“But why should he take such an apparent dislike to me?” demanded Henry. “I’m a complete stranger to him. He hasn’t any possible reason for disliking me.”
“He thinks he has,” said Belford.
“He does? What is it?”
“Why, Mr. Sharp let you send a message on the wireless outfit yourself.”
“But Mr. Sharp was right beside me, to make sure I did no harm.”
“I know it, but that doesn’t make any difference with a fellow like Black. He dislikes you very much. He tried to tell me a long story about it. And to have you put over him as chief is more than he can stand. He’s a bad egg, I believe. And I’d watch him closely if I were you.”
“Of course I’ll watch him, if he’s likely to shirk his duty,” said Henry. “He might get the ship into trouble.”
“I don’t mean to watch him in that way. Watch him on your own account. I don’t know that he’d really do anything to anybody. But he’s always talking about fixing this fellow or that fellow. He might try to do you some harm.”
Henry smiled. “There’s little danger,” he said. “We’ll be in New York in a couple of days, and I’ll probably never see him again after that.”
But though Henry smiled at the idea of the young operator’s doing him harm, he could not dismiss from his mind so easily the feeling that had come to him of uneasiness for the boat itself. He got his nightclothes from the captain’s cabin, undressed, and slipped into the chief operator’s bunk. But weary though he was, he could not sleep. He was worried, and worry was almost a new sensation to him. He could not at first understand it. He would be almost asleep, then he would wake up with a start, his leg or arm jerking nervously. It was partly the reaction from the long strain he had been under. That sort of experience was absolutely new to him, and he could not forget the horrible things he had witnessed. But gradually he came to realize that there was something more to his restlessness than the reaction from nervous strain. Something was preying on his mind. After he had tossed sleeplessly on his mattress for a long time, he comprehended what was the matter. He was worried about the wireless.