HANK EXPLAINS.

Joe laughed at Hank’s last question.

“Of use? Why, man alive, since wireless has been introduced, it has averted some great sea disasters and been the means of saving thousands of lives, not to mention its commercial value.”

“Do tell! It’s saved a lot of ships, hey?”

Hank looked really interested now.

“It certainly has. Some time ago the Prinz Joachim, of the Atlas Line, from New York to the West Indies, grounded on a remote island of the Bahama group more than a thousand miles south of New York. In the old days she’d have stuck there, while the passengers took to the boats or played Robinson Crusoe on the island. But nowadays what happened? Why, Henry Muller, her wireless man, was sent for by the captain, and he at once began pumping out the call for the home office of the line in a Broadway skyscraper.

“Almost by the time the last of the passengers, aroused by the shock, had come on deck to learn the cause of it, the captain was able to assure them that New York had the news and that the home office had flung out a call for rescue ships along the whole length of the Atlantic Coast. At the same time, of course, the vessel’s own wireless was on the job, too.

“Well, several ships were quickly located in the vicinity, and before long a small fleet was rushing to the Joachim’s aid. There was no fear on board. In fact, William Jennings Bryan, who was a passenger, could not resist the opportunity to make a speech. He suggested that they form a republic on the island, and that, as he could not be elected president of the United States, they make him chief executive of the island realm.

“Then take the case of the steamer Momus, carrying one hundred and twelve passengers, that caught fire off Cape Hatteras. Every effort was made to fight the blaze, which started among cotton bales in the forward hold; but to no avail. In this emergency, wireless signals were flashed in all directions.

“Before long they were answered. The Comus, a sister ship, heard them and informed the Momus that she was seventy-eight miles away and would come at top speed to the rescue. The two ships, by constant interchanging of their positions through the night, came together at two o’clock in the morning. Naturally, every passenger was up and about, but on the other hand there was no panic. The fact that wireless was on board gave a feeling of security to all, which they certainly would not have had otherwise.

“All the passengers were taken off in safety, and the relief ship stood by till the Momus was beached in shallow water and the fires drowned out. Twelve hours afterward the water was pumped out. The passengers re-embarked and the ship resumed her voyage. Incidentally, the ship and her cargo, valued at three million dollars, were saved. Not the least remarkable feature of this rescue was that throughout the whole affair the general manager of the line at his desk in New York was kept in constant touch with the situation and directed the operations.

“But I’m preaching a regular sermon,” broke off Joe.

“No, no; heave on, Joe. I like to hear about it,” declared Hank, who, to tell the truth, was anxious to stave off the inevitable time of explanation of his presence on the island, which he felt was close at hand.

“To switch to the naval uses of the wireless, then. The torpedo boat Beale was overtaken by a heavy storm off the Virginia capes. The waves were mountain high and it soon became clear that unless assistance came, and that speedily, the long, lean craft would be unable to ride out the gale. The S. O. S. signal, which means ‘in dire distress,’ was sent out, and was read by the wireless station at Norfolk. It was quickly passed on to Washington and received by the assistant secretary of the navy, who at once got into communication with the Beale. He asked for further details so that he could despatch relief intelligently. The Beale responded, and all this within a few minutes, that she was awash and making bad weather of it. This reply was in the secretary’s hands in time to enable him to send relief ships out from Norfolk, and the Beale and her crew were saved.

“There is one other field in which the wireless plays an important part. That is in the capture of criminals. A runaway now stands a much greater chance of being caught at sea than he does ashore. In former years the exact reverse was true. A man who tries to flee from America to Europe to avoid the consequences of a crime is, so to speak, like a runner caught between bases. The wireless spreads a net about him from which he cannot escape.

“One notable case occurred in 1911. A crime had been committed in London, and the search for the man who did it was carried on by an immense corps of police and detectives all over Europe working in harmony. London, Paris, Berlin were all searched, but without results. The runaway had vanished utterly.

“While the search was at its height and hope of capturing the man had been about given up, a wireless call was picked up one night at a station on the Irish coast from the captain of a trans-Atlantic steamer in mid-ocean. It asked for a detailed description of the man who was wanted. It was sent, and the captain of the vessel replied that he believed that he had the man, for whom a fine-tooth comb search had been conducted, on board his ship.

