CUT AND POLISHED; A ™ict^.^,'^l?„fX„ff*T^egrTp?f„Mf OILER ^ O--. The ™t^eP^,l^NT OF THE NORTH; Or, Pokings Round theTon ""°°' °''"°"'" "" ""'■ '"""°°"" ~"°"' *'" '■ "° "Mr. Miantae wave, thf ^l^.f^^ ' *^''' ""^ Eefuge of the Mutineers mo,' efl-ectiv, nirratiiTicXS""'"" 'f'""" »' «" ■»"""/ of the • B.,myfZi '^°iL".^,!J£i^.™-fHerMajesty^ Mtrcury. »''''^^ "» tvery boy's library it s Mails 3ry boys library; it is full of interest. -Leeds 2 With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 6s. each. OF THE TROOPS; A Tale of IN THE TRACK Modem War. ^^S'J^SST.iZS^tll^^lXTJt'''' "'•""'''' '"« i"""*= • "too- of PC. '^''iJ^I^tm^^.J''^ SAVAGE; A Tale of . ;• Mr^B? lEZSiL^^A^^^^^^^^^^ Diving in Deep Waters. 'Under the Wavis/ a stoJ^n anS mI,?S h/^'^^^ 'l"" *" '"'" ^>' tl^« young, bv his water, wh.eh it does in no^only an^E^ t^ E^?. ^ aS^ SL'-I^?! ""'Ynf^iLSLi^;^- ATaleliiustrativeof AlpineAdventn. THF PlSr^S «^"t-st and stirring adventure. "-.,.,,0. ^.-a,,. ™^,^^^A^^ CITY; An AJgerine Tale ^^^Ea^tS^^' ^ ^^^^ "^ ^^-^^-- -ong the Slavers ^^M^h^^^ ^.thaj, With i,.iaent and inf.rn.a- %^^?Ji^ r f ;, ^T° ¥^'''^'5' recoups it •w"o^^^^^ '''^'^''^''' ^^ilfully mingled po.^S^Io;^i^r?.^.i*ii^,S,S.^•^^"^ "-^ ^«'^S"""^ « story^ adventure as any of the. could THE NORSEMEN IN THE WEST- Or ^ • before Columbus mc. WtL^l, Ur, America ■^^^10"^°^ "°«SE; Or, Life on ti.e Line. A Railway T? n T T XT^ " ^ captivating book for boys."- Guardian. ^;|.^Si™f„f O'iieid™^ "' ">« ^- Sea Kin,,. ■Cf r»tjTi-'T*.T^H ^i».._ '>■"•'' i-ii'su lus Text. — Athenxum. FIGHTING THE FLAMPq- a To1« r .^i. t , Fire iJrigade. ^^ i-^^iVlii^ , A Pale of the London andSL're his'S^sSrJ wit'h'Jufm^^^^ •*''?.'^^^"-'^ ^^ '^'^^^^-^^ the Flan.es ' good story-teller.' ••_VSj«f '""**"° '^P^'*^'^ *^"t M^. Ballantyne V 'a stimnfng a story of per- J^ ^ R. M. Ballantyne- -continued. ?s,r slip. =■,:„;» ™» °!™! "™^ - ™= -ODW™ ully sprinkled )f them could f-'Ji';li^.l^J^^^ A Tough Yarn. THE LIGHTHOUSF . p • u between Man and the Sea ' ^'""^ "^ ^^""^^ ^f a Great Fi-ht -tyou.m^.-^-Sltto«.e.^^^^^^ Kind."-,.ff ^'"-^^^ - «*^^^. thrilling in inter%?LratXTntSfe/t^^^^^^ THE LIFEBOAT- a T l r -lents of every ^r HBOAT, A Tale of our Coast Heroes. acknowledgment oPtTe imnortanf^r* Proceeding off to a 'wreck as a^*^",f "^ "'« ^c- your very interesting work enfm./.^rj;^''? y°" ^ave rendered to fh«T-f"f'^ Permanent youra faithfully, ^ ^'''^ *"""ed The Lifeboat : a tale of our ri«f h ^^'^'"^ ««"«« hy TWtr /-/n^T T^^ («'gned) -CnSnl ^'^'"°'^»-' ^ remain, iHE GOLDEN DREAM- A t i ™^«" ^'=^'«. ^^cmar,.- RED ERIC . Or the W r> f '^' ^^'^^^"S^- FREAKS ON THE FPt r c NOT BECOME A SAILOR ' ^""^ ^^^ ^ ^ID THE WILD MAN OF THE WEST !j^^I^^ SANDALWOOd'traDER; A Pnciflcran?Lf/iS^ *.".^ impressively drawn pintnr*>s -' Mf- a - and mingled with^iras iV'^evr^^^lff'*^'""''^' ^^""^Sh by nonieans unn«?,l f '""^ter in the yo«n. .OOP,, ror „.o.V.1t"i!,y^;,-™V5!!?iS^^^^ fForh by R. M. Balk niyne— continued. ;fcli Illustiatious. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. ^''i^ILfie^i^ef' ™^ SEA; Or, Heroes of the Life With tioiis. Crown 8vo, 2s. numerous Illustrati ^.LJ^vSg^ PILGRIMS; Or, Great B.,ttle, and With Illustrations. Crowi.. 8vo, 3s. 6d. each. THE MIDDY AND THE IVIOORS. *THE PRAmiE CHIEF. LiFE IV THE RED BRIGADE; A FIERY TALE. ANL ^^^^ . _ E^OI.A|rC,N ; Ob. SOLITUDE IN THE THE ISLAND QUEEN. OK. DETHRONED BY F.RE ^^^^^^^^ TALE OP THE SOUTHERN TWICE BOUGHT; A Tale OF THE OREGON GOLD FIELDS. THE MADMAN AND THE PIRATE. MY DOGG IE AND I. PHILOSOPHER JACK; A TALE OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. THE RED MAN'S REVENGE. TALES OF ADVENTURE ON THE SEA. TALES OF ADVENTURE BY FLOOD, FIELD, AND MOUNTAIN. TALES OF ADVENTURE; Ob. wild work IN STRANGE PLACES. TALES OF ADVENTURE ON THE COAST, SIX MONTHS AT THE CAPE. LETTERS TO PERIWINKLE FROM SOUTH AFRICA. A RECORD 0- PERSONAL EXPERIi: . S AND ADVENTURE. of the lAfe 3:ittles in J foi little folks. II oiir r>!Udren's IN THE OUTHERN E. r. Ballantyne's EA. DUNTAIN. 'AST, BD 0<^