“Expensive. That wireless operator is not so completely carried away by sympathy for you and suffrage for his sister as he seemed.” “What did you say?” “I’ll tell you to-morrow. I want to do it first; and it’s getting along toward time. So you go in now; good night.” “Good night,” she said. He had commanded; she had not meant to obey; but now, when she found herself doing it, she did not deter. “Bobs!” he caught her gently. “What?” “A kiss, dear!” “A kiss?” He took it before arguing further. “That’s all right,” he justified, as he took another. “No one’s about, Bobs! You kissed me that second time!” “I did the first time, too!” “Like that? Of course; but how could you have expected me to believe anything more than I was kissing you?” “Andy!” She was held tight in his arms. “What do you and I mean?” “I don’t know except that we mean it together.” “What?” “To get married, I guess; don’t we?” “We must.” The ship’s bell struck fluidly; in a moment there was some sort of confusion and calling--apparently on account of changing watches--and men came by. Andy put Roberta reluctantly away. “You must go in now. No; you can’t help, dear. You might only hinder. Of course, I’ll tell you all about it as soon as I can.” She stopped only for one more meeting of their lips, and then, no longer wondering at her obedience, she disappeared down the nearest companionway. Andy moved in an ecstasy down the deck; if he had had doubts before of what he was about to do, they were unfelt in this incredible delight. He loved little Bobs; she loved him; they could be married if he carried through what already he had planned. He was reckless to, oblivious of the confusion on deck except as it threatened his plans. Then most of the men moving about and running back and forth from the bridge vanished below; they left the decks almost deserted, and gave him his opportunity to act. He crept up to the wireless cabin. The rasp of the current in sending a communication came to him clearly. He waited tensely till it ceased; then he opened the door and entered the cabin, swiftly shutting the door behind him and locking it. The relief wireless operator was alone within, seated before his instruments. “All right?” Andy demanded of him. “The _Corinthian’s_ in easy communication, of course--a little ahead of us, and twenty or thirty miles to the south.” “She’s also within communication radius of the _Wellington_?” “Sure; the _Wellington’s_ now about a hundred miles east of us. If we sent out a call as if it came from the _Wellington_, the _Corinthian_ couldn’t tell whether it came from us or the _Wellington_.” “Good! And the _Wellington_ wouldn’t know we were impersonating them? The _Wellington’s_ operator has gone to bed now?” “He certainly isn’t at his station.”