Just then Hutchings interrupted.
“Hold on, here’s a message coming now,” he said.
“Ah! That’s the Sky Eagle,” said the captain. “We worried ourselves unnecessarily, after all.”
But it was not the Sky Eagle that was wirelessing. The captain’s rejoicing had been premature. Hutchings held up his hand to enjoin silence.
Then as the dots and dashes came out of space into the watch-case receivers at his ears he read off the message as it came.
“Scatiute Wireless Station.—Big dirigible seen drifting east. Making signals of distress. Do you know anything about her?”
“Great guns!” puffed the captain. “Just as I thought, she’s drifting out to sea sure enough. Raise ’em at Scatiute, Hutchings. Ask ’em what appears to be the matter with her.”
Hutchings applied himself to his key and in a few minutes he had this answer.