Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator Part 1

Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator.

by J. W. Duffield.

CHAPTER I

RUNNING AMUCK

"Amuck! Amuck! He's running amuck! Quick! For your lives!"

The drowsy water front pulsed into sudden life. There was a sound of running feet, of hoa.r.s.e yells, a shriek of pain and terror as a knife bit into flesh, and a lithe, brown figure leaped upon the steamer's rail.

It was a frightful picture he presented, as he stood there, holding to a stanchion with one hand, while, in the other, he held a crooked dagger whose point was stained an ominous red. He was small and wiry, only a little over five feet in height, but strong and quick as a panther. His black hair, glossy with cocoa oil, streamed in the wind, his eyes were lurid with the wild light of insanity, his lips were parted in a savage snarl, and he was foaming at the mouth. He had lost all semblance of humanity, and as he stood there looking for another victim, he might have been transported bodily from one of Dore's pictures of Dante's Inferno. Suddenly, he caught sight of a group of three coming down the pier, and leaping to the wharf, he started toward them, his bare feet padding along noiselessly, while he tightened his grip on the murderous knife. A shot rang out behind him but missed him, and he kept on steadily, drawing nearer and nearer to his intended prey.

The three companions, toward whom doom was coming so swiftly and fearfully, were now halfway down the pier. They were typical young Americans, tall, clean cut, well knit, and with that easy swing and carriage that marks the athlete and bespeaks splendid physical condition. They had been laughing and jesting and were evidently on excellent terms with life. Their eyes were bright, their faces tinged with the bronzed red of perfect health, the blood ran warmly through their veins, and it seemed a bitter jest of fate that over them, of all men, should be flung the sinister shadow of death. Yet never in all their life had they been so near to it as on that sleepy summer afternoon on that San Francisco wharf.

At the sound of the shot they looked up curiously. And then they saw.

By this time the Malay was not more than fifty feet away. He was running as a mad dog runs, his head shaking from side to side, his kriss brandished aloft, his burning eyes fixed on the central figure of the three. He expected to die, was eager to die, but first he wanted to kill. The dreadful madness peculiar to the Malay race had come upon him, and the savage instincts that slumbered in him were now at flood. He had made all his preparations for death, had prayed to his deities, blackened his teeth as a sign of his intention, and devoted himself to the infernal G.o.ds. Then by the use of maddening drugs he had worked himself into a state of wild delirium and started forth to slay. They had sought to stop him as he rushed out from the cook's galley, but he had slashed wildly right and left and one of them had been left dangerously wounded on the steamer's deck. The captain and mates had rushed to their cabins to get their revolvers, and it was the shot from one of these that had tried vainly to halt him in his death dealing course. The crew, unarmed, had sought refuge where they could, and now, with his thirst for blood still unslaked, he rushed toward the unsuspecting strangers.

For one awful instant their hearts stood still as they caught sight of the fiendish figure bearing down upon them. None of them had a weapon.

They had never dreamed of needing one. Their stout hearts and, at need, their fists, had always proved sufficient, and they shared the healthy American repugnance at relying on anything else than nature had given them. There was no way to evade the issue. Had they turned, the madman, with the impetus he already had, would have been upon them before they could get under way. There was no alternative. They _must_ play with that grim gambler, Death, with their lives as the stakes. And at the thought, they stiffened.

The Malay was within ten feet. Quick as a flash, the taller of the three dove straight for the madman's legs. The latter made a wicked slash downward, but his arm was caught in a grip of iron, and the next instant the would-be murderer was thrown headlong to the pier, his knife clattering harmlessly to one side. The three were on him at once, and, though he fought like a wildcat, they held him until the crowd, bold now that the danger was past, swarmed down on the wharf and trussed him securely with ropes. Then the trio rose, shook themselves and looked at each other.

"By Jove, Bert," said the one who had grasped the Malay's arm as it was upraised to strike, "that was the dandiest tackle I ever saw, and I've seen you make a good many. If you'd done that in a football game on Thanksgiving day, they'd talk of it from one end of the country to the other."

"O, I don't know, d.i.c.k," responded Bert. "Perhaps it wasn't so bad, but then, you know, I never had so much at stake before. Even at that I guess it would have been all up with me, if you hadn't grabbed that fellow's hand just at the minute you did."

"If I hadn't, Tom would," rejoined d.i.c.k lightly. "He went for it at the same instant, but I was on the side of the knife hand and so got there first. But it was a fearfully close shave," he went on soberly, "and I for one have had enough of crazy Malays to last me a lifetime."

