Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/258

 his quarters before the lad was knocking at his door.

“Well, Henry,” smiled the commander as the young wireless operator entered the cabin, “what can I do for you?”

“Do you see this jacket?” asked Henry, with feverish eagerness, pulling off the garment in question. “When I got wet yesterday while that small boat was being cut loose, I ran into the stateroom and grabbed this coat out of the wardrobe. I put it on in place of my own wet one. This morning I got to feeling around in the pocket in search of a pencil and this is what I found.”

From the pocket Henry drew out the entire mass of rubbish and dumped it on the captain’s table. Then he sorted out the two finishing nails and handed them to the captain. “They looked to me exactly like the nail Mr. Sharp found in the damaged field coil,” explained Henry.

The commander examined the nails with interest. Unlocking a drawer in his desk, he drew out the nail Mr. Sharp had given him and laid it beside the others. ‘The three were identical, though of course the one was bent.

“Whose coat is that?” demanded Captain Hardwick.

“I can’t say for sure, sir, but I think it’s Black’s. Belford says it is,”