[Illustration: "Thank heaven you came before it was too late."--Page
108]
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THE
OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS
ON
WAR SWEPT SEAS
BY
CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON
AUTHOR OF "THE BOY AVIATORS' SERIES," "THE DREADNOUGHT
BOYS' SERIES," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ON THE
ATLANTIC," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS AND THE
LOST LINER," "THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ON
THE PACIFIC"
With Illustrations by
ARTHUR O. SCOTT
NEW YORK
HURST & COMPANY, INC.
PUBLISHERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT, 1917,
BY
HURST & COMPANY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE GOLD SHIP 5
II WAR IS DECLARED! 15
III ON DECK ONCE MORE 23
IV ICEBERGS AHEAD! 32
V A CLOSE SHAVE 38
VI SMOKE ON THE HORIZON 49
VII A SHOT AT THE RUDDER 55
VIII LAND HO! 61
IX A STRANGE QUEST 69
X UNDER OLD GLORY 78
XI THE "HERR PROFESSOR" AGAIN 84
XII THE ARMED CRUISER 90
XIII A MESSAGE IN CODE 96
XIV THE CATTLE SHIP 103
XV JACK'S BRAVE LEAP 113
XVI AWAITING ORDERS 120
XVII WHAT BEFELL IN THE AFTER CABIN 128
XVIII A RASCAL BROUGHT TO BOOK 135
XIX THE "BARLEY RIG" 147
XX THE HIDDEN MINE 154
XXI THE NORTH SEA 160
XXII A NIGHT OF ALARMS 167
XXIII MEETING AN OLD FRIEND 173
XXIV THE SKY SLAYER 179
XXV IN THE GLARE OF THE FLAMES 187
XXVI TWO YOUNG HEROES 194
XXVII "THE GERMANS ARE COMING!" 201
XXVIII FAST TRAVELING 207
XXIX THE UHLANS! 215
XXX "YOU ARE A SPY!" 221
XXXI COURT-MARTIALED 227
XXXII THE LONG NIGHT 233
XXXIII THROUGH BULLET-RACKED AIR 243
XXXIV A FLIGHT OF TERROR 248
XXXV THE BULLY OF THE CLOUDS 254
XXXVI A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE 260
XXXVII THE MIGHT OF MILITARISM 266
XXXVIII MILITARY CROSS-EXAMINATION 272
XXXIX SHATTERING THE SHACKLES 278
XL OLD GLORY AGAIN 285
XLI WAR IN TIMES OF PEACE 292
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THE OCEAN WIRELESS BOYS ON WAR SWEPT SEAS
CHAPTER I.
THE GOLD SHIP.
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 to
prove the most eventful voyage ever made since men first went down to
the sea in ships, was jammed with gaping crowds. They interfered with
the passengers, and employees of the company had to jostle their way
among them as best they could.
The thought of the vast fortune stowed within the tall, steel sides of
the liner had attracted them, although what they expected to see of it
was difficult to imagine. But just as a crowd will gather outside a
prison where some notorious malefactor is confined, feasting their eyes
on its gray walls without hope of seeing the lawbreaker himself, so the
throngs on the _Kronprinzessin Emilie's_ pier indulged their curiosity
by staring at the colossal casket that held such an enormous fortune.
Among those who had to win their way through the crowd almost by main
force, were two tanned, broad-shouldered youths carrying suitcases and
handbags.
"My, what a mob, Jack!" exclaimed one of them, elbowing himself between
a stout man who was gazing fixedly at the vessel's side--and showed no
disposition to move--and an equally corpulent woman whose mouth was wide
open and whose eyes bulged as if she almost expected to see the ship
gold-plated instead of black.
"Yes, gold's a great magnet even if it is stowed away inside the specie
room of a steamer," replied Jack Ready. "We ought to feel like
millionaires ourselves, Bill, sailing on such a ship."
"A sort of vacation _de luxe_," laughed Bill Raynor. "What a chance for
the buccaneers of the old days if they could only come to life again.
Then there would be real adventure in sailing on the _Kronprinzessin_."
"I guess we've had about all the adventure we want for a time, Bill,"
replied Jack, as they finally gained the gang-plank and two
white-coated, gilt-buttoned stewards grabbed their hand baggage. "The
Pacific and New Guinea provided what you might call 'an ample
sufficiency' for me in that line."
"We earned this holiday, that's one thing sure," agreed Bill, "and the
best part of it is that the sale of those pearls gave us enough funds
for a holiday abroad without putting too much of a crimp in our bank
accounts."
He referred to the pearls the boys' native chums in the Pamatou Islands
in the South Pacific had presented them with, after their narrow escape
from death in the sea-cave and the subsequent wreck on a coral reef,
during the memorable Pacific voyage and adventures, which were described
in detail in the volume of this series which immediately preceded the
present book. This volume was called, "The Ocean Wireless Boys on the
Pacific."
