“It won’t feel bad for a change,” admitted Fred, “and with a little luck we ought to make it in another day or two. We’d have gotten in without this delay if it hadn’t been for the storm.”
After breakfast the boys went on deck, and found the ocean much moderated, although still far from calm. After a little, they found themselves near the door of the wireless room, and were soon chatting with the operator on duty, who seemed to be a genial sort of fellow. He and the boys were soon on the best of terms, and he explained the workings of some of the simpler parts of the apparatus.
“I suppose a night like last night keeps you fellows pretty busy, doesn’t it?” inquired Bobby.
“Yes, we have to be right on the job,” answered Quinn, the wireless operator, “although last night wasn’t as bad as many I’ve been through. We didn’t get an S. 0. S. call once.”
“From the way this ship was acting,” said Lee, ruefully, “I should think it would be more likely that we would be sending a call for help instead of receiving it.”
“Why, that wasn’t any more than a brisk breeze compared to some of the blows I’ve been through,” said Quinn. “I remember one night on the North Sea when it really did blow some. And as far as that goes, I’m willing to bet that everybody else on that ship remembers it, too.”
“Was it so very bad, then?” inquired Bobby.
“Well, at that time I was doing duty on a converted yacht. We were guarding a convoy, and one by one the other patrol boats made for port, being unable to stay out any longer. But our captain refused to give up, and finally we were the only boat left. Well, the wind kept blowing harder and the seas rising, until the only wonder is that we weren’t swamped altogether. Tremendous seas were following us, and at last one monster came right aboard over the after rail. It slammed up against the wireless shack, and before we knew what had happened, we and the shack were carried bodily forward. We thought that our last minute had come, but, luckily for us, the wireless house was slammed up against the forward deck house. Then it went to pieces entirely. I made a grab for the first thing my hand met, which happened to be a mast stay, and hung on for all I knew how. It seemed to me that I was under water for an age, but the big wave finally passed, and I crawled back to the deck more dead than alive. Yes, that was a real rough night at sea, I’ll admit.”
“How about the other wireless men?” queried Fred. “Did they come through all right?”
“Well, by a miracle neither was swept overboard, but Pearsall, who had just joined the ship a week or two before, broke his right arm. But he considered himself lucky to be alive at all. We all did, for that matter.”