A STRANGE REQUEST
When Jack came on deck again, he thought to himself that it was entirely
likely that the warning sent through space from Neptune Beach would be
verified to the full by midnight. The merriment in the saloon appeared
to be much subdued. The crowd had thinned out perceptibly and hardly
anybody was dancing.
The ship was rolling and plunging like a porpoise in great swells that
ran alongside like mountains of green water. Although it was dark by
this time, the gleam of the lights from the brilliantly illuminated
decks and saloon showed the white tops of the billows racing by.
Just as Jack passed the door leading from the social hall to the deck, a
masculine figure emerged. At the same instant, with a shuddering,
sidelong motion, the _Tropic Queen_ slid down the side of a big sea. The
man who had just come on deck lost his balance and went staggering
toward the rail. The young wireless man caught and steadied him.
In the light that streamed from the door that the man had neglected to
close, Jack saw that he was a thickset personage of about forty,
black-haired and blue-chinned, with an aggressive cast of countenance.
“What the dickens——” he began angrily, and then broke off short.
“Oh! It’s you, is it? The wireless man?”
“The same,” assented Jack.
“Well, this is luck. I was on my way up to your station. On the boat
deck, I believe it is. This will save me trouble.”
The man’s manner was patronizing and offensive. Jack felt his pride
bridling, but fought the feeling back.
“What can I do for you, Mr.—Mr.——”
“Jarrold’s the name; James Jarrold of New York. Have you had any
messages from a yacht—the _Endymion_—for me?”
“Why, no, Mr. Jarrold,” replied Jack wonderingly. “Is she anywhere about
these waters?”
“If she isn’t, she ought to be. How late do you stay on watch?”
“Till midnight. Then my assistant relieves me till eight bells of the
morning watch.”
Mr. Jarrold suddenly changed the subject as they stood at the rail on
the plunging, heaving deck. Somebody had closed the door that he had
left open in his abrupt exit, and Jack could not see his face.
“We’re going to have bad weather to-night?” he asked.
“So it appears. A warning has been sent out to that effect, and the sea
is getting up every moment.”
Mr. Jarrold of New York made a surprising answer to this bit of
information.
“So much the better,” he half muttered. “You are, of course, on duty
every second till midnight?”
“Yes, I’m on the job till my assistant relieves me,” responded the young
wireless chief of the _Tropic Queen_.
“Do you want to make some money?”
“Well, that all depends,” began Jack doubtfully. “You see, I——”
He paused for words. He didn’t want to offend this man Jarrold, who,
after all, was a first-cabin passenger, while he was only a wireless
operator. Yet somehow the man’s manner had conveyed to Jack’s mind that
there was something in his proposal that implied dishonesty to his
employers. Except vaguely, however, he could not have explained why he
felt that way. He only knew that it was so.
Jarrold appeared to read his thoughts.
“You think that I am asking you to undertake something outside your line
of duty?”
“Why, yes. I—must confess I don’t quite understand.”
“Then I shall try to make myself clear.”
“That will be good of you.”
The man’s next words almost took Jack off his feet.
“When you hear from the _Endymion_, let me know at once. That is all I
ask you.”
“Then you are expecting to hear from the yacht to-night?” asked Jack
wonderingly. It was an unfathomable puzzle to him that this somewhat
sinister-looking passenger should have so accurate a knowledge of the
yacht’s whereabouts; providing, of course, that he was as certain as he
seemed.
“I am expecting to hear from her to-night. Should have heard before, in
fact,” was the brief rejoinder.
“There are friends of yours on board?” asked Jack.
“Never mind that. If you do as I say—notify me the instant you get word
from her, you will be no loser by it.”
“Very well, then,” rejoined Jack. “I’ll see that you get first word
after the captain.”
Jarrold took a step forward and thrust his face close to the boy’s.
“The captain must not know of it till I say so. That is the condition of
the reward I’ll give you for obeying my instructions. When you bring me
word that the _Endymion_ is calling the _Tropic Queen_, I shall probably
have some messages to send before the captain of this ship is aroused
and blocks the wire with inquiries.”
“What sort of messages?” asked Jack, his curiosity aroused to the
utmost. He was now almost sure that his first impression that Jarrold
was playing some game far beyond the young operator’s ken was correct.
Jarrold tapped him on the shoulder in a familiar way.
“Let’s understand each other,” he said. “I know you wireless men don’t
get any too big money. Well, there’s big coin for you to-night if you do
what I say when the _Endymion_ calls. I want to talk to her before
anyone else has a chance. As I said, I want to send her some messages.”
“And as I said, what sort of messages?” said Jack, drawing away.
“Cipher messages,” was the reply, as Jarrold glanced cautiously around
over his shoulder.
The door behind them had opened and a stout, middle-aged man of military
bearing had emerged. He had a gray mustache and iron-gray hair, and wore
a loose tweed coat suitable for the night. Jack recognized him as a
Colonel Minturn, who had been pointed out to him as a celebrity the day
the ship sailed. Colonel Minturn, it was reported, was at the head of
the military branch of the government attending to the fortifications of
the Panama Canal. The colonel, with a firm stride, despite the heavy
pitching of the _Tropic Queen_, walked toward the bow, puffing at a
fragrant cigar.
When Jack turned again to look for Jarrold, he had gone.