The Wireless Officer

The outlook was dreary in the extreme. All there was to be seen was a squalid collection of galvanized-iron huts rising above a low, sandy spit; a few gaunt palms; a line of sur...

There was no doubt about it: Mr. Benjamin Skeets was a very crafty fellow. By adopting the disguise of a woman, and acting up to the part of a vulgar parvenue, he had completely...

Acting Chief Officer Dick Preston, on receiving the Old Man's order to get the boats away, lost no time in getting to the scene of operations. The frantic rush of the lascars to...

Making his way to the chartroom the Third Officer "laid off" the position of the mines. His rough guess proved to be remarkably accurate. According to the position given, the so...

There were five of the dhow's crew. Four, who had been attending to the lowering of the sails, were standing amidships; the fifth, a mild-looking, bearded man of more than avera...

The boat lay riding to her kedge at less than twenty yards from shore. She was in not more than two feet of water. Peter would not risk bringing the boat closer inshore, lest, w...

A few days later Mostyn was having an easy time. He was on watch, but with little to do. A notice-board on the promenade-deck furnished the reason for his enforced inactivity:

During the rest of the day the picking up of dropped threads was a continual source of astonishment to Peter Mostyn, although it was not the first time that he had been cut off...

He opened his eyes and stared perplexedly at a light. It came from a familiar object--the boat's lamp. He could not understand why the sails were shaking, unless for some reason...

He omitted to add that in all probability there would be a stiffish wind before long, possibly increasing to hurricane force. The thundery rain, coming before the wind, pointed...

This was the brief conversation between the Captain and the Wireless Officer. The Old Man had by some unaccountable intuition fostered the idea that the code-book was the object...

Throughout the day the scantily clothed Bantu workmen had been busily engaged in unloading the steelwork. The natives, unlike their Portuguese masters, had to keep hard at it, w...

The rest of the day until four in the afternoon passed almost uneventfully. The breeze still held, but blew steadily from the same quarter with hardly a point difference in eigh...

Just before sunset the wind dropped to a flat calm. Peter took advantage of the practically motionless conditions to employ the fishing-lines that had been discovered in the aft...

Exerting every ounce of strength, Olive tried and tried in vain to haul Mostyn into the boat. In normal conditions he was no light weight, and now, in his waterlogged clothing a...

For a brief instant the danger and suddenness of the catastrophe were hardly realized. Assembled for a pageant the passengers were horrified into silence by the unexpected turn...

With the first streaks of dawn, Peter, who had been sleeping soundly in the open, with his feet towards the still glowing embers, shook himself like a great mastiff, and stretch...

Some of the incidents in this chapter are based upon actual facts recorded in _The Signal_. The author takes this opportunity to express his thanks to the editor of that journal...

It was too late to commence unloading that day. Peter, having notified the authorities of the arrival of the consignment, and having arranged for the Government surveyor to insp...

Peter Mostyn's chief desire upon regaining the deck was to go below and get something to drink. Now that the immediate danger was over, his throat was burning like a lime-kiln,...

Peter Mostyn had been "on the beach" for nearly six months. In other words, he was out of a berth. Not that it was any fault of his that a promising and energetic young wireless...

During the rest of the day the _West Barbican_ rolled before the following wind, to the no small discomfort of the majority of the passengers. It was a cold wind, too, and few o...

Reefing was a difficult matter, for the boat was driving heavily and the canvas was as stiff as a board. Mostyn dared not risk lowering the sail. The little craft had to carry w...

Preston too was making favourable progress. His latest wound was a clean cut. Up to the present there had been no complications, and his amateur nurses had good reason to think...

"Hardly," he replied. "Give the Royal Mail a chance, old lady. We heard from the boy from Las Palmas. That ought to keep you satisfied for another week or so. By that time we ou...

At sunrise on the following morning Peter scaled the highest point of the island, hoping that in the clear air his range of vision would be increased sufficiently to make out land.

Ludwig Schoeffer, London agent for the Pfieldorf Company of Chemnitz, was feeling at the very top of his form. He was carrying out his instructions in a manner that bid fair to...

The S.S. _West Barbican_ was within a couple of days of Cape Town. The weather, although still warm, had lost much of the sweltering heat, thanks to the influence of the Trades.

The erection was of solid construction, lighted by six brass-rimmed scuttles. The door, opening aft, was affording support to a couple of pale-faced, weedy-looking youths, who,...

Mr. William Porter--otherwise Ludwig Schoeffer, had taken readily to his new surroundings on board the S.S. _West Barbican_. He made it a habit to do so, wherever he was: at the...

"Famously! The inspector's report laid special emphasis upon the excellence of the castings, and I've no doubt that the final tests will be equally successful. We also secured v...

Captain Antonius Bullock had turned in for the night. He had received the reports of the officer of the watch and the engineer of the watch, the time signals and weather reports...

At high water that night the S.S. _West Barbican_, drawing eighteen feet for'ard and twenty-four aft, left Brocklington Harbour, crossing the bar with less than five feet of wat...

That function had become a mere shadow of its former self. On the run to Cape Town the chairs round the long tables were generally filled, once the passengers had grown accustom...

Mostyn awoke soon after daybreak, or rather was aroused by the appearance of Mahmed with a cup of _char_ in one hand and a copper jug full of hot water in the other.

Selwyn had detected the symptoms the moment the Wireless Officer showed his face inside the door. Peter was trembling violently. He was feeling horribly cold, and his head was a...

So headlong had been Mostyn's rush that its impetus proved his undoing. His foot caught in the folds of the canvas. He tripped across the limp and inert body of one of the occup...

The _West Barbican's_ stay at Cape Town was of short duration. She landed about a score of her passengers and a small quantity of cargo, coaled, and proceeded, giving Peter litt...