{"product_id":"2940013654808","title":"Under The Waves","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCES OUR HERO, ONE OF HIS ADVISERS, AND SOME OF HIS DIFFICULTIES.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So, sir, it seems that you've set your heart on learning something of\u003cbr\u003eeverything?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man who said this was a tall and rugged professional diver.  He to\u003cbr\u003ewhom it was said was Edgar Berrington, our hero, a strapping youth of\u003cbr\u003etwenty-one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well--yes, I have set my heart upon something of that sort, Baldwin,\"\u003cbr\u003eanswered the youth.  \"You see, I hold that an engineer ought to be\u003cbr\u003epractically acquainted, more or less, with everything that bears, even\u003cbr\u003eremotely, on his profession; therefore I have come to you for some\u003cbr\u003einstruction in the noble art of diving.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You've come to the right shop, Mister Edgar,\" replied Baldwin, with a\u003cbr\u003egratified look.  \"I taught you to swim when you wasn't much bigger than\u003cbr\u003ea marlinespike, an' to make boats a'most before you could handle a\u003cbr\u003eclasp-knife without cuttin' your fingers, an' now that you've come to\u003cbr\u003eman's estate nothin'll please me more than to make a diver of you.\u003cbr\u003eBut,\" continued Baldwin, while a shade clouded his wrinkled and\u003cbr\u003eweatherbeaten visage, \"I can't let you go down in the dress without\u003cbr\u003eleave.  I'm under authority, you know, and durstn't overstep--\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Don't let that trouble you,\" interrupted his companion, drawing a\u003cbr\u003eletter from his pocket; \"I had anticipated that difficulty, and wrote to\u003cbr\u003eyour employers.  Here is their answer, granting me permission to use\u003cbr\u003etheir dresses.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"All right, sir,\" said Baldwin, returning the letter without looking at\u003cbr\u003eit; \"I'll take your word for it, sir, as it's not much in my line to\u003cbr\u003emake out the meanin' o' pot-hooks and hangers.--Now, then, when will you\u003cbr\u003ehave your first lesson?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The sooner the better.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Just so,\" said the diver, looking about him with a thoughtful air.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe apartment in which the man and the youth conversed was a species of\u003cbr\u003eout-house or lumber-room which had been selected by Baldwin for the\u003cbr\u003estowing away of his diving apparatus and stores while these were not in\u003cbr\u003euse at the new pier which was in process of erection in the neighbouring\u003cbr\u003eharbour.  Its floor was littered with snaky coils of india-rubber\u003cbr\u003etubing; enormous boots with leaden soles upwards of an inch thick;\u003cbr\u003eseveral diving helmets, two of which were of brightly polished metal,\u003cbr\u003ewhile the others were more or less battered, dulled, and dinted by hard\u003cbr\u003eservice in the deep.  The walls were adorned with large damp\u003cbr\u003eindia-rubber dresses, which suggested the idea of baby-giants who had\u003cbr\u003efallen into the water and been sent off to bed while their costumes were\u003cbr\u003ehung up to dry.  In one corner lay several of the massive breast and\u003cbr\u003eback weights by which divers manage to sink themselves to the bottom of\u003cbr\u003ethe sea; in another stood the chest containing the air-pump by means of\u003cbr\u003ewhich they are enabled to maintain themselves alive in that\u003cbr\u003euncomfortable position; while in a third and very dark corner, an old\u003cbr\u003eworn-out helmet, catching a gleam from the solitary window by which the\u003cbr\u003eplace was insufficiently lighted, seemed to glare enviously out of its\u003cbr\u003egoggle-eyes at its glittering successors.  Altogether, what with the\u003cbr\u003estrange spectral objects and the dim light, there was something weird in\u003cbr\u003ethe aspect of the place, that accorded well with the spirit of young\u003cbr\u003eBerrington, who, being a hero and twenty-one, was naturally romantic.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47177108193520,"sku":"2940013654808","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013654808_p0.jpg?v=1763584100","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013654808","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}