In the first book of this series, which was called "The Ocean Wireless
Boys on the Atlantic," we were introduced to Jack Ready, then the young
wireless operator of the big tank steamer _Ajax_. His chum, Bill Raynor,
was a junior engineer of that craft. A strong friendship sprang up
between the two lads, which their subsequent adventures on that voyage
cemented into a lasting affection.
Jack also won the approval of Jacob Jukes, head of the great shipping
combine that owned the _Ajax_ and a vast fleet of craft, both passenger
and freight, besides, by his masterly handling of a difficult situation
when the millionaire shipping-man's yacht burned in mid-Atlantic.
This incident, and others which proved that the young wireless man was
level-headed and cool, even in the worst emergency, resulted in his
being transferred to the passenger service on board the West Indian
service craft, the _Tropic Queen_. The thrilling events that accompanied
the vessel's last voyage were set forth in the second volume of the
Ocean Wireless Boys series, entitled, "The Ocean Wireless Boys and the
Lost Liner."
Still another book related how Jack and his chum took to the seas again
on different vessels, only to be reunited in the strangest manner. "The
Ocean Wireless Boys of the Iceberg Patrol," as this was named, told
something of the work of the craft detailed by Uncle Sam to the duty of
patrolling northern seas, sending wireless warnings of icebergs to
trans-Atlantic liners--a work of infinite usefulness which, had it been
instituted earlier, might have averted the loss of the _Titanic_, the
greatest marine disaster in the history of the world. This was followed
by an account of the exciting Pacific adventures already referred to.
The boys, and their employer, Mr. Jukes, agreed with them, and felt that
after their experiences in the South Seas with the millionaire's
expedition in search of his lost brother, they had earned a holiday; and
their determination to tour Europe was the outcome.
But even as they stepped on board the "Gold Ship," the machinery of war
was beginning to rumble in Europe, and before many hours had passed, the
storm of well-nigh universal war was destined to begin. Of this, of
course, they had no inkling, as they busied themselves in establishing
their belongings in their main-deck cabin. These preparations had hardly
been completed when the siren boomed warningly, and a tremor ran through
the big vessel. As she backed out of her pier, the brass band began to
play and the crowds on the decks, and on the docks, waved wildly,
cheered and shouted last messages which, by no possibility, could have
been heard above the din.
"Well, off at last, Jack," said Raynor, entwining Jack's elbow in his
own as the two leaned, side by side, on the railing, bidding good-bye to
New York's wonderful skyscraper skyline as it slid past. "How does it
feel to be a passenger?"
Jack's eyes sought the lofty wireless aerials swung far above them
between the two masts.
"It feels mighty odd to think of somebody else sending out the T. R." he
said slowly, naming the wireless method of saying "Good-bye," on
sailing.
"Well, I never saw such a fellow!" exclaimed Raynor. "For goodness' sake
forget your everlasting coherers and keys and converters and the rest of
them and enjoy taking life easy. But--hullo!" he broke off, "there's
someone we know."
Approaching them was a dapper little man, with a neat black moustache
and dressed in a careful, almost dignified manner.
"Why, it's Raymond de Garros, that French aviator we saved from the sea
off Florida when we were on the old _Tropic Queen_!" exclaimed Jack.
"That's the man. But what in the world is he doing here? I thought he
was in France organizing an aeroplane corps for the army."
"So did I. The newspapers have had several despatches about his work.
But we shall soon find out about the reason for his being on board."
A minute later they were warmly shaking hands with the little Frenchman,
who, with many gesticulations and twirlings of his moustache, assured
them how glad he was to "greet zee two brave boys zat save my life from
zee sea."
"You're the last person we expected to see," said Jack, when first
greetings were over. "We didn't even know you were in America."
The little Frenchman shrugged his shoulders and looked about him
uneasily. Then he buttonholed the boys confidentially.
"No one know zat I am here but my government," he said in low tones.
"You are on a secret mission of some kind?" asked Jack.
"Can I trust you to keep somethings to yourselves if I tell you what I
am do in Amerique?" asked the aviator.
"Of course, but if you don't wish---- I didn't mean to appear
inquisitive," Jack hastened to say.
"Zat is all right, my friend!" exclaimed de Garros. "You save my life. I
should be ungrateful if I seemed secretive wiz you. I have been in
Amerique buying and shipping aeroplanes to France from one of your
manufacturers."
"But I thought France already had a powerful air fleet," said Bill.
The little aviator's next words were astonishing to the boys, who shared
the common impression about the French strength in the air.
"Before many days are past we shall need all and more aeroplanes than we
have," he said. "I wish we had twice as many. But I can say no more now.
But my advice to you is to watch zee wireless closely. You are going
abroad on pleasure?"
"Yes, we thought we'd earned a vacation," said Jack.
The little Frenchman's rejoinder was a shrug and a smile.
"Your vacation may be what you Americans call a 'strenuous one,'" he
said meaningly, and with an emphasis the boys could not fathom. "By the
way, on board this ship I am Jules Campion. There are reasons for my
real name being unknown for the present. _Au revoir_, I go to arrange my
luggage. We shall meet again."
And he was gone, leaving the boys to exchange puzzled glances.