Category: Historical Novels

The Ocean Wireless Boys on War Swept Seas

The newspapers announced in large type that the _Kronprinzessin Emilie_, the crack flyer of the Bremen-American line, was to carry from the United States to Germany the vast sum of $6,000,000 in bullion. On her sailing day the dock, from which she was to start on what destined...

Chapters

41. CHAPTER XLI.

"You see," Bill said in explanation, "the sight of old New York makes me glad to be back again. They say it's a selfish place. Well, perhaps there are towns that make you feel m...

18. CHAPTER XVIII.

We must now go back to an occurrence that happened earlier in the evening. The ship had finally received orders to dock at Southampton and was proceeding at a fast clip up the C...

5. CHAPTER V.

"I'm not surprised, to tell you the truth," he said. "I've met a good many Germans in the course of my sea-going years, and that's usually their idea,--rather sink the ship than...

32. CHAPTER XXXII.

Then followed the blackest hours of Jack's life. Outside the sentries kept up their eternal pacing. In the distance a dog barked, and there was still scattered firing. For a lon...

14. CHAPTER XIV.

The awesome sound continued while the boats were being lowered. The weird nature of the uproar and its mystery made even the rough seamen apprehensive. The more religious among...

1. CHAPTER I.

The newspapers announced in large type that the _Kronprinzessin Emilie_, the crack flyer of the Bremen-American line, was to carry from the United States to Germany the vast sum...

3. CHAPTER III.

Jack was lolling in a deck chair fifteen minutes later, still digesting the astonishing news that had come out of space, when a deck steward approached him and, with an air of c...

9. CHAPTER IX.

Readers of earlier volumes of this series will recall Tom Jukes, who, after being cast away when his father's yacht burned at sea, was found by Jack's clever wireless work. This...

16. CHAPTER XVI.

While awaiting orders, which the wireless had told the _St. Mark's_ captain were not ready for transmission, the big liner stood "off and on" at the mouth of the channel. It was...

24. CHAPTER XXIV.

After the first greetings were over, Jack plunged into an explanation of their presence in Belgium in such stormy times. M. La Farge looked grave, but promised to do what he cou...

8. CHAPTER VIII.

But the strange cruise of the _Kronprinzessin Emilie_ was not destined to come to an end then, although, for an instant, it appeared so. Whether the Britisher was mutually aston...

28. CHAPTER XXVIII.

The sound of firing was now much closer. Frightened faces were peering from behind shuttered windows. All traffic appeared to have stopped, and the only life beyond the few pers...

2. CHAPTER II.

Hans Poffer, the yellow-haired, red-cheeked wireless operator of the _Kronprinzessin Emilie_ asked the question, on the afternoon of the third day out. Jack had discovered in yo...

26. CHAPTER XXVI.

The corridor was deserted, but a few lights burned dimly. No damage appeared to have been done there, and it was clear that the bomb had wrought havoc only on the top floor, whi...

19. CHAPTER XIX.

It was with Captain Hoeseason of the trawler _Barley Rig_ that the boys finally succeeded in striking a bargain to land them in Antwerp. The captain of the craft, who was also h...

15. CHAPTER XV.

What happened after the leap, Jack never knew clearly. He felt a wild, half-suffocating rush through the air and then a sensation of choking and strangling as a cold, stifling w...

25. CHAPTER XXV.

For a fragment of time,--while a man might have counted ten,--there was absolute silence following the shattering report of the bomb. Then came a babel of cries, shouts and wome...

17. CHAPTER XVII.

Bill, making his way along the deck to the wireless room companionway, heard the thrilling cry and joined the rush of passengers to the stern rail from whence the shout had come...

21. CHAPTER XXI.

The moments that followed were the most terrible that Jack had ever known in his adventurous life at sea. Cast adrift in the dark night and wild sea, he was at first completely...

13. CHAPTER XIII.

"Oh, he came in here and offered me untold gold to send a code message for him. I fancy that it was about the _Ruritania_, telling her whereabouts and so on."

