Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator

lamin

dly and read the message.

d even under forced draught we can't reach her in less than three hours. Tell

speed ahead, and with her furnaces roaring, she rushed through the night to t

Ship, Fearless, Captain Manning. Longitude 125:20, latitude 36:54. Will be w

the fire, but it's getting beyond us. Hasn't reac

y had detected fire in the hold, but had concealed the fact from the passengers and had tried to stifle it by their own efforts. It had steadily gained, however, despite their desperate work, until the flames burst through the

led and called again. No answer

," said Bert. "I can't get him. The flames m

ship shook with the vibration of its powerful engines, working as they had never worke

d about sensed anything unusual, the discipline of the ship kept questions unspoken. All the officers and the crew, however, were on the

d miles away, and a United States gunboat, one hundred and sixty miles distant, but, try as he would, there was nothing nearer. Nobody but themselves could attempt the rescue. Of

been covered when Dick, who had

tedly. "We can see a light in the sky

glow, that seemed to grow brighter with every passing moment. At times, it waned a trifle, pr

you suppose it i

," answered Bert. "We'll be there in less th

g in their davits, ready to be lowered in a trice. Lines of hose were prepared, not so much with the hope of putting out the fire as to protect their own vessel from the flying brands. Every man o

That was an actual f

e vessel came into view, wreathed in smoke and flame. Soon the hul

been smashed in lowering. Two others, packed to the guards, had been pushed away from the vessel, so as not to be set on fire by the brands that fell in showers all around. Near the stern, some of the sailors were hastily trying to improvise a raft with spars and casks. They were working with superhuman energy, but, hampered as they were by the frantic passengers, cou

for the Fearless. The sailors stopped work upon the raft, now no longer needed, and turned to with the officers who were striving desperately to keep the more frenzied passengers from plunging headlong into the sea and swimming to th

hit the water together. Out went the oars and away they pulled with all the strength and practised skill of their sinewy arms. Bert and Dick were permitted to go as volunteers in the boat of Mr. Collins, the

he boat leaving, broke away from the restraining hand of a sailor, and leaped from the stern. She missed the gig, which was fortunate, as she would certainly have capsized it, heavily laden as it already was, and fell into the water. In an instant Bert, who could swim like a fish, had plunged in and grabbed her as she rose to the

s he came over the side. He was worn with the strain and shaken with emotion. He had done all that a man could do to save his ship, but fate had been too strong for him and he had to bow to the inevitable. He refused to go below and take some ref

ering sedatives and tonics and dressing the wounds of the injured. By this time the passengers of the Fearless had, of course, been roused by the tumult, and men and women alike vied with each other in aiding the unfortunates. Cabins and staterooms were prepared for the passengers, while quarters in the forecast

s in the wireless room. The operator of the Caledonian volunteered to help him, but Bert wouldn't hear of

t their thanks to Captain Manning and then wirelessed for details. Mr. Quinby, of course, was called into the conference. Now that it was settled that no lives had been lost, the most important questi

ard bound, to which they could transship before reaching Honolulu. Or Bert could send his call abroad through his wireless zone and perhaps arrange for some ship coming toward them to sail along a ce

o. At last, however, well toward morning, his eager ear caught a responsive click. It came from the Nippon, one of the trans-Pacific liners plying between Yokohama and San Francisco. She was less than four hundred miles away and coming on a line slightly east of the Fearless. The situation was explained, a

consumed. But the waves breaking over it as it lurched from side to side had kept it from burning to the water's edge, and it now tossed about, a helpless hulk right in the lane of ships. So many vessels have been lost by coming in collision with such floating wrecks at nig

ff." The first great test had been nobly met. Cool, clever, self-reliant, he had not flinched or wavered under the load of responsibility. The em

owded with miserable refugees and tossing up and down on the gray waves that threatened to engulf. Now they were safe, thank God, warm and snug and secure, soon to be called to the abundant breakfast, whose savory odors already assailed his nostrils. And now the whole world knew of the disaster and the rescue

from his reverie, and he looked up, t

dead tired, and I want you to get your breakfast and turn in for a while. I'll get Howland, the wireless man of the Caledonian, to ho

, reinforced by fragrant coffee, after which, obeying orders, he r

n. The sea smiled and dimpled as its myriad waves reflected back the glorious light. The Fearless slipped through the long swells as swiftly as a water sprite, "footing it featly" on her road to Ha

scorched them with its baleful breath, but they had not been consumed. There were property losses, but no wife had been snatched from her husband, no mother wailed for her child. Under the comforting influence of a hot breakfast, the heartfelt sympathy of the passengers and the invigorating air and sunshine, they gradu

et on the threshold by Dick and Tom and Ralph,

ed Dick. "We hear that you di

ll you what Father says in a message I've just

to do. Good morning, Mr. Howland," he said, as the young fello

turned in. We're getting beyond the shore range, but I've been keeping in touch every hour

om the events of the night before, although his singed hair and eyebrows bore eloquent testimony to the perils he had faced and so narrowly escaped. He had stuck to his post until the blistering heat had made life impossible in the wire

nto them all, and it was the only thing that kept many from jumping into the sea when the flames got so horribly near. But they held on desperately, and when they saw your rockets I wish you could have heard the cry that went up. They knew then t

k charge of the key, "it's lucky that I got your call jus

u are at meals or in bed. I suggested, too, that since Mr. Howland was here, he might be willing to go on with us and act as your assistan

ing just when they ought not to, and when one thinks of the life and property

on, there would not be one moment of the twenty-four hours that someone would not be on watch to send or receive, much to Bert's relie

t to greet the oncoming steamer. Soon a dot appeared, growing rapidly larger until it resolved itself into a magnificent steamer, seven hundred feet in length, with towering masts and

len. The ships squared away on their separate courses and the bells in the engine room signaled full speed ahead. Handkerchiefs waved and whistles tooted as they passed each other, and the white-coated band on the upper deck of the Nippon played "Hom