Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 7, 1922 — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

174 ing to do a peculiar, an exceptional thing.” He lowered his voice. ‘‘ There is one place on board this ship that still remains to be searched.” As if to emphasize the remark, the lights of the saloon suddenly dimmed to a semi- glow. Some extra load had just been thrown upon the dynamo. Slowly the lights re- turned to a brilliancy just below normal. “ Say!”? Sparks announced in no uncer- tain tone of voice, “ some guy’s just started my set!” The generator of the wireless transmitter, being fed directly from the ship’s dynamo, placed a heavy load upon the dynamo whenever the set was started up, a load that took the governor a moment to coun- teract. “ He’s sending!” Sparks exclaimed in a voice scarcely above a whisper. They sat gazing stupidly up at the lights, fascinated into a momentary inaction. With every contact of the transmitting key mak- ing its dots and dashes the load on the dynamo was increased during the period of contact, and, in consequence, the lights in the saloon were dimmed during the same period, making it possible for anyone to read whatever message was being sent out by means of the dots and dashes clearly marked by the lights. Sparks had grabbed his pencil and pad and was copying, his eyes turned toward one of the flickering clusters. They crowded around him, leaned over him, star- ing at the letters appearing on the paper as he wrote. “It’s hash—perfectly lucid, plain hash!” Harris informed them. “Shut up!” Rutledge layed a restrain- ing hand on Harris’s arm. ‘“ Don’t bother him.” The lights, to Sparks, flashed --- -. -. @ee#ee eee&e#ee no oe - - = - re and con- tinued in a rapid succession of blinks unin- telligible to a layman. The letters on the pad strung out into the following cipher: onnotionposirtythinenityforxsithnoreonntyseve eensixtst wersecouotwntyseveuetredspeneniacka tttaceon4 onnotionposirtythinenity forxsi— “He’s repeating,” Sparks stated. “Ts that thing a word?” asked Harris. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ‘It’s cipher.” Sparks tore the message from the pad and handed it to Hendriks. ‘* Here, sir, you’d best keep this. C’mon, fellers—let’s go!” The China Queen had her house amid- ships arranged in this fashion: Take the saloon as a starting point, a large, rectangular room running athwart the ship. In its forward end were eight ports looking out upon the forward part of the main deck. In its starboard and port ends were two doors apiece leading, each one, into an officer’s cabin. From each one of these four cabins there was no means of egress except by the door opening into the saloon. In the saloon’s after-end were two doors opening into a passage that ran completely athwart the house and at either end of which was a door, flanked on the outside by a steel door, opening directly upon the main deck. In one side of the passage opposite from the saloon were three doors, one openmg into the pantry, one into the officers’ bath- room, and one into the steward’s cabin. A stairway led from this passage to the pas- sage directly above it on the bridge deck. This upper passage had a door at either end opening directly on deck. Two doors in its forward side led respectively into the captain’s quarters and the spare room, neither of which had any exit onto the deck. Two doors in its after side opened into the wireless operating room and bunk room, and into the captain’s bathroom. The wireless operating room possessed a door of its own that opened directly upon the bridge deck. Every one followed Sparks. They ran from the saloon and up the stairs to the upper passage. Sparks sprang for the door of the wireless room. It was locked. ““On deck!” Every one had the idea at once. They assailed the two doors at either end of the passage. Both were locked. With an exceptionally fine assortment of oaths they streamed again down the stairs and for the two doors of the lower passage leading onto the main deck. They also were locked. DOOK C©