Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/86

 Already the Iroquois had come about and was standing on the first leg of the grid. Hour after hour the cutter continued its search, covering leg after leg of the course. But neither the men on the bridge nor the lookouts in the crow’s-nests could detect any particle of wreckage.

Meantime the chief electrician had been combing the seas with his wireless, asking all vessels that had seen the derelict to give the Iroquois what information they had concerning it.

Every three or four hours he kept broadcasting this message: “Iroquois searching for derelict schooner. Last reported September 25 in latitude thirty-nine, thirty; longitude sixty-six, twenty. Any vessel sighting derelict please notify Coast Guard cutter Iroquois. Call letters NTE.”

And Henry, listening in at times, caught several messages like this: “NTW—NTE—NTE—de—KLF—Your QST acknowledged. Will keep sharp lookout. AR.”

“How wonderful wireless is,” thought Henry. “By means of it we can enlist every pair of eyes on the near-by ocean.”

But the search by wireless was quite as fruitless as that by steam. No trace of the lost schooner could be found. All day the Iroquois steamed along, yet night found her unsuccessful. When dusk came, the lookouts were ordered from