"Why, they're fit for a king or a millionaire," laughed Raynor. "I'll bet you never thought, when you were in that little rabbit hutch of a wireless room on the old _Ajax_, that some day you'd be traveling in such style?"
Raynor's eyes wandered to the instrument table, with its array of the most up-to-date wireless apparatus.
"Hullo! What's that thing?" he asked suddenly, pointing to a device that looked unfamiliar. It was a box-shaped arrangement, metal, with complicated wires strung to it and had a "telephone" receiver attached to it with a band to hold it securely to the operator's head.
"Oh, that's an invention of my own that I'm trying out," said Jack. "I don't just know what success I'll have with it. I haven't really put it to the test yet."
"Well, at present you know a ship can only receive wireless messages from a ship that is 'in tune' with her own radio apparatus. The Universal Detector should make it possible to catch every wireless sound. I am very anxious, if I perfect it, to get it adopted in the navy. It would be of great value in time of war, for by its use every message sent by an enemy, even if they were purposely put 'out of tune,' could be caught."
"By the way, speaking of the navy, did you hear from Captain Simms?"
"Yes; he is still up at Musky Bay. Some difficulties in the code have arisen, and he will not be through with his work for two weeks or more yet, he says."
"No more attempts to steal his work, or to spy on him?"
"He doesn't mention any. I guess we're through with the Judson crowd."
"Looks that way. What a gang of thorough-paced rascals they were."
"I guess Judson's business must be in a bad way to make him take such desperate chances to recoup by landing that contract."
Raynor lifted his eyes to the ship's clock above Jack's operating instruments.
"By Jove, almost eight bells! I've got to go on watch. This is my first job as second engineer, and I mean to keep things on the jump. Well, so long, old fellow."
"See you this evening," said Jack, as Raynor hurried off.
Jack soon became very busy. The air was full of all sorts of messages. Besides that, his cabin was crowded with men and women who wished to file last messages to those they left behind them. He worked steadily through the afternoon, catching meteorological radios as well as information from other steamers scattered along the Atlantic lane.