The captain got into his launch and went ashore. He was gone a long time. When he returned, he called Henry to his cabin. “We’re going to try your plan,” he said. “The Navy will call the Orient, and, if an answer is received, will get a compass bearing and let us know where the ship is and when she will arrive at Ambrose Lightship. We can meet her and search her. You will likely hear the Navy Yard call the Orient if you keep your ears open.”
Henry informed his fellow-watchers in the radio shack as to what was afoot, and an element of interest was added to their watches. Also he asked Mr. Sharp if he might try for a compass bearing himself, in case the Orient was heard. “I’ve already used a radio compass,” said Henry. “They had one at Frankfort, but that was a long time ago, and that instrument would now be considered antiquated.” The chief radio man was pleased to have so eager a pupil, and instructed Henry in all the principles of the latest radio compass, such as the one on the Iroquois.
By good luck Henry himself was on duty and caught the very first call for the Orient. “WND—de—NAH,” signaled the operator at the Navy Yard.
But there was no reply. Again and again the watchers on the Iroquois heard the call of the Orient flung out by the operator in the Navy Yard. Finally the ruse succeeded. The Orient’s operator could stand it no longer. He answered the call. When he did, Henry flew to the compass shack, while Belford kept the watch. Again and again, as the Navy men talked to the Orient, Henry revolved his compass until he was certain he had the ship’s position, which he plotted on the map in the radio room. The Orient had also given her position. This time Henry saw she had told the truth. The position she gave agreed with that which he had caught on the radio compass. Evidently she didn’t care to play crooked with the Navy Yard. Eagerly Henry waited to see what the Navy Yard operator would report. His report, of course, would have to come by telephone. It would never have done to send it by wireless, lest the Orient might hear as well as the Iroquois. The captain sent Lieutenant Hill ashore to receive this telephone communication. When, finally, Henry learned what the Navy Yard operator had to report, he found that his own compass bearing agreed almost exactly with it. He was delighted that he had been so accurate.
According to the calculations from the Navy Yard, the Orient could not possibly arrive at the Ambrose Lightship before daybreak, but Captain Hardwick was not willing to take any chances with a man he knew to be as slippery as the commander of the Orient. Accordingly he got the custom inspectors who were to accompany him, dropped down the Bay during the night, and lay at anchor near the lightship, waiting for the opium carrier.
Daybreak found the Orient, true to her reckoning, approaching the Iroquois. The latter signaled to her to stop. Promptly the Orient hove to, and Captain Hardwick sent two small boats, containing the half dozen custom inspectors and a dozen of his own crew, to search the southern freighter from stem to stern.
The commander of the Orient was plainly taken aback. Before he fully realized what was happening, the boarding parties from the Iroquois were swarming up the Orient’s ladder. Like oil on water, they spread to all parts of the ship, before the crew could make a move to conceal anything. Captain Hardwick knew what he was about when he sent twice as many of his tars aboard as there were custom inspectors. The able seamen made a dive for the forecastle and began a systematic search of the sailors’ living quarters. Some of the custom inspectors sealed up the cargo holds, so these could be inspected leisurely at the dock later on, while others were examining the quarters aft. It was soon evident that the search would require much time, so the workers settled down with grim persistence, while the crew of the Orient passed jokes at their expense and went as far as they dared in taunting the unsuccessful searchers.
On the Iroquois, meanwhile, time passed slowly. There was nothing for the sailors to do but sit about and wait for the return of their comrades. In the radio house both Belford and Harper were trying to possess themselves in patience. They sat with their feet up on the desk, talking, with the wireless coupled up to the loud speaker. Whenever a message sounded, they paused in their talk to listen.
“Just hear that. You might think it came from next door,” said Henry, as a sudden signal fairly burst from the loud speaker. “Only that isn’t the Orient’s call.”
OIN was calling RET. “They’re queer calls,” commented Belford. “I never heard either before.”