Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator Part 4

"I can't tell you how I felt when I got your message," he said, as he turned to Bert. "I had about given up hope when your answer came. I rushed at once to the captain and he pa.s.sed the word to the pa.s.sengers and crew. It put new heart and life into 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 that it was only a matter of minutes before your boats would be under the stern. But it was fearfully close figuring," he went on, soberly.

"You saw yourself that fifteen minutes after the last boat pulled away the whole stern was a ma.s.s of flames."

"Well," said Bert, as he slipped on the receiver, and took charge of the key, "it's lucky that I got your call just when I did. A little later and I'd have been off duty."

"That reminds me," broke in Ralph. "I sent a message to Father to-day about that, urging that you have an a.s.sistant to take charge when you 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 a.s.sistant. He says he is agreeable if they want him to, and I expect a wireless from Father to the captain authorizing him to make the arrangement."

"I hope he will," said Bert, warmly. "Accidents have an awkward way of happening just when they ought not to, and when one thinks of the life and property at stake it certainly seems that somebody should be on the job all the time."

A little later the looked-for message came instructing Captain Manning to engage Howland as Bert's deputy during the voyage. From now 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 relief and delight. Now he could breathe freely and enjoy his work, without any torturing fears of what might have happened while he slept.

By half-past three that afternoon the s.h.i.+ps were within twenty miles of each other. The beautiful weather still continued and the sea was as "calm as a millpond." All were on the alert 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 deck piled on deck, crowded with dense ma.s.ses of people. She made a stately picture as she came on until a quarter of a mile from the _Fearless_. Then she hove to and lowered her boats.

With deep emotion and the warmest thanks, the survivors bade their rescuers good-by and were carried over to the _Nippon_, their third temporary home within twenty-four hours. By the time the last boat had unloaded and been swung on board, dusk had fallen. The s.h.i.+ps squared away on their separate courses and the bells in the engine room signaled full speed ahead. Handkerchiefs waved and whistles tooted as they pa.s.sed each other, and the white-coated band on the upper deck of the _Nippon_ played "Home Again." The electric lights were suddenly turned on and the great s.h.i.+p glowed in beauty from stem to stern. They watched her as she drew swiftly away, until her gleaming lights became tiny diamonds on the horizon's rim and then faded into the night.

CHAPTER V

AN ISLAND PARADISE

"Land ho!" shouted the look-out from his airy perch in the crow's nest, and with one accord the pa.s.sengers of the _Fearless_ rushed on deck to catch the first glimpse of that wonderful land they had all heard so much about. Hawaii! What a vision of hill and plain, of mountain and valley, of dangerous precipice and treacherous canyon, of sandy beach and waving palm, of radiant suns.h.i.+ne and brilliant moonlight, the magic of that name evokes!

"Gee, fellows, can you see anything that looks like land?" Bert asked of his companions, as they elbowed their way through the crowd to the railing of the s.h.i.+p. "Oh, yes, there it is," he cried a moment later, pointing to a tiny spot on the horizon, "but it looks as if it were hundreds of miles away."

"It sure does," d.i.c.k agreed. "If this atmosphere were not so remarkably clear, we wouldn't be able to see it at all. It doesn't matter how far away it is, though, as long as it's in sight. For the last few days it has seemed to me that we would never reach it," and he gazed longingly at the speck on the horizon that seemed to be dissolving into two or three smaller parts that became more distinct every moment.

"Yes, I can't wait to try the little old 'Gray Ghost' on some of those swell Hawaiian roads. Say, fellows, can't you just imagine yourselves in the old car; can't you feel the throb of the motor and the whistling of the wind in your ears as she takes a steep hill with a 'give me something hard, won't you' air? Can't you?" he demanded, joyfully, while the boys thrilled at the mere prospect.

"You bet your life," Tom agreed, enthusiastically. "Make believe we won't make things hum in little old Hawaii, eh, fellows?" and they all laughed from sheer delight.

