The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner. Goldfrap John Henry
that other operator was starting to give the message.”
“It was, indeed, but you must try now to pick up this Endymion again. I’m curious to know more of her and of our mysterious passenger.”
“I’ll report to you the instant I get anything, sir,” Jack assured him, and hurried off.
On the way he passed Schultz and put out his hand with direct, sailor-like bluntness.
“You saved my life to-night, Schultz. I’ll never forget it,” he said simply, but there was a wealth of feeling behind the quiet words.
“Oh, dot makes it no nefer mindt, Yack,” said the old German. “Don’t get excitedt ofer idt. Idt vos just a yob dot hadt to be done und I didded idt.”
“It was a great deal more than that,” said Jack, with warmth. “I hope some day I will get a chance to repay you.”
But Schultz, embarrassed and red as a beet under his tan, had hurried off. Like most sailors, Schultz hated sentiment. To him, his daring deed of saving Jack from his perilous perch in the cross-trees had been all in the line of duty.
Back in the wireless room once more, Jack looked in on Sam. The boy was sitting up in bed staring feverishly out into the wireless room.
“Oh, Jack, I’m glad you have come back!” he exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
“Fixing a little job of work, youngster. Something was wrong with the wireless. How do you feel?”
“Better, but oh, what a head! It’s the worst feeling I ever knew!”
“Like something to eat?”
“For heaven’s sake, don’t mention it! The mere thought makes me feel bad again. But, listen, Jack, I’ve something to tell you. I wakened about half an hour ago and there was a man out there in the wireless room.”
“What?”
Jack had temporarily forgotten all about Jarrold. Now Sam’s remark brought the earlier scene back to him. What had Jarrold been doing in the wireless room while he was absent?
CHAPTER IX – THE MIDNIGHT INTRUDER
“He was stooping over the desk, rummaging about the papers and dispatches,” said Sam in response to Jack’s eager questions.
“Did he take anything?” asked Jack.
“I don’t know. I called out to him and asked him what he was doing.”
“Yes; what did he say?”
“He didn’t say a word. Just hurried out. Who was he?”
“A man named Jarrold. He’s a first-cabin passenger. He came in here this evening and was much interested in getting first news of a yacht called the Endymion.”
“I don’t like his looks.”
“Frankly, neither do I, and yet one cannot let a man’s appearance count against him. But if he was rummaging about that desk, that is another matter.”
“I think he knows something about wireless himself. I saw him fiddling with the key.”
“At any rate, I’ll keep a close eye on Mr. Jarrold,” Jack promised himself. “I don’t quite know what all this means, but I bet I’ll find out before it’s over!”
There was not much more sleep for Sam that night. He fought bravely against his seasickness and took the key for a time while Jack stole a catnap. Both boys worked hard to get in touch with the Endymion once more, but they failed to raise her operator. So far as Jack could make out, nothing had been taken from the desk by Jarrold; and the boy came to the conclusion that the man, disbelieving his word, had searched the desk for some evidence of a previous message from the Endymion.
At breakfast the next morning Jarrold, cleanly shaven around his blue chin, appeared in the saloon of the ship accompanied by a very pretty young lady, who, Jack learned, was his niece, Miss Jessica Jarrold. The man did not raise his glance to Jack, although the latter eyed him constantly. The young woman, though, regarded Jack with a somewhat curious gaze from time to time. He was pretty sure in his own mind that she knew of the events of the night.
In fact, she made it a point to leave the table at the same time as did Jack. As they both emerged on deck through the companionway she addressed him.
“Have you heard anything more of the Endymion?” she asked.
Although the sea was still running high, the sky was clear and the weather good. She steadied herself against a stanchion as the ship pitched, and Jack found himself thinking that she made a pretty picture there. She was clad in a loose, light coat, and bareheaded, except for a scarf passed over a mass of auburn hair, from which a few rebellious wind-blown curls escaped.
Jack raised his uniform cap.
“Nothing, Miss Jarrold,” he said. “Your – ”
“My uncle,” she continued for him, “is very anxious to be informed as soon as you do hear.”
“Of course, the captain will have to be told first,” he said. Her dark eyes snapped and she bit her lip with a row of perfectly even, gleaming little teeth.
“Can’t it be arranged so that my uncle can know first about it?” she said, breaking into a smile after her momentary display of irritation. “Suppose you told – well, me, for instance.”
“I would be only too glad to do anything to oblige you, Miss Jarrold,” said Jack deferentially, “but that is out of the question.”
“But why?” she demanded.
“It’s a rule,” responded Jack.
“Oh, dear, what is a stupid old rule! My uncle is rich and would pay you well for any favor you did him, and then I should be awfully grateful.”
“I’m just as sorry as you are,” Jack assured her, “but I simply could not do it.”
“Well, will you let my uncle and myself sit up in your wireless room and wait any word you happen to catch?”
“That, too, I am afraid I shall have to refuse to do,” said Jack. “Such a procedure would also be against the rules; and especially after something that happened last night, I am determined to enforce the order to the letter.”
“What happened last night?” she asked, quizzically eying him through narrowed lids.
“I am afraid you will have to ask your uncle about that, Miss Jarrold. No doubt he will tell you.”
Eight bells rang out, and Jack, raising his cap, said:
“That’s my signal to go on duty. Depend upon it, though, Miss Jarrold, if I get any word from the Endymion which I can give you without violation of the rules, or if any message comes for either yourself or your uncle, you will be the first to get it.”
She made a gesture of impatience and turned to meet her uncle, who was just emerging from the companionway. Jarrold glared at Jack with an antagonism he did not take much trouble to conceal.
“Any news of the Endymion?” he growled out in his deep, rumbling bass.
“As I just told Miss Jarrold, there isn’t,” said Jack. “And, by the way, I hope you had a pleasant evening in my cabin last night.”
“I left there as soon as you did, right after the short circuit,” said Jarrold, turning red under Jack’s direct gaze.
“I’m sorry to contradict you, Mr. Jarrold,” replied Jack, holding the man with keen, steady eyes that did not waver under the other’s angry glare. “You were in there quite a time after I left.”
“I was not, I tell you,” blustered Jarrold. “You are an impudent young cub. I shall report you to the captain.”
“I would advise you not to,” said Jack calmly. “If you did, I might also have to turn in a report from Assistant Sam Smalley, who was in the other room all the time and saw almost every move you made.”
“What!