It turned out, on investigation, that, whatever the object by which the
vessel had been touched, some degree of injury had been done to her
iron-plating, for the pumps were found to be insufficient to prevent the
rising of water in the hold. This was a serious matter, because
although the rise was very slow, it was steady, and if not checked would
sooner or later sink the ship. Everything that could be done was
attempted in order to discover and stop the leak, but without success.
Fortunately it happened that the _Warrior_ had among her other goods a
quantity of diving apparatus on board, consigned to a firm in Hong-Kong
that had lost valuable property in a wreck, and meant to attempt the
recovery of it by means of divers. The men had gone out by a previous
vessel, but their dresses, having been accidentally delayed, had been
sent after them in the _Warrior_. Bethinking himself of these dresses,
the captain conceived that he was justified, in the circumstances, in
making temporary use of them; but he was disappointed to find, on
inquiry, that not a man of his ordinary crew had ever seen a
diving-dress put on, or its attendant air-pumps worked. In these
circumstances he sent for the chief engineer.
Edgar Berrington was busy about some trifling repairs to the machinery
when the message reached him. The place being very hot, he was clad
only in shirt and trousers, with a belt round his waist--a by no means
unbecoming costume for a well-made figure! His shirt-sleeves were
rolled up to the shoulders, displaying a pair of very muscular and
elegantly moulded arms--such as Hercules might have been pleased with,
and Apollo would not have disdained. His hands were black and oily, and
his face was similarly affected.
Expecting to meet the captain at the entrance to his domains, Edgar
merely rolled down his sleeves, and seized a bundle of waste with which
he hastily wiped his hands and face, thereby drawing on the latter,
which had previously been spotty, a series of varied streaks and
blotches that might have raised the envy of a Querikoboo savage. But
the captain was not where he expected to find him, and on looking aft he
saw him on the quarter-deck in converse with one of the passengers.
Edgar would rather not have appeared in public in such guise, but being
in haste to return to the work from which he had been called, he pulled
on a light linen jacket and forage-cap, and walked quickly aft. To his
horror he saw Aileen seated on a basket-work easy-chair close to the
captain. It was too late, however, to retreat, for the latter had
already observed him. Fortunately Aileen was deeply engaged with a
book. Edgar quickly advanced and took such a position that his back was
turned to her.
"Excuse my appearance, sir," he said in a low voice, touching his cap to
the captain; "I am in the midst of a job that requires to be--"
"No matter," interrupted the captain, with a laugh, "you look very well
in your war-paint. We'll excuse you."
Attracted by the laugh, Aileen looked up at the tall form in front of
her.
"What a _very_ handsome figure!" she whispered to her bosom-friend, who
sat beside her reading.