Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/230

 kinds of food, fishing-lines, etc. They were so snugly stowed away that Henry had hardly noticed them. A crew adrift in one of these boats would have food and water for some time.

The fire drill had little novelty for Henry. Too often he had seen the firemen in his native town couple their hose to a fire-plug and squirt water, to be much excited about a similar display now, though it was rather interesting to see eight streams going at one time.

The infantry drill had more attraction for him. It was not exactly a novelty, either, but it gave him a new idea of the Coast Guard men. He had not previously thought of them as soldiers. But when the quartermaster told him that in time of war the Coast Guard becomes part of the navy, he saw that marines on a battleship were no more necessary than they were on a Coast Guard cutter.

Probably Henry would have enjoyed all these exhibitions more, had he not been under the shadow of suspicion. No formal charges had been made against him, and he was not exactly a prisoner. Neither was he free to leave the boat. He hoped that the captain would soon get to the bottom of the mystery. Henry did not feel free to say anything to the chief electrician about the matter, lest the latter think that he was seeking to influence him. So he stayed away from the