HANK EXPLAINS.
Joe laughed at Hank’s last question.
“Of use? Why, man alive, since wireless has been introduced, it has
averted some great sea disasters and been the means of saving thousands
of lives, not to mention its commercial value.”
“Do tell! It’s saved a lot of ships, hey?”
Hank looked really interested now.
“It certainly has. Some time ago the _Prinz Joachim_, of the Atlas Line,
from New York to the West Indies, grounded on a remote island of the
Bahama group more than a thousand miles south of New York. In the old
days she’d have stuck there, while the passengers took to the boats or
played Robinson Crusoe on the island. But nowadays what happened? Why,
Henry Muller, her wireless man, was sent for by the captain, and he at
once began pumping out the call for the home office of the line in a
Broadway skyscraper.
“Almost by the time the last of the passengers, aroused by the shock,
had come on deck to learn the cause of it, the captain was able to
assure them that New York had the news and that the home office had
flung out a call for rescue ships along the whole length of the Atlantic
Coast. At the same time, of course, the vessel’s own wireless was on the
job, too.
“Well, several ships were quickly located in the vicinity, and before
long a small fleet was rushing to the _Joachim’s_ aid. There was no fear
on board. In fact, William Jennings Bryan, who was a passenger, could
not resist the opportunity to make a speech. He suggested that they form
a republic on the island, and that, as he could not be elected president
of the United States, they make him chief executive of the island realm.
“Then take the case of the steamer _Momus_, carrying one hundred and
twelve passengers, that caught fire off Cape Hatteras. Every effort was
made to fight the blaze, which started among cotton bales in the forward
hold; but to no avail. In this emergency, wireless signals were flashed
in all directions.
“Before long they were answered. The _Comus_, a sister ship, heard them
and informed the _Momus_ that she was seventy-eight miles away and would
come at top speed to the rescue. The two ships, by constant
interchanging of their positions through the night, came together at two
o’clock in the morning. Naturally, every passenger was up and about, but
on the other hand there was no panic. The fact that wireless was on
board gave a feeling of security to all, which they certainly would not
have had otherwise.
“All the passengers were taken off in safety, and the relief ship stood
by till the _Momus_ was beached in shallow water and the fires drowned
out. Twelve hours afterward the water was pumped out. The passengers
re-embarked and the ship resumed her voyage. Incidentally, the ship and
her cargo, valued at three million dollars, were saved. Not the least
remarkable feature of this rescue was that throughout the whole affair
the general manager of the line at his desk in New York was kept in
constant touch with the situation and directed the operations.
“But I’m preaching a regular sermon,” broke off Joe.
“No, no; heave on, Joe. I like to hear about it,” declared Hank, who, to
tell the truth, was anxious to stave off the inevitable time of
explanation of his presence on the island, which he felt was close at
hand.
“To switch to the naval uses of the wireless, then. The torpedo boat
_Beale_ was overtaken by a heavy storm off the Virginia capes. The waves
were mountain high and it soon became clear that unless assistance came,
and that speedily, the long, lean craft would be unable to ride out the
gale. The _S. O. S._ signal, which means ‘in dire distress,’ was sent
out, and was read by the wireless station at Norfolk. It was quickly
passed on to Washington and received by the assistant secretary of the
navy, who at once got into communication with the _Beale_. He asked for
further details so that he could despatch relief intelligently. The
_Beale_ responded, and all this within a few minutes, that she was awash
and making bad weather of it. This reply was in the secretary’s hands in
time to enable him to send relief ships out from Norfolk, and the
_Beale_ and her crew were saved.
“There is one other field in which the wireless plays an important part.
That is in the capture of criminals. A runaway now stands a much greater
chance of being caught at sea than he does ashore. In former years the
exact reverse was true. A man who tries to flee from America to Europe
to avoid the consequences of a crime is, so to speak, like a runner
caught between bases. The wireless spreads a net about him from which he
cannot escape.
“One notable case occurred in 1911. A crime had been committed in
London, and the search for the man who did it was carried on by an
immense corps of police and detectives all over Europe working in
harmony. London, Paris, Berlin were all searched, but without results.
The runaway had vanished utterly.
“While the search was at its height and hope of capturing the man had
been about given up, a wireless call was picked up one night at a
station on the Irish coast from the captain of a trans-Atlantic steamer
in mid-ocean. It asked for a detailed description of the man who was
wanted. It was sent, and the captain of the vessel replied that he
believed that he had the man, for whom a fine-tooth comb search had been
conducted, on board his ship.
