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He studied the yellow slips again, striving to fix in his mind this problem, involving the safety of numerous human beings, that would probably become his. He had a fear of abnormal changes in the schedule. It had been impressed upon every signalman that thirty-three was the road's most precious responsibility. It was the only solid Pullman train that passed over the division.
Those brown eyes assorted piquantly with his very fair hair. He had pushed his white helmet far back on his yellow head. Half an hour later we were in our action stations once more. The signalman, passing by again, snatched a rifle and fired just beside me. One of the Maxims meanwhile was working away grimly, the officer's face was set firm as he steadied his coughing machine.
He took a third, a fourth, he knocked and shook the instrument, but it remained dumb. With his Morse-key he asked back: "Magdalen Bay, repeat message!" No answer. Then he asked: "Did you understand question?" No answer. The signalman was standing beside him, and he handed him the message with the order to take it at once to the bridge; then he went to the telephone and took off the receiver.
Seeing this, Lieutenant Fitzroy collected some hands, and lowered the life-boat gig, which was fitted with common tackles, got down into her himself by the falls, and pulling round to windward, shouted to the signalman for directions.
The gas engines were stopped, and the way on the craft was allowed to carry her a good distance, following the order from the commander. That officer looked around, and signalled to a British destroyer another of the warships ploughing the waters of the North Sea. A sailor expert signalman used his arms as semaphores, and an answer soon was received by our skipper.
Ten minutes later Langdon and the Sub were talking together in the little wardroom when there came a knock at the door. "Signal just come through, sir," the signalman announced with a smile on his face. "Rapier will proceed to Portsmouth at daylight to-morrow to refit. She will not be required for patrol to-night."
That the reader may understand why, we must observe that the "block system" of signalling, which had recently been introduced on part of the line, necessitated constant attention, and a series of acts, which gave the signalman no rest, during certain periods of his watch, for more than two minutes at a time, if so long.
"I'm downright shamed, that I am," were the words of the big signalman when he had stopped crying; "snivelling like a kid." Then suddenly he seemed to get cross. "And what was you doing up here, anyway?" he said; "you know it ain't allowed." "Yes," said Phyllis, "we knew it was wrong but I wasn't afraid of doing wrong, and so it turned out right. You aren't sorry we came."
Having the watch on deck, the captain desired the signalman to hoist the dog-a-tory pendant over the dinner signal.
He caught it with his other hand. He lay there, crouching, gripping wherever he could, his fingernails breaking, an intolerable pain in his knee, death spinning on either side of him.... Back behind the tower, Red Gallagher and his mate bent with horrified faces over the body of the signalman. "What the hell did you want to plug him for?" the latter muttered. "He ain't in the show at all.
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