The captain welcomed the lieutenant and the doctor warmly, and then led the way to the officers’ quarters. The officers were plainly foreign. They were bearded and ruddy, with light hair, and with the strong, honest countenances so typical of Scandinavians. Henry knew without being told that they came from Norway or Sweden. They were decently dressed in the customary uniforms of sea officers.
Curious to know how a merchantman’s cabin compared with that of the Iroquois, Henry followed the doctor. He found the officers’ quarters very comfortable, but not nearly so elaborate as those on the Coast Guard cutter. The mate was in his bunk, and was quite evidently very ill. He was pale and wasted and he tossed feebly on his mattress, muttering unintelligibly in his native tongue. Plainly he was out of his head. The room smelled close and foul, with that sour, offensive odor so peculiar to sick rooms. It was more than Henry could stand, and he retreated to the deck.
With interest he examined the big freighter. It was the first time he had ever been aboard such a vessel. She was a ship of good length, built for capacity rather than speed, and her lines were as ample as those of a Dutch hausfrau. They made the boat appear clumsy. She was cut low amidship, her forecastle and afterdecks being built at a higher level. The long stretch of clear deck, unbroken by superstructure, made the craft seem longer than she really was. Fore and aft rose the enormous cargo-derricks, which had been so conspicuous from a distance. And Henry was interested to see how the derrick-booms were lashed in their places. The cargo hatches were mostly battened down.
But Henry had little interest in anything else, once he had a good look at the crew, grouped along the forward rail. When he saw them, it seemed as though he had somehow been magically transported of a sudden to a strange and foreign land. Never had he seen such a queer-looking lot of men as these sailors. There were Chinese, with their yellow, sickly-looking skins and dark crowns and curious-shaped eyes: and Lascars, swarthy and stolid and mysterious looking: and little, black-eyed Japanese, with their straight, coarse black hair and inscrutable faces. And the sounds—the grunts and curious guttural mumblings—that arose among these Oriental sailors were as odd and unintelligible as the men themselves appeared to be. Henry wondered how white men could possibly bring themselves to live with such seemingly uncongenial companions in such an isolated and lonely place as an ocean-going steamer. Much as he thought he would like life at sea, he was certain he would not like it if he had to live under such conditions.
When Henry’s eye caught sight of the wireless antennæ, he decided at once to visit the wireless man. Following the lead-in wire with his eye, he located the wireless shack, and promptly knocked at the door. He was both surprised and pleased when the door was thrown open and a cheery voice said, in good English, though with a foreign accent: “Good-day, sir. I am glad to see you. Won’t you come in?”
“Thank you,” said Henry. “I will be glad to come in. I am interested in wireless.”
“Are you an operator yourself?” asked the Viking’s wireless man.
“Not exactly. I was an operator at one of the United States stations for a little while. I am trying to get a place as operator in the Coast Guard. I’m taking a trip with the Iroquois now. It’s my first trip at sea.”
“Then you can read and send readily.”
“Oh, yes.”