H. C. McNeile

“ To be asked to dispatch to the world at large a message beginning “Dear Brother,” and finishing “Yours in the church” struck him as being something which a self-respecting wireless operator should not be asked to do.
“Poor little bird,” said the skipper thoughtfully, as the missionary went aft to join his companions, “I’m glad for his sake that he doesn’t know what the bulk of our cargo is this trip. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night for fear of being made to walk the plank by pirates.”
Jim looked up lazily. ”

“ It was the first night out on the last stage that Jim and I were sitting talking with the skipper on the bridge. Occasionally the sharp, hissing crackle of the wireless installation broke the silence, and through the open door of the cabin we could see the operator working away in his shirt sleeves.
“I guess it’s hard to begin to estimate what we sailors owe to Marconi for that invention,” said Kelly thoughtfully. “Now that we’ve got it, it seems almost incredible to think how we got along without it. And what can I do for you, sir?” ”

“ But my principal thoughts were centered on Jim. Where was he? What was he doing? Had these blackguards done away with him, or was he lying up somewhere—hidden away? And even if he was, what could he do? Those two guns had an unpleasant appearance.
A bunch of armed men came pouring over the side of the ship, and then disappeared below, only to come up again in a few minutes carrying a number of wooden boxes, which they lowered into the boats alongside. They worked with the efficiency of well-trained sailors, and I found myself cursing aloud. ”

“ He listened in silence, and when I ended he said:
“More people know Tom Fool, old boy, than Tom Fool knows. I certainly don’t know either of those two sportsmen, but it’s more than likely they know me, at any rate by sight. And wouldn’t you swear if you had to wear a dog collar in this heat?”
Evidently Jim was inclined to dismiss the episode as trifling, and after a time I came around to the same view. Even at lunch that day, when the skipper was formally introducing us and the clergyman still gave no sign of claiming any previous acquaintance with Jim, I thought no more about it. ”

“ Jim laughed. “You old humbug, James! You’ll never give up the sea.”
The skipper sighed and stretched himself.
“Maybe not, lad; maybe not. Not till she gives me up, anyway. But chickens are nice companionable beasts they tell me, and Dorset is England.”
We continued talking for a few minutes longer, when a sudden and frenzied explosion of mirth came from the wireless operator. I had noticed him taking down a message, which he was now reading over to himself, and after a moment or two of unrestrained joy he came out on deck. ”

“ For the man whose voice I had heard was evidently the shining light of the bunch.
He turned out to be the Reverend Samuel Longfellow, and his destination, as that of all the others, was Colombo. They were going to open a missionary house somewhere in the interior of Ceylon, and run it on novel lines of their own. But at that point Jim and I got out of our depths and the conversation languished. However, they seemed very decent fellows, even if they did fail somewhat signally to add to the general gaiety. ”

“ There they sit from morning till night reading and praying, till they fairly give you the hump.”
“It doesn’t sound like one long scream of excitement,” said Jim. “But if they’re happy, that’s all that matters. Come on, Dick. Let’s go up and see if old man Kelly is still being polite.”
We went on deck to find that the argument was finished, and with a shout of delight the skipper recognized Jim. Jim went forward to meet him, and for a moment or two I stood where I was, idly watching the scene on the quay. And then quite distinctly I heard a voice from behind me say, “By God! It’s Jim Maitland.” ”

“ Then he turned to one of the other parsons beside him. “Is it set?” he asked briefly.
“Yea,” said the other. “We’d better hurry. What about that woman up there?”
“Confound the woman!” answered the Reverend Samuel. “A pleasant journey, Captain Kelly.”
He stepped down the gangway into the second boat, and was pulled away toward the yacht. And, feeling almost sick with rage, I glanced at the skipper beside me. Poor devil! What he must be feeling, I hardly dared to think. To be held up on the High Seas and robbed of specie and pearls the first time he was carrying them was cruel luck. ”

“ We changed the cargo around—he and I. Their chests containing nitroglycerin we filled with gold; and the specie boxes we filled with nitroglycerin and some lead and iron as a make-weight. And then we let the plan proceed. We banked on a holdup and the wrecking of the wireless. We thought they’d send over a boatload of armed men, and transfer the stuff to the yacht—and in fact they did. Further, we banked on the fact that they wouldn’t fool around with a fat, hysterical old woman, or a man in the throes of fever. Good girl—that Miss Armstrong ”

“ Don’t pass it on, but we’ve got over half a million in gold below, to say nothing of a consignment of pearls worth certainly another quarter.”
Jim whistled. “By Jove! It would be a nice haul for some one. Bit out of your line, isn’t it, James—carrying specie?”
“Yes, it is,” agreed the other. “It generally goes on the bigger boats, but there was some hitch this time. And it’s just as safe with me as it is with them. That has made it safe.” He pointed to the wireless operator busily sending out the parson’s message. “That has made piracy a thing of the past. ”

“ They aren’t worrying over his salvation.”
And with that he went to bed, leaving me thinking fairly acutely. Could there be anything in it? Could it be possible that any one would attempt piracy in the twentieth century, especially when the ship, as the skipper had pointed out, was equipped with wireless? The idea was ridiculous, and the next morning I went around to Jim’s cabin to tell him so. It was empty, and there was a note lying on the bed addressed to me. It was brief and to the point:
I am ill in bed with a sharp dose of fever. ”

“ If these men were what they said they were, the two big chests below, which common report had it were filled with Bibles, would prove their case. I suggested, therefore, that we examine these two chests. They would never know, and it would settle the matter. ”