20. CHAPTER XX.

About midnight, Jack awakened with a start and a vague feeling that all was not well. The _Barley Rig_ was still tossing violently and for a few moments after he opened his eyes...

27. CHAPTER XXVII.

It was in the early days of the war when the gallant defenders of Liege were still undauntedly holding back the Teuton thousands with their great "caterpillar" siege guns that w...

23. CHAPTER XXIII.

"I'm beginning to see things," muttered Bill; "black objects dancing about in the sun. Over there on the horizon, for instance, I can see a dark cloud that looks like a tower. I...

4. CHAPTER IV.

That night a dense fog fell. But the pace of the fleeing liner was not slackened by a fraction of a knot. Without running lights, and with darkened decks and cabins, she raced b...

10. CHAPTER X.

Sandy Hook lay behind a dim blue line on the horizon, and the long Atlantic heave was beginning to swing the _St. Mark_ in a manner disconcerting to some of the passengers, befo...

31. CHAPTER XXXI.

Poor Jack, with feelings that may be imagined, was roughly thrust into a smoke house and the door slammed. Outside the sentries paced up and down ceaselessly, showing him that t...

40. CHAPTER XL.

Before the fall of Louvain, Jack and his friends were across the border in France. Ultimately they were lucky enough to rejoin the _St. Mark_--sent for the accommodation of refu...

12. CHAPTER XII.

The next morning, when Jack and Bill turned out, there was quite a flutter among the passengers. A large ship had been sighted in the distance, coming rapidly westward. As she d...

22. CHAPTER XXII.

It was a situation to frighten the bravest. To add to the peril of the boys' position, they had too appalling evidence of the fact that the North Sea was strewn with floating mi...

34. CHAPTER XXXIV.

De Garros was speaking as he handed Jack a pair of goggles. It was dusk and they, having finished an excellent meal from the aviator's provision pannier, were about to start on...

29. CHAPTER XXIX.

But clearly fate was against their seeing anything of the battle that morning. They were still going fast, traveling through a wooded country that alternated with open stretches...

7. CHAPTER VII.

He got no further. There was another burst of smoke, a quick, lightning-like flash and the same screech of a projectile. But this time, accompanying the sound of the report, was...

30. CHAPTER XXX.

In another moment a smaller body of men swept up to the farmhouse, drawing rein at the sight of the stalled car. By their uniforms and the fluttering ensign held up by a big tro...

39. CHAPTER XXXIX.

Did it ever occur to you that nature plays many pranks? From the many learned books and men--and from daily events--we are lead to assume that nature is grim, relentless. On the...

6. CHAPTER VI.

Late that afternoon Jack, who had just come on deck, was in time to notice an unusual thrill of excitement among the already overwrought passengers. On the northern horizon was...

35. CHAPTER XXXV.

He shot up to a greater height. He was manoeuvering to get above the Zeppelin, where her guns would be useless against the aeroplane, which was more mobile and swifter in the ai...

36. CHAPTER XXXVI.

But the disaster de Garros had feared more than admitted did not happen. Between two patches of wood lay an open field, readily distinguished even in the dark by its lighter col...

37. CHAPTER XXXVII.

Try as he would he could not answer that question. He gazed about him. Away in the distance he could distinguish small specks of light, which, were they not moving so rapidly ab...

11. CHAPTER XI.

It was not part of Jack's plan to apprise Muller of the identity of Mr. Johnson. He did not wish to act prematurely in any way till he had consulted Raynor and a plan of campaig...

38. CHAPTER XXXVIII

Two soldiers came up to Jack. He held up his hands to show that he was chained. One of the soldiers leaned forward, and pressed a button at the side of the car. The chains fell...

33. CHAPTER XXXIII.

"I might ask zee same question of you," smiled the other. "I leave you on zee sheep and now, voila! I find you in a Belgian wood wizout zee hat, wiz your face scratched by zee b...