"Amen to that," chimed in Tom, fervently, "a little of that sort of thing goes a great way. If this is a sample of what we're going to meet, there won't be much monotony on this trip."

"Well, no," laughed Bert, "not so that you could notice it. Still, when you tackle the Pacific Ocean, you're going to find it a different proposition from sailing on a mill pond, and I shouldn't be surprised if we found action enough to keep our joints from getting rusty before we get back."

The crowd that had seemed to come from everywhere were loud in their commendation of the boys' courage and presence of mind. Soon, an ambulance that had been hastily summoned rattled up to the pier, at top speed, and took charge of the wounded sailor, while a patrol wagon carried the maniac to the city prison. The throng melted away as rapidly as it had gathered, and the three chums mounted the gangway of the steamer. A tall, broad shouldered man in a captain's uniform advanced to greet them.

"That was one of the pluckiest things I ever saw," he said warmly, as he grasped their hands. "You were lucky to come out of that sc.r.a.pe alive.

Those Malays are holy terrors when they once get started. I've seen them running amuck in Singapore and Penang before now, but never yet on this side of the big pond. That fellow has been sullen and moody for days, but I've been so busy getting ready to sail that I didn't give it a second thought. I had a bead drawn on the beggar when he was making toward you, but didn't dare to fire for fear of hitting one of you. But all's well that ends well, and I'm glad you came through it without a scratch. You were coming toward the s.h.i.+p," he went on, as he looked at them inquiringly, "and I take it that your business was with me."

"Yes, sir," answered Bert, acting as spokesman. "My name is Wilson, and these are my two friends, Mr. Trent and Mr. Henderson."

"Wilson," repeated the captain in pleased surprise. "Why, not the wireless operator that the company told me they had engaged to make this trip?"

"The same," replied Bert, smiling.

"Well, well," said the captain, "I'm doubly glad to meet you, although I had no idea that our first meeting would take place under such exciting circ.u.mstances. You can't complain that we didn't give you a warm reception," he laughed. "Come along, and I'll show you your quarters and introduce you to the other officers."

Had any one told Bert Wilson, a month earlier, that on this June day he would be the wireless operator of the good s.h.i.+p "_Fearless_," Abel Manning, Captain, engaged in the China trade, he would have regarded it as a joke or a dream. He had just finished his Freshman year in College.

It had been a momentous year for him in more ways than one. He had won distinction in his studies--a matter of some satisfaction to his teachers. But he had been still more prominent on the college diamond--a matter of more satisfaction to his fellow students. He had just emerged from a heart breaking contest, in which his masterly twirling had won the pennant for his Alma Mater, and incidentally placed him in the very front rank of college pitchers. His plans for the summer vacation were slowly taking shape, when, one day, he was summoned to the office of the Dean.

"Sit down, Wilson," he said, as he looked up from some papers, "I'll be at liberty in a moment."

For a few minutes he wrote busily, and then whirled about in his office chair and faced Bert, pleasantly.

"What are your plans for the summer, Wilson?" he asked. "Have you anything definite as yet?"

"Not exactly, sir," answered Bert. "I've had several invitations to spend part of the time with friends, but, as perhaps you know, I haven't any too much money, and I want to earn some during the vacation, to help me cover my expenses for next year. I've written to my Congressman at Was.h.i.+ngton to try to get me work in one of the wireless stations on the coast, but there seems to be so much delay and red tape about it that I don't know whether it will amount to anything. If that doesn't develop, I'll try something else."

"Hum," said the Dean, as he turned to his desk and took a letter from a pigeon hole. "Now I have here a line from Mr. Quinby, the manager of a big fleet of steamers plying between San Francisco and the chief ports of China. It seems that one of his vessels, the _Fearless_, needs a good wireless operator. The last one was careless and incompetent, and the line had to let him go. Mr. Quinby is an old grad of the college, and an intimate personal friend of mine. He knows the thoroughness of our scientific course"--here a note of pride crept into the Dean's voice--"and he writes to know if I can recommend one of our boys for the place. The voyage will take between two and three months, so that you can be back by the time that college opens in the Fall. The pay is good and you will have a chance to see something of the world. How would you like the position?"

How would he like it? Bert's head was in a whirl. He had always wanted to travel, but it had seemed like an "iridescent dream," to be realized, if at all, in the far distant future. Now it was suddenly made a splendid possibility. China and the islands of the sea, the lands of fruits and flowers, of lotus and palm, of minarets and paG.o.das, of glorious dawns and glittering noons and spangled nights! The East rose before him, with its inscrutable wisdom, its pa.s.sionless repose, its heavy-lidded calm. It lured him with its potency and mystery, its witchery and beauty. Would he go!

