The water was almost warm and quite buoyant. It was a real pleasure swimming through it in the moonlight, while at every stroke the phosphorescence rippled glowingly from their arms and legs. They reached the ship almost before they knew it, and swam around her till they found the Jacob’s ladder by which the descent to the boats had been made. They scrambled up this with the agility of monkeys, and then made their way along the steeply sloping decks till they reached the wireless room with its silent instruments. Everything there was in perfect order, except for “juice” that was needed to wake them to life. And this Jack intended to have in short order.
Working under his directions, Sam broke into the storeroom where such supplies were kept by the ship’s electricians, and got two huge coils of insulated wire. Carrying these, he followed Jack, who bore a lantern, to Number One hold. It had been broken open at Kingston and the battens had only been loosely replaced for the run to Santa Marta, so that it was an easy matter to gain access to the hold.
Down the steep iron ladder they climbed till they stood among high-piled boxes and bales. Jack flashed his lantern about and at last uttered a cry of triumph.
“There they are,” he cried, pointing to some big boxes labeled, “Jose de Ramon, Santa Marta.”
“Now for the test,” chimed in Sam.
The boys attacked the cases vigorously with hatchets they had brought with them, and soon had the ten powerful storage batteries exposed.
“Now get to work, Sam,” said Jack, producing some pliers and seizing hold of a coil of wire.
[CHAPTER XL—THE ANSWER TO THE WIRELESS CALL]
Most of my readers have, in all probability, by this time guessed Jack’s plan. It was nothing more nor less than to harness up the powerful storage batteries to the wireless apparatus, and thus secure a wave that, while not as strong as the one from the ship’s dynamos, would yet reach for two hundred miles or more.
This was the inspiration that had come to him when his eye had fallen on the momentous entry on the manifest. The boys worked feverishly. At last the batteries were connected, and it only remained to run the wires to the instruments in the wireless room. Then would come the supreme test.