"Oh! nothing but a bear, nothing but a bear," said the farmer.
But the little pigs slept in the hen-house for the rest of the night, and the next day they had a stout log roof built over their heads.
PROFESSIONAL DIVERS.
One of the diver's earliest experiences is a disagreeable "roaring" sensation in the ears for some time after his first descent; but this is little felt after he becomes accustomed to his work. It is caused by the air pressure, which increases with depth. From the same cause the diver often experiences a sensation amounting to earache, which any one may test for himself by descending in a diving-bell. With regard to the mode of working, it is noteworthy that, instead of moving gradually outward after reaching the bottom, the diver usually gropes at once to the full length of his tether in the required direction, and then works slowly back to the starting-point. He considers this the safer method, partly because it leaves him at the finish directly at the place whence he has to rise.
The length of time during which a diver can remain under water depends very much upon his own strength and experience, the steady care with which the air-pump is managed, and other circumstances. M. Frendenberg states that in the repair of the well in the Scharley zinc mines, in Silesia, two divers descended to a depth of eighty-five feet, remaining down for periods varying from fifteen minutes to two hours. Siebe, another authority on the subject, relates that in removing the cargo of the ship Cape Horn, wrecked off the coast of South America, a diver named Hooper made seven descents to a depth of no less than two hundred and one feet, and at one time remained down forty-two minutes—supposed to be the greatest diving feat ever achieved.
JOE.
BY MRS. MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
Bright brown eyes and tangled hair,
Rosy cheek beneath the tan,
Fearless head on shoulders square—
That is Joe, the little man,
Helping mother all he can.
Father is away at sea
(Oh, the vessel tarries long!):
Lonely would the cottage be,
Many a weary day go wrong,
But for Joe, with shout and song.
Rough the weather, fierce the gales,
Wild the nights upon the shore:
Oft the dear wife's courage fails,
When she hears the breakers roar,
Lest her sailor come no more.
Joe, with lion heart and leal,
Tells her it is safe outside;
That the deep sea does not feel
All the troubles of the tide;
That the good ship safe will ride.
Mother heeds her comforter:
He is only eight years old,
But his earnest words to her
Are as rubies set in gold—
Precious with a worth untold.