Y SEVEN.

THE LAST.

One day Joe Baldwin, assisted by his old friend, Rooney Machowl, was
busily engaged down at the bottom of the sea, off the Irish coast,
slinging a box of gold specie. He had given the signal to haul up, and
Rooney had moved away to put slings round another box, when the chain to
which the gold was suspended snapt, and the box descended on Joe. If it
had hit him on the back in its descent it would certainly have killed
him, but it only hit his collar-bone and broke it.

Joe had just time to give four pulls on his lines, and then fainted. He
was instantly hauled up, carefully unrobed, and put to bed.

This was a turning-point in our diver's career. The collar-bone was all
right in the course of a month or two, but Mrs Baldwin positively
refused to allow her goodman to go under water again.

"The little fortin' you made out in Chiny," she said one evening while
seated with her husband at supper in company with Rooney and his wife,
"pays for our rent, an' somethin' over. You're a handy man, and can do
a-many things to earn a penny, and I can wash enough myself to keep us
both. You've bin a 'ard workin' man, Joe, for many a year. You've bin
long enough under water. You'll git rheumatiz, or somethin' o' that
sort, if you go on longer, so I'm resolved that you shan't do it--
there!"

"Molly, cushla!" said Machowl, in a modest tone, "I hope you won't clap
a stopper on my goin' under water for some time yit--plaze."

Molly laughed.

"Oh! It's all very well for you to poke fun at me, Mister Machowl,"
said Mrs Baldwin, "but you're young yet, an' my Joe's past his prime.
When you've done as much work as he's done--there now, you've done it at
last. I told you so."

This last remark had reference to the fact that young Teddy Machowl,
having been over-fed by his father, had gone into a stiff
blue-in-the-face condition that was alarming to say the least of it.
Mrs Machowl dashed at her offspring, and, giving him an unmerciful
thump on the back, effected the ejection of a mass of beef which had
been the cause of the phenomena.

"What a bu'ster it is--the spalpeen," observed Rooney, with a smile, as
he resumed the feeding process, much to Teddy's delight; "you'll niver
do for a diver if you give way to appleplectic tendencies o' that sort.
Here--open your mouth wide and shut your eyes."

"Well, well, it'll only be brought in manslaughter, so he won't swing
for it," remarked Mrs Baldwin, with