"Glad to find you in such good spirits this fine morning, boys," came a genial voice behind them and the boys turned to find the doctor regarding them with a good-natured smile on his friendly face. "I don't wonder you feel good at the prospect of setting foot on solid ground again. For, no matter how enjoyable and prosperous the voyage may be, one is always glad to get on sh.o.r.e and feel that he may come and go when he pleases and is not at the mercy of the elements. I for one will be glad when we cast anchor."

"I have always heard that Hawaii was one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and I've always wanted to see it," said Bert. "What do you think of it, Doctor? You must have been here many times."

Dr. Hamilton took two or three long puffs of his cigar before he answered, reflectively, "It has always seemed to me that when Nature discovered Hawaii she had some time on her hands that she didn't know what to do with, so she spent it in making this obscure little group of islands way out in the Pacific, the garden spot of the world. Over those islands the wind never blows too roughly or too coldly, the sun never s.h.i.+nes too brightly and there is no snow to blight and kill the vegetation that warm rain and summer sun have called forth. Over there the gra.s.s is greener, the sky bluer and the scenery more beautiful than it is in any other part of the world. If you should take everything that you consider beautiful, multiply it by one hundred and put them in one small portion of the earth, you would have some idea of what Hawaii is like."

The boys were struck by the outburst.

"Hawaii is the doctor's favorite hobby," Ralph said, in response to the look of astonishment and wonder on the boys' faces. "If he had his way, he'd live here all the year round."

"That I would," said the doctor, with a sigh, "but my profession claims me first, last and all the time. However," he added, with his cheerful smile, "I want you boys to make the most of the few days we are to spend here, to have the time of your lives. The only thing I ask of you is that you don't run the 'Gray Ghost' over the side of a precipice or seek to inquire too closely into the mysteries of the firepit, Halemaumau.

I'll have to leave you, as I have some important matters to attend to before I can enjoy the beauties of Hawaii. Coming, Bert? Yes, I shouldn't wonder if we would be getting some wireless messages very soon."

The three companions watched Bert and the doctor until they disappeared down the companion-way and then turned once more to the islands.

After a moment of silence Tom said, "Say, if Hawaii is all the doctor says it is, Ralph, we ought to have some fun. Imagine driving the machine along a precipice and visiting fire-pits with outlandish names.

What was it he called it?"

"Halemaumau," Ralph answered. "It is a jaw-breaker, isn't it, but I've heard Dad talk so much about Hawaiian wonders that I've got the name down pat. You see Halemaumau means 'House of Everlasting Fire,' and it's the name of the fire-pit of the crater, Kilauea. There, don't you think I've mastered the subject and learned my lesson well?"

"You have, indeed, my son," d.i.c.k said, a.s.suming his best grandfatherly air. "If you continue on the road you have begun you will make a success of your life."

"Say, fellows," Tom broke in. "Stop your nonsense and look at what you're coming to. I'm beginning to think that Dr. Hamilton didn't exaggerate, after all. Just look at that line of beach with the cliffs behind it, forming a dark background for the white of the buildings. And what are those funny, bobbing things in the water? I suppose they must be boats of some sort, but they don't look like anything I ever saw."

"I guess they must be the boats of the native money divers."

"Money divers!" Tom exclaimed. "Where do they get the money?"

"We give it to them," said d.i.c.k. "I remember reading about how pa.s.sengers throw their perfectly good money into the water just for the fun of seeing those little grafters pick it up. A waste of good money I call it."

"Gee, I'm going into the business," Tom affirmed. "Just give me a diving costume and I bet you couldn't tell me from the natives."

"You needn't count on annexing any of my hard-earned cash, because you won't get it. I'd be more likely to throw a dynamite bomb in just as you were getting ready to dive," d.i.c.k said.

"I know you would, you old skinflint. The only thing is that you would be just as likely as I to get blown up. I guess you left that out of your calculations, didn't you?"

"What's all this about dynamite bombs and getting blown up?" Bert asked, coming up behind them. "It sounds rather bloodthirsty."

"Oh, he's just threatening my very valuable life," Tom answered, "but I forgive him, for he's not responsible for what he says. To change the subject, what are you doing up here when you ought to be taking down wireless messages?"

