“I am not kidding,” said George Belding rather sullenly, for he did not like to be laughed at. “No. And don’t try to make me believe that anybody is trying to kid you with a ‘help’ call,” Sparks said, shaking his head. But as we have said, George was stubborn. Sparks thought he had spelled out the name of the destroyer in those grating sounds. If so, why shouldn’t it be just as reasonable that Belding had heard the dots and dashes spelling ‘h-e-l-p’? Belding put this up to Whistler and Al when he had a chance to tell them about it in the first dog watch. He was not excited at all. He simply did not like to have his word doubted or be laughed at by Sparks. “As for being laughed at,” the very sensible Philip Morgan said, “it strikes me that I wouldn’t be worried by that. Your opinion is just as good as old Sparks’ or anybody else’s, for that matter. Eh, Al?” “Why not?” returned the other Seacove boy. “It was George heard the sounds, not Sparks. Get a chance to listen in again, George.” “Can it be possible that there is somebody trying to send a message for help to the _Colodia_?” Whistler went on slowly. “Cracky!” ejaculated Al, “I didn’t think of that.” “Sparks says that he thought he spelled out the destroyer’s name. George has heard the word ‘help.’ Get after it, George!” he added, earnestly. “Don’t let ’em put you down.” “But who under the sun would be doing such a thing?” demanded Al. “Is it a joke, after all?” “It will be a sorry joke if our Government gets after the sender. The law is mighty strict about private wireless plants, you know,” said Phil Morgan. “There is one sure thing,” declared Belding. “If anybody is trying to call this ship, they don’t know much about the regulation codes and sendings. They don’t know the destroyer’s number, and the way they handle Morse is a caution to cats!” “Stick to it,” advised Whistler. But George did not really need to be urged in this direction. The next afternoon watch he was back at the radio room begging to “listen in” again. Because of the interest the radio men had begun to feel in the “ghost talk” in the air at this time of day, both Sparks and one of his assistants were on hand. The regular radio men were listening for the peculiar voice in the wireless, at all hours; but it seemed to be confined now to an hour or two in mid-afternoon. One after the other the _Colodia’s_ radio force slipped on the receiving harness and listened to the mystery. Belding got his chance, in spite of the fact that Sparks laughed at him. This time Belding kept the instrument tuned down to the commercial waves on which it seemed the “ghost talk” was the more easily transmitted. Now and then he got the spelling of a letter clearly. But not a word in its entirety did he hear on this day--not even “help.”