Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/200

 understand it. He would be almost asleep, then he would wake up with a start, his leg or arm jerking nervously. It was partly the reaction from the long strain he had been under. That sort of experience was absolutely new to him, and he could not forget the horrible things he had witnessed. But gradually he came to realize that there was something more to his restlessness than the reaction from nervous strain. Something was preying on his mind. After he had tossed sleeplessly on his mattress for a long time, he comprehended what was the matter. He was worried about the wireless.

This was the first time in his life that Henry had ever been placed in a situation of great responsibility. The responsibility was very real, too, for the lad understood that in large measure the safety of the ship now depended upon him. Much more than his own life was at stake. The lives of all the men left on the cutter, and the safety of the ship herself, might at any moment become absolutely dependent upon him. If no danger threatened aboard the Iroquois, there might yet be other lives and other ships endangered, and upon how well his instruments were cared for, and how thoroughly the watch was kept, would depend the possibility of catching those far-flung cries for help.

Had Henry been put in charge of the wireless