“Yes, sir. But all I could catch is on that message there.”
“Great guns! Mr. Brown, sir, disasters always appear to come in bunches.”
“What’s the matter, sir?” asked the sympathetic officer.
“Why, young Ready, here, has just caught a message from the air. A ship is in distress somewhere.”
“Any details, sir?”
The captain shook his head.
“None. This is all the wireless caught. ‘S.O.E.,’ and then a few seconds later, ‘No hope of controlling it.’”
“Sounds like fire to me, sir,” said Mr. Brown.
“So it does to me. Hustle to your key, Ready, and get what more you can. If we can help them, we will, though Lord knows we’re in bad enough shape ourselves!”