He roused himself with an effort and saw the Dean regarding him with a quizzical smile.

"Like it," he said enthusiastically, "there's nothing in all the world I should like so well. That is," he added, "if you are sure I can do the work. You know of course that I've had no practical experience."

"Yes," said the Dean, "but I've already had a talk with your Professor of Applied Electricity, and he says that there isn't a thing about wireless telegraphy that you don't understand. He tells me that you are equally familiar with the Morse and the Continental codes, and that you are quicker to detect and remedy a defect than any boy in your cla.s.s.

From theory to practice will not be far, and he is confident that before your s.h.i.+p clears the Golden Gate you'll know every secret of its wireless equipment from A to Z. I don't mind telling you that your name was the first one that occurred to both him and myself, as soon as the matter was broached. Mr. Quinby has left the whole thing to me, so that, if you wish to go, we'll consider the matter settled, and I'll send him a wire at once."

"I'll go," said Bert, "and glad of the chance. I can't thank you enough for your kindness and confidence, but I'll do my very best to deserve it."

"I'm sure of that," was the genial response, and, after a few more details of time and place had been settled, Bert took the extended hand of the Dean and left the office, feeling as though he were walking on air.

His first impulse was to hunt up his two chums, Tom and d.i.c.k, and tell them of his good fortune. Tom was a fellow cla.s.smate, while d.i.c.k had had one year more of college life. The bond that united them was no common one, and had been cemented by a number of experiences shared together for several years back. More than once they had faced serious injury or possible death together, in their many sc.r.a.pes and adventures, and the way they had backed each other up had convinced each that he had in the others comrades staunch and true. During the present year, they had all been members of the baseball team, Tom holding down third base in das.h.i.+ng style and d.i.c.k starring at first; and many a time the three had pulled games out of the fire and wrested victory from defeat. In work and fun they were inseparable; and straight to them now Bert went, flushed and elated with the good luck that had befallen him.

"Bully for you, old man," shouted d.i.c.k, while Tom grabbed his hand and clapped him on the back; "It's the finest thing that ever happened."

"It sure is," echoed Tom. "Just think of good old Bert among the c.h.i.n.ks.

_And_ the tea houses--_and_ the tomtoms--_and_ the bazaars--_and_ the jinrikishas--and all the rest. By the time he gets back, he'll have almond eyes and a pig-tail and be eating his rice with chop sticks."

"Not quite as bad as that, I hope," laughed Bert. "I've no ambition to be anything else than a good American, and probably all I'll see abroad will only make me the more glad to see the Stars and Stripes again when I get back to 'G.o.d's country.' But it surely will be some experience."

Now that the first excitement was over, the conversation lagged a little, and a slight sense of constraint fell upon them. All were thinking of the same thing. Tom was the first to voice the common thought.

"Gee, Bert," he said, "how I wish that d.i.c.k and I were coming along!"

"Why not?" asked d.i.c.k, calmly.

Bert and Tom looked at him in amazement.

"What!" yelled Bert. "You don't really think there's a chance?"

"A chance? Yes," answered d.i.c.k. "Of course it's nothing but a chance--as yet. The whole thing is so sudden and there are so many things to be taken into account that it can't be doped out all at once. It may prove only a pipe dream after all. But Father promised me a trip abroad at the end of my course, if I got through all right, and, under the circ.u.mstances, he may be willing to antic.i.p.ate a little. Then too, you know, he's a red-hot baseball fan, and he's tickled to death at the way we trimmed the other teams this year. And we all know that Tom's folks have money to burn, and it ought to be no trick at all for him to get their consent. I tell you what, fellows, let's get busy with the home people, right on the jump."

And get busy they did, with the result that after a great deal of humming and hawing and backing and filling, the longed for consents were more or less reluctantly given. The boys' delight knew no bounds, and it was a hilarious group that made things hum on the Overland Limited, as it climbed the Rockies and dropped down the western slope to the ocean.

The world smiled upon them. Life ran riot within them. They had no inkling of how closely death would graze them before they even set foot upon their s.h.i.+p. Nor did they dream of the perils that awaited them, in days not far distant when that s.h.i.+p, pa.s.sing through the Golden Gate, should turn its prow toward the East and breast the billows of the Pacific.