1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



293 



A BARGAINING PHYLLIS. 



"Pretty Phyllis," said I, "truly 

 You have choatod iiio unduly." 



"How, I prythoe?" said sho to mo. 

 "I have ouly what is due me." 



"You have more," eaid I, be$;uiliiii{ 

 Pretty Phyllis with my smiling. 



"I have given you a hundred 

 Chances to say 'Yes, ' and wondered 



"Why you have not said it. Won't yon 

 Say it now?" She answered, "Don't you 



"Think my 'Yea' of greater value? 

 Let me ask you one thiny;, 'Shall you 



Stop your giving?' If I thought so. 

 Then perhaps 'Yes' might bo bought so; 



But it is so sweet to hear you 

 Giving me the chance I fear you"— 



"Hold!" cried I. "You do but banter. 

 And I closed the deal instanter. " 



— W. J. Lanipton in New York Sun. 



THE DIVER'S DEAMA. 



"It was almost enouf!;h to craze a 

 man outright," said the old diver. 



"Aye, it was a tight fix — that in the 

 Conqueror. She was coming in from the 

 Mediterranean after a three years' 

 cruise with the 'middies,' and went 

 down in a gale in sight of home with 

 every soul on board. I was young then 

 and anxious to be the first sent down 

 into her for the sake of the reputation 

 it would give me, for reputation meant 

 money, and money, you see, was the 

 only reason why Hettie and I were de- 

 ferring our marriage. 



"The sea was running high as I was 

 carried down in my heavy armor from 

 the deck of the steamer to the float 

 alongside, where the ropes by which to 

 haul me up again were fastened on. 

 The India rubber tube, through which I 

 was to be supplied with air, was ad- 

 justed. 



" 'Now, dear boy,' said my old friend 

 and instructor, Lott, the famous deep 

 sea diver, who came forward to olo.se 

 the little glass window in my helmet, 

 'take good care of yourself and don't 

 stay long below. The currents are 

 swift. ' 



"I dropped into the waves with a 

 splash, sinking swiftly down through 

 the brilliant sunlit waters, which, 



though rough and boisterous at; tneir 

 surface, suddenly grew calm as I passed 

 below. I glanced up at the sun, which 

 appeared as a great ball of fire, but, 

 growing smaller and smaller as I sank 

 lower, it finally seemed like the tiny 

 red spark of a candle and then faded 

 from sight. 



"I cleared a bank of thick seaweed 

 and stood at last u^Don tho bright sandy 

 bottom. 



"Passing around a reef of rocks fan- 

 cifully honeycombed, I came upon a 

 mass of tangled rigging, and a few 

 steps brought me to the man-of-war 

 half buried where she lay in the sand. 



"Great caution was ueces.sary lest I 

 should become entangled among tho 

 ropes or caught under the shifting tim- 

 bers, and making my way slowly to tha 

 companionway I .sent up the signals: 



" 'I am about to enter the vessel' — '1 

 shall be in danger' — 'Play out rope free- 

 ly, and give me plenty of air. ' 



"I made my M'ay to the lower deck 

 and found myself in the forward cabin. 

 I groped about for the doorway, know- 

 ing that once in the main saloon the 

 deck lights would enable me to see more 

 distinctly. 



"Clearing the rubbish and drifted 

 sand from about the doorway, I put my 

 shoulder to the door, shoved it back 

 against the waters and resolutely en- 

 tered. An awful silence was upon every- 

 thing — a silence as of death. I was 

 alone, at the bottom of the sea, in the 

 saloon of the Conqueror, and close about 

 me were po.etured, like grim sentinels 

 set to watch me in my work, the oflScers 

 and crew of 2001 



"Yes, there were the ill fated men 

 as they stood when death overtook them 

 on that awful night, when they were 

 sinking. Belore they could reach the 

 stairway the ^lighty water had rushed 

 in upon them and they died where it 

 had met them, at the threshold. 



"The eddying waters carried them 

 here and there through the cabin, but 

 still so close were they to one another 

 that I had to part them now and then 

 to reach the after cabin, and more than 

 one turned, as I slowly passed along 

 and followed in the wakelmade behii:d 

 me. Their faces were often close again;-t 

 my helmet, and it horrified me to n6t:co 

 that they all wore still upon their fa (■•-. 

 the impress of the terror that had cor.j'd 