"Oh, I'm off duty for a few days, now. I'm glad of it, for, although I like nothing better than taking down messages and sending them out, it's good to have a few days to explore this country that the doctor has recommended so highly. It sure does look promising."

By this time the _Fearless_ had weighed anchor and the boats were being let down to convey the pa.s.sengers to the sh.o.r.e. All around the s.h.i.+p were the queer little craft of the natives, the occupants on the alert to catch the first bit of money thrown to them. They had not long to wait, for soon small pieces of coin were being showered down. As each piece fell into the water, the little brown-skinned native boys would dive in after it and catch it, with a deftness born of long experience, before it reached the bottom. In spite of the boys' declared intentions not to waste their "hard-earned and carefully-h.o.a.rded cash," a few pieces of that very same cash went to increase the spoils of one especially active and dextrous young native. No matter how hard they tried to be prudent or how emphatically they declared that "this would surely be the last bit of money that that little rascal would get out of them," another coin would find its way into the eager hands of the little dark-skinned tempter. There was a very strong bond of fellows.h.i.+p between this small native diving for money way off in the islands of the Pacific and the strong, st.u.r.dy college boys who had fought so gallantly on the diamond for the glory of Alma Mater. It was the call of the expert to the expert, the admiration of one who has "done things" for the accomplishments of another.

However, the boys were not very sorry when they reached the sh.o.r.e where they were beyond temptation. Tom voiced the general sentiment when he said, "Gee, if we hadn't touched land just as we did, I'd have had to telegraph home to Dad for more money. They nearly broke me."

While they were waiting for Ralph, who had stayed behind to see that the "Gray Ghost" got over safely on the raft rigged up for the purpose, the comrades took a look around them. And there was enough to occupy their attention for an hour just in the country in the immediate neighborhood of the harbor. All around them swarmed the natives, big, powerful, good-natured people, all with a smile of welcome on their dark faces.

Everywhere was bustle and life and activity.

"I always thought that Hawaii was a slow sort of place," d.i.c.k said, "but it seems that I was mistaken. This crowd rivals the business crush on Fifth Avenue."

"It does that," said Bert. "But just take a glance at this scenery, my friends. Did you ever see anything on Fifth Avenue that looked like that?"

"Well, hardly. But it's the town that takes my eye. Look at those quaint houses and the big white building--I suppose it must be a hotel--towering over them. And isn't that a picture, that avenue with the double border of palm trees? We must explore that first thing when we get the 'Gray Ghost.' Say, I'm glad I came."

"So am I," said Tom. "If it hadn't been for you, Bert, we shouldn't any of us be here. Prof. Gilbert didn't know what a public benefactor he was when he nominated you for the telegraphy job. Say, isn't that the car coming over now?" he asked, pointing to a great raft that was heading slowly for the dock.

"It looks like it," Bert replied. "Make believe it won't seem good to be in a car again. I'm anxious to get my belongings up to one of the hotels, too."

"Yes, I'm glad we decided to stay in a hotel for the few days we are going to spend here. It will be good to be able to eat our breakfast on sh.o.r.e for a little while instead of on the briny deep," said Tom, who had not been altogether free from occasional pangs of sea-sickness during the voyage.

By this time the raft had landed the car and the other luggage. Ralph was beside his favorite, looking it over from one end to the other to see that everything was intact, while a crowd of curious little urchins watched his every action. In a moment our three fellows had joined him and were busily engaged in trying to remedy an imaginary fault. They finally gave this up as a hopeless task as the car was in absolutely perfect condition.

"I guess there's nothing very much the matter with the old car, eh, fellows?" said Ralph with the pride of possession in his voice. "I shouldn't wonder if she could show the natives something of the art of racing and hill-climbing. I bet she is just as anxious as we are to try her speed on that palm avenue there."

"Don't let's waste any time then," d.i.c.k suggested. "What's the matter with piling our luggage into the car and going right over to the hotel?

By the way," he added, as a second thought, "what hotel are we going to?"