The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-09-24

pCd.i ty tie pressure of the water, but
still tl.,y were given with sufficient force,
If they lad not been skillfully parted,
for any one of them to have proved fatal.
In little while we found ourselves
.ackcd, each with his left hand grasping
the others wrist, while the knives waved
to and fro above our helmets.
Suddenly | began to lose my air and
was Mortified to see a small piece OF the
rubber hose drop down before my eyes,
and l knew that Bill had severed the
pipe. But still at that moment remem-
Der thinking that it must have been an
accident, as Bill, even in his anger, would
not take such a mean advantage over his
adversary.
'Suffocation quickly followed, but be-
fore entirely losing consciousness I gave
the signal to be drawn to the surface,
and then | knew no more until found
myself lying upon the schooner's deck,
with helmet off and my head resting on
Bills knee, wiping the blood and foam
from my nostrils. He was dressed just
as he had been when going into the wa
ter, barring the removal of the glass face
piece in his headgear.
when / opened my eyes and looked
around, l saw him wave the rest Of the
chaps aside, and then he bent down IN
til the cold copper Of his helmet touched
my cheek as he whispered: Thank God,
Tom, you're safe. But don't, for the
sake of our friendship, say a word Of
what's happened to our shipmates. And,
oh, if you can forgive me yourselfp
Forgive him? Why bless him, I've
loved him since that moment And never
from that day to this has the affair been
spoken of to any one but ourselves"
How was it that he cut your hose,
willing to take your life, yet still did so
much to bring you to?" asked the cap
tain incredulously.
"Bill was quick tempered, and he was
In an awful rage. He would not have
hesitated to have thrust his knife into
my heart, albeit he would have been
sorry for it the next instant, but cutting
the pipe was an accident, and when he
saw the terrible death with which l was
threatened his anger disappeared like the
mists of morning before the gentle sea
breeze. The boys told me that when
came to the surface | was in Bills arms,
and it was his own hands which unlocked
the helmet from the collar and gave me
air. They also told me that he would not
stop to have his weights unbuckled nor
his headpiece' removed, but just knelt
down beside me, calling all the while for
me to open my eyes, just as though had
been brother"
How about the young woman who
was the cause of all this trouble? What
became Of herr" inquired the captain
with much interest.
"Oh. Nancy? Poor grip said Tom.
"Why, she didn't care nothing for either
of us two fools. All the time we were
thinking that we might prevail upon her
to cruise in our company she had agreed
to sign articles with a young mate of an
East Indiaman. So when we found that
out we both of us took job which lasted
us about two years down In Key West.
But when we got back we heard that
Nancy had been a bride, a mother and
was then a widow, the poor chap whom
Sc married having been lost at sea on
his very next voyage.
'"Ihen Bill and hunted her up, and
when we found her we adopted her for
our sister. We came out here to Frisco,
where business is better than ON the At
lantic coast, and she came, too, and we've
looked after her ever since"
"Her child? Did it live" inquired the
captain interestedly.
"Well, l reckon it did. Leastwise it
was alive couple of hours ago when 1
saw it going over the rail yonder with a
months pay in its pocket to gladden. a
mothers heart" replied the old diver,
with a quiet chuckle.
"What! Do you mean that Neddy,
your tender is Nancy's boyT
That's just about the size of 1t, cap'n.
And he's a boy that no woman need be
ashamed of either. and if his mother will
let the lad follow the business into which
he's started-and that's what Bill has
gone up to the house to find out-I'll
wager my gear and dress that within
Eve years there won't be a diver on the
Pacific coast who will dip deeper or
work longer under water than the same
boy"
"But Nancy?" asked the captain.
will she never marryP
flush, capr' exclaimed the diver in a
low voice. "Not until either Bill or I
nave sounded for the last time and been
laid away in our armor. Then perhaps
she might"