Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator

pected

for a considerable number of passengers. She was equipped with the latest type of modern screw engines, and although she did not run on a fixed schedule, could be counted on, almost as certainly as a regular liner, to make her port at the time appointed. Everything about the ste

ssigned adjoining rooms. By the time they had washed and changed their clothes, it was time for supper, and to this they did a

il to-morrow, and twenty-four hours from now, you may be thinki

lled for bluefish off the Long Island coast

g on the long ocean swells. We haven't any swinging cabins here to keep things always level, a

on't be so badly off as the poor fellow who, the first hour, was afraid

ws are so lucky that they couldn't kill you with an axe. Though that knife did come pretty near doing the trick, didn't it? 'The sweet lit

looking after the poor fellow that brute wounded

rgans, and a couple of months in the hospital will bring him around all right. That is, unless the knife was poisoned. These beggars sometimes do this, in order to make assurance

at it and realized how near they had come to being its victims. They handled it gingerly as they passed it around, bei

ers, probably an invocation to one of the malignant gods to whom it was consecrated. The blade was broad, with the edge of a razor and the point of a needle. But what gav

y, isn't it?" a

Bert. "A bowie knife is inn

an injury and that they have never even seen? I can understand how the desire for revenge may prompt a man to

life and determine to end it all, but before they go, all the pent up poison of hate that has been fermenting in them finds expression in the desire to take as many as possible with them. Then too, there may be some obscure religious idea underneath it all, of offering to the gods as many victims as possible, and thus

be a scientist to know this much at least-that wherever a crazy Mal

be inclined to dispute that," laughed the

eager beyond anything else to inspect the wireless equipment of the

the antennae, waving from the highest mast of the ship, everything was of the most approved and up to date type. No matter how skilful the workma

gloated. "There aren't many Atla

asked Dick, examining the appa

Under almost any conditions she's good for five hundred miles

d Tom. "How far have they been able to

to each other, off the coast of Chili, six or seven thousand miles away. Of course, ships will never talk at that distance, because they can't get a high enough mast or tower to overcome the curvature of the earth. But from land stations it is only a question of getting a high enough tower. They can talk easily now from Berlin to Sayville, Long Island, four thousand miles, by means of towers seven or eight hundred feet high. The Eiffel Tower at Paris, because still higher, has a lon

eloquent Bert is getting. He'l

r the tumbling waves from one continent to another, but, to me, it's more like witchcraft. It's lucky Marconi did

let me play with this toy of mine. I want to get next to all its quips and quirks and cranks and curves, an

thrilled with a certain sense of ownership. There had been a wireless plant at one of the college buildings, and he had become very expert in its use; but hundreds of others had used it, too, and he was only one among many. Moreover, that plant had filled no part in the great world of commerce or of life, except for purposes of instruction. But this was the real thing, and from the time the steamer left the wharf until, on its return

to and fro. Bert cudgeled his memory. Of whom did it remind him? The

Wilson," said the newc

ng it warmly, "and you are

ighted to see you again. But what on earth bri

e I get through," answered Bert; and then he told him

oul on board except the captain. You see, my father is manager of the line, and he wanted me to take the trip, so that I could enlarge my

" remarked Bert, as he beckoned to Tom

wheel of the "Red Scout" had struggled for the mastery. Before their eyes rose the crowded stands; they heard the deafening cheers and the roar of the exhausts; they saw

from the merry twinkle in his eyes, as he

but I've never felt sore over that for a minute. It was a fa

not the best driver. You got every ounce of speed out of your machine that

have the 'Gray Ghost' with me now. It's crated up on the forward deck, and wil

car, looking "fit to run for a man's life," as

cargo, and, if the roads are good, we'll show the natives some new wrinkles in the way of fancy driving. We're all of us auto fiends, and I want you to feel that the ca

he great city, sitting proudly on her many hills and crowned with innumerable lights. Silence gathered over the little group, as they gazed, and each was busy with his own thoughts. This loved land of theirs-by this time to-morrow, it would be out of sight below the horizon. Who knew when they woul