“Excitement ran high. People on both sides of the Atlantic awaited more details, but the ship got out of range for a time and was not heard from till the station at Cape Race, Newfoundland, picked up a message from the captain to say that he was sure he had the criminal wanted on board. He asked that detectives be ready when the ship came into quarantine on the St. Lawrence River, for she was bound for Quebec.

“The criminal was trapped like a wild beast. While the ship was still three days from port, the police began to gather. Newspapers from all over the country rushed men to the place where it had been arranged by wireless to board her. And all this time, the man wanted had no idea that the net was being drawn about him. It was not till he was actually under arrest that he learned what wireless had done toward his capture. And this is only one of a number of such cases.”

“Do tell,” exclaimed Hank amazedly; “that thing is a sort of a conjurer, be’ant it?”

“It is all of that,” smiled Joe; “but now tell me, Hank,” he said, “how did you happen to come here in the nick of time to let me out? What brought you here, anyhow?”

Hank looked grave. A troubled expression came over his sunburned face.

“I allowed I’d just sail out here and straighten matters out,” he stammered.

“What matters?”

“Why, that thing about soaking your chum on the head and carrying him off to the cave. I had no part in it. Honest Injun, I didn’t, and I was too scared of old Israel and the rest to do anything.”

“Humph,” remarked Joe, “but you didn’t try to help him at all.”

“I was going to after we got back from taking Minory out of the cave, but when we did he had gone. Got clear away in that little old boat. It was all old Israel’s fault. He’d do anything for money, Iz would. When the Minory chap flashed a big roll on him, it was all off. It’s lucky things didn’t turn out worse.”

“Where are your uncle and the others now?” demanded Joe.

“Honest, I don’t know,” rejoined Hank, looking Joe straight in the eyes. “They haven’t shown up at Martinez. I reckon they are scared and are waiting till things blow over a bit before they show their heads.”

“That sounds plausible,” answered Joe. “Are you through with them?” he added.

“Yes, sir,” was the emphatic reply. “I want to live straight. I never had much use for old Israel, but this last bit of business sickened me. I came out here to see you fellows to tell you that I was your friend, and that if I hear anything about that bunch I’ll tell you.”

“That’s good of you, Hank,” said Joe warmly.

“No, tain’t, but I’m glad you believe. I was afraid that maybe you’d have me arrested.”

“But you wanted to put yourself right, so you came anyway.”

“Yes, I jes’ had to.”

“Well, that was brave of you, Hank,” declared Joe, “and from now on we’ll count you as our friend.”

“You sure can do that. I’ll do anything I can for you.”

“You showed that this afternoon. But, as you came over, did you see anything of a boat leaving the island?”

“A launch?”

“I guess that’s what they came in,” responded Joe, and he then related all that had occurred that afternoon. Hank exclaimed angrily and blamed himself for not stopping the launch as he heard Joe tell of the escape of the men after locking him in the closet.

“I could have stopped that launch plum easy, if I’d only known,” he said, “but I thought that they were just visitors.”

“So they were and very unwelcome ones, too,” laughed Joe, who, now that his troubles were over, could, as usual, see the humorous side of them as well as the serious.

“There’s something else I want to tell you,” said Hank, as he picked up his hat and prepared to go.

“What’s that?”

“Well, you remember what old Israel said about you fellows not having any rights on this island?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“Just this, that if it hadn’t been for that affair of Minory’s, they meant to attack you.”

“They did!”

“Yes, siree. Old Israel, he allowed he’d drive you off the island even if he had to drive you into the sea.”

“Well, that’s pleasant.”

“And the first step was to be the wrecking of your wireless contraption.”

“Thank goodness, they are where they can’t do us any harm now! I guess they’ll lie low if they’re wise. There’s a law in California, you know.”

“Old Israel, he never took no account of the law, nohow,” declared Hank with a sort of grudging admiration, “and if you’re wise you’ll keep a good lookout for him. When he gits sot on a thing, he most generally always put it through, and he’s sure determined to drive you off Goat Island.”