Page:The web (1919).djvu/258

 could not make out the message. At one o 'clock in the morning four tried men and true of the A. P. L. rowed out with muffled oars to an anchored yacht which seemed to be the place from which the light signals appeared. They found five pairs of feet pointing to the zenith. Calling upon the feet to surrender, they boarded the yacht and explanations followed. It appeared that the five yachtsmen had had a hard day's sail and had decided to remain on board ship over night. The flashes of light which had so aroused the A. P. L. men were nothing more nor less than the reflection of a shore light on the glass of a porthole as the boat rolled and swayed in the ripples of the bay.

Next to mysterious signal lights, wireless stations have produced as many flivvers for the A. P. L. as anything else. Inspector T insisted that there was a house in his district which ought to be searched, because he was satisfied it had a wireless plant. As he had no proof, he could not obtain a search warrant. Mr. Endicott, at the office of the Food Administration, gave him a sugar warrant, stating that that would let him into the house, and that he might get some information. Inspector T went to the house with a club in one hand and the warrant in the other; searched the house from garret to basement, but found no wireless. While poking around in one of the corners, however, he did discover eighty pounds of sugar, which, being overweight, he promptly confiscated.

Soon after the forming of the A. P. L. in Boston, a man came in with a carrier pigeon which he was sure was a mysterious messenger of some sort. It was a beautiful white bird that had dark dots and dashes all over the inside of both wings. The chief was all wrought up about this and regretted that he had not been taught the Morse code in early life. He therefore took the man and the bird over to the office of Military Intelligence, where they unravel, decipher and decode all sorts of things. The Major in command was very cordial, and he also examined the bird carefully. In his belief the dots and dashes on the wings were of importance, but he could not quite read them all. He sent for the code expert of the Signal Corps. Who shall say that A. P. L. cannot run down any sort of clew? The code expert of the Signal Corps also examined the bird carefully, but