“I was eating supper,� Jack replied contritely.
“I haven’t had a chance to eat yet, and I’m so hungry I could gobble a boiler-plate pie,� growled the government man. “This is a dog’s life.�
“I’d trade you jobs,� flashed Jack, but the other ignored this and began thundering out his message concerning the white terrors of the north.
“Ready?� he flashed.
“Fire away!� sparked crackingly from Jack’s key. Far above him, in the night, the aërials flashed and snapped.
“Seneca, U.S. Iceberg Patrol. Str. Montrose reports from 50:47 on parallel 42, sighted three bergs, two growlers, April 6th, moving S.W. Barometer 30. Temperature 36. Overcast. Wind N.W. About 18 miles per hour.
“April 7th, 2:00 a. m., big berg, lat. 42.34, long. 48.15. Growler four miles north-west. Both moving south.�
“That’s all. Now I’ll get a chance to stow some grub—maybe,â€� grumpily concluded the report. Jack did not jot down these latter words.
As he made his way forward with his report, the young wireless man noticed that the fog was beginning to rise from the sea in long, wavering wreaths. They looked ghostlike under the stars. In the light breeze they danced a sort of witches’ dance. It looked as if the sea was a boiling expanse with whirling banners of steam rising from it. Even as Jack hurried forward he saw that the banners were closing in to form a solid web of mist.
The Cambodian was ploughing steadily forward. From her single big funnel, black with a broad white band, inky smoke was pouring out a volume that showed there was to be no niggardly saving of coal on the present voyage. In fact, before sailing, Jack had heard that she represented a new type of fast freighter, and that her maiden voyage would be utilized as an opportunity of trying her out thoroughly.