“Excitement ran high. People on both sides of the Atlantic awaited more
details, but the ship got out of range for a time and was not heard from
till the station at Cape Race, Newfoundland, picked up a message from
the captain to say that he was sure he had the criminal wanted on board.
He asked that detectives be ready when the ship came into quarantine on
the St. Lawrence River, for she was bound for Quebec.
“The criminal was trapped like a wild beast. While the ship was still
three days from port, the police began to gather. Newspapers from all
over the country rushed men to the place where it had been arranged by
wireless to board her. And all this time, the man wanted had no idea
that the net was being drawn about him. It was not till he was actually
under arrest that he learned what wireless had done toward his capture.
And this is only one of a number of such cases.”
“Do tell,” exclaimed Hank amazedly; “that thing is a sort of a conjurer,
be’ant it?”
“It is all of that,” smiled Joe; “but now tell me, Hank,” he said, “how
did you happen to come here in the nick of time to let me out? What
brought you here, anyhow?”
Hank looked grave. A troubled expression came over his sunburned face.
“I allowed I’d just sail out here and straighten matters out,” he
stammered.
“What matters?”
“Why, that thing about soaking your chum on the head and carrying him
off to the cave. I had no part in it. Honest Injun, I didn’t, and I was
too scared of old Israel and the rest to do anything.”
“Humph,” remarked Joe, “but you didn’t try to help him at all.”
“I was going to after we got back from taking Minory out of the cave,
but when we did he had gone. Got clear away in that little old boat. It
was all old Israel’s fault. He’d do anything for money, Iz would. When
the Minory chap flashed a big roll on him, it was all off. It’s lucky
things didn’t turn out worse.”
“Where are your uncle and the others now?” demanded Joe.
“Honest, I don’t know,” rejoined Hank, looking Joe straight in the eyes.
“They haven’t shown up at Martinez. I reckon they are scared and are
waiting till things blow over a bit before they show their heads.”
“That sounds plausible,” answered Joe. “Are you through with them?” he
added.
“Yes, sir,” was the emphatic reply. “I want to live straight. I never
had much use for old Israel, but this last bit of business sickened me.
I came out here to see you fellows to tell you that I was your friend,
and that if I hear anything about that bunch I’ll tell you.”
“That’s good of you, Hank,” said Joe warmly.
“No, tain’t, but I’m glad you believe. I was afraid that maybe you’d
have me arrested.”
“But you wanted to put yourself right, so you came anyway.”
“Yes, I jes’ had to.”
“Well, that was brave of you, Hank,” declared Joe, “and from now on
we’ll count you as our friend.”
“You sure can do that. I’ll do anything I can for you.”
“You showed that this afternoon. But, as you came over, did you see
anything of a boat leaving the island?”
“A launch?”
“I guess that’s what they came in,” responded Joe, and he then related
all that had occurred that afternoon. Hank exclaimed angrily and blamed
himself for not stopping the launch as he heard Joe tell of the escape
of the men after locking him in the closet.
“I could have stopped that launch plum easy, if I’d only known,” he
said, “but I thought that they were just visitors.”
“So they were and very unwelcome ones, too,” laughed Joe, who, now that
his troubles were over, could, as usual, see the humorous side of them
as well as the serious.
“There’s something else I want to tell you,” said Hank, as he picked up
his hat and prepared to go.
“What’s that?”
“Well, you remember what old Israel said about you fellows not having
any rights on this island?”
“Yes, what of it?”
“Just this, that if it hadn’t been for that affair of Minory’s, they
meant to attack you.”
“They did!”
“Yes, siree. Old Israel, he allowed he’d drive you off the island even
if he had to drive you into the sea.”
“Well, that’s pleasant.”
“And the first step was to be the wrecking of your wireless
contraption.”
“Thank goodness, they are where they can’t do us any harm now! I guess
they’ll lie low if they’re wise. There’s a law in California, you know.”
“Old Israel, he never took no account of the law, nohow,” declared Hank
with a sort of grudging admiration, “and if you’re wise you’ll keep a
good lookout for him. When he gits sot on a thing, he most generally
always put it through, and he’s sure determined to drive you off Goat
Island.”