On the voyage across, and in port, too, whenever it was possible, he had been steadily perfecting himself in the wireless craft till he was quite proficient at it for a beginner. Jack proved an apt teacher and the young engineer, himself unusually quick and intelligent, was a willing scholar.
So the days passed pleasantly among the foreign scenes of the town and harbor. All this time Jack had been noticing surprising vigilance concerning the firemen and the crew of the big tanker.
One evening while they were roaming about the town, making purchases of post-cards and other small articles, Jack asked Raynor about this.
“They’re on the look-out for the tobacco smuggling gang,” explained his friend.
“The tobacco smuggling gang? What is that?” asked Jack.
“Do you mean to say that you have never heard of them or of their activities?” asked Raynor.
Jack shook his head.
“Not till this minute, anyway,” he said.
“Well, then, you must know that most of the Sumatra tobacco used for cigars and so on comes to this port, and it can be bought here very cheaply. In New York there is a well-organized gang, as is known to every seaman, that makes a practice of buying all that can be smuggled into the country by the crews and firemen of ships trading out of this port. Their activities have been reported in the papers many times, and all sorts of means have been employed to check them, but somehow the trade still seems to go on. So now you know why we keep such a careful look-out while in this port.”
Jack was satisfied with the explanation and thought no more of the matter, but a time was to come, and that before very long, when it was to be brought vividly before him again.