Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/226

 CHAPTER XVI

HE three men in the stateroom were astir early the next morning. Roy had to get back to the Lycoming, but before he went, he sought and obtained an interview with Captain Hardwick. The commander liked his looks, and felt drawn toward him, as indeed every one was, for Roy was a prime favorite with all who knew him.

“Captain Hardwick,” he said, after Henry had introduced him and withdrawn from the cabin, “I want first of all to thank you for your courtesy in allowing me to come to Henry and stay with him overnight. He feels this matter very keenly, and it is certainly hard to think he should start out so unfortunately. I suppose the chief electrician has told you that the difficulty with the wireless was in a coil that had grounded in the field. He will try to learn why it grounded. But no matter what he finds, I want to say that you can have absolute confidence in Henry. I’ve known him a good many years, and he would be the last person in the world to do anything dishonorable.”