“I suppose it wouldn’t do,” said the captain regretfully. “Yet I wanted very much to talk to him.”
“I don’t want to be inquisitive, Captain, but perhaps if you could give me an idea of what you want to say to him, I could judge if it would be best. Perhaps, though, it is a private matter.”
“No, it isn’t, Doctor. It’s a matter that concerns us all. You are one of my official family, and I may as well tell you. Only please do not talk about it.”
“Of course I wouldn’t repeat what you say, Captain, but don’t tell me unless you wish to do so.”
“You recall that we had a little difficulty with the wireless the evening we got back to New York from Boston, don’t you, Doctor?”
“Yes. That was the evening Sparks, here, got back aboard. I heard something had gone wrong. But the chief electrician soon fixed it up, I was told. I supposed that it didn’t amount to anything.”
“In a way, it didn’t. In another way, it was a very serious affair.”
“So?” queried the doctor.
“Yes. The difficulty was merely a grounded coil in the field. But the coil had been grounded purposely, and grounded by some one on this ship.” The surgeon was all attention. “We were just coming up the channel and about to drop anchor. It was early evening—seven o’clock, to be exact. Young Harper was on watch. He received a message for me, and, leaving the wireless shack, he ran up to the bridge to me. I read the message, wrote a reply, and Henry ran back to his key. A little later he came charging back, to say that his wireless wouldn’t work. I sent for the other wireless men. Belford was talking to the quartermaster beside the wheelhouse. Black was fast asleep in his bunk. But Sharp came aboard in a few moments, found the trouble, and fixed the outfit up.”
“That is what I had understood,” remarked the doctor.