ge diver, who was a
sympathetic soul, declared with much fervour that he could do both.

"You must know, then," began Edgar with some hesitation, "the fact is--
you're such an old friend, Baldwin, and took such care of me when I was
a boy up to that sad time when I lost my father, and you lost an
employer--"

"Ay, the best master I ever had," interrupted the diver.

"That--that I think I may trust you; in short, Baldwin, I'm over head
and ears with a young girl, and--and--"

"An' your love ain't requited--eh?" said Baldwin interrogatively, while
his weatherbeaten face elongated.

"No, not exactly that," rejoined Edgar, with a laugh. "Aileen loves me
almost, I believe, as well as I love her, but her father is dead against
us. He scorns me because I am not a man of wealth."

"What is _he_?" demanded Baldwin.

"A rich China merchant."

"He's more than that," said Baldwin.

"Indeed!" said Edgar, with a surprised look; "what more is he?"

"He's a goose!" returned the diver stoutly.

"Don't be too hard on him, Baldwin. Remember, I hope some day to call
him father-in-law. But why do you hold so low an opinion of him?"

"Why, because he forgets that riches may, and often do, take to
themselves wings and fly away, whereas broad shoulders, and deep chest,
and sound limbs, and a good brain, usually last the better part of a
lifetime; and a brave heart will last for ever."

"I am afraid that I have yet to prove, to myself as well as to the old
gentleman, that the brave heart is mine," returned Edgar. "As to the
physique--you may be so far right, but he evidently undervalues that."

"I said nothing about physic," returned Baldwin, who still frowned as he
thought of the China merchant, "and the less that you and I have to do
wi' that the better. But what are you goin' to do, sir?"

"That is just the point on which I want to have your advice. What ought
I to do?"

"Don't run away with her, whatever you do," said Baldwin emphatically.

The youth laughed slightly as he explained that there was no chance
whatever of his doing that, because Aileen would never consent to run
away or to disobey her father.

"Good--good," said the diver, with still greater emphasis than before,
"I like that. The gal that would sacrifice herself and her lover sooner
than disobey her father--even though he is a goose--is made o' the right
stuff. If it's not takin' too great a liberty, Mister Edgar, may I ask
what she's like?"