his words.
"Operator wishes to know if he can leave the 'phones, sir? Says he has
to see you."

The bridge messenger turns aside inquiringly, holding out the receiver
of the telephone as a context to his words. The request, that would have
aroused an instant disquiet six days ago, now appears trivial and
normal. There may be receipts to be signed. Approaching port the
operator will be completing his accounts. We are unconcerned and resume
our conversation until he arrives.

He is insistent that it cannot be due to atmospherics. "A queer
business, sir. Thought it best to report instead of telephoning. Some
station addressing a message to ABMV [all British merchant vessels], and
another trying to jam it out. Can't get more than the prefix, when
jamming begins. No, not atmospherics. I've taken ABMV, though distant,
twice in this watch, and, looking up the junior's jottings for the last
watch, I see he had traces. Whatever is jamming the message out is
closer to us than the sender. I dunno what to make of it!"

"You mean that a message from a land station to us is being interfered
with, deliberately, from somewhere near at hand?"

He produces the slip of his junior's scribbles. Among the jumble of
noughts and crosses, there is certainly a hastily scrawled ABMV, then
x's and x's. "What else, sir? At first I thought it was
atmospherics--x's were fierce last watch--but x's can't happen that way
twice running!"

"All right! Carry on again. Let me know at once if anything further.
Gear to be manned continuously from now on. Keep your junior at hand."

[Illustration: 'OUT-BOATS' IN A MERCHANTMAN]

A queer business! We trim the possibilities in our mind. It is now
nearly dark. As we go, we should make Nantucket Lightship at daybreak;
our usual landfall on the voyage. There is not much to work on. 'A
message being sent, and some one making unusual efforts to prevent
receipt.' A raider? It is now some months since _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ was
driven into Norfolk; she cannot surely, have escaped internment.
_Karlsruhe?_ Nothing has been heard of her for a long term. A submarine?
Perhaps _Deutschland_, with his torpedo-tubes refitted and a gun
mounted? He knows the way; he could carry oil enough to reach the coast,
do a strafe, and sneak into a port for internment. . . . Figuring on the
chart, measuring distance and course and speed, it comes to us that
enemy action would best succeed off Nantucket or the Virginia Capes. We
resol