Show HE wireless spark that cries to the shore tor help when night and terror settle down on the doomed steam ship and the wild moment of thanksgiving as the message of deliverance drums in the weary operators ear has furnished many a thrill but the cry from shore searching the sea and finding the white speck on its bosom that means hope and life Is rare and to put it mildly reversing the order of things of course in story books the hero often finds himself cast away and is put to no great shift to rig a wireless whose uncouth turn the great steamship from her path and bring the right girl in the bargain but this Is a story of swan island despite the name you would not care to live on swan island there are no swans nor are there any dainty ox eyed junos or peroxide junos to marry the castaway earl swan island lies in the tropics some hundred miles off honduras it you insist on getting out your atlas and by common report Is the most forsaken thing in the caribbean sea which is saying much it would be hard to imagine a more dreary place or one less suited for the local color to a story with a thrill A few huts scattered over the swampy ground some palms some cocoanut coco anut trees and the tally is complete all but the wireless station commerce must be served and the united fruit company has erected on swan island a little station that keeps in touch with steamships passing miles out to sea the station also relays messages franr port allmon costa rica see our map again over to jamaica nothing else remains in the summing up of swan island but scorpions tarantulas tran tulas and a multi tude of carnivorous insects whose execution would drive the new jersey product to envious suicide thither at the close of a sweltering day in autumn came a new wireless operator and a tor necessity brought the operator curiosity brought the visitor the same steamship deposited both on the white beach to call a month later with another operator keenan the wireless man was in luck for after a month alone on swan island that Is alone so far as white companions are concerned except tor a single beach comber which Is deemed sufficient by the company men show the beginnings of a line of self addressed conversation which would not entitle them any too firmly to the major premise ulan is a ration al animal curiosity and scorpions brought the visitor one warren carew who hailed from new york and should have known better carew had money and troops of friends picked up in odd parts of the globe but he preferred to list scorpions he was a naturalist he told the wireless man and keenan accustomed to strange men and strange places shrugged his shoulders and was glad for the companionship the naturalist brought at daylight before the heat of the sun made life a burden carew collected his ugly specimens and later he talked with keenan who furnished gossip of the world snatched from the passing craft two weeks passed in desultory fashion with morning searches and afternoons looking over the hot blue sea before and the lagoon be hind that lay like a spot of tarnished silver showing through the scrawny palms carew was careless and one morning it happened the lobster like claws of the scorpion nipped and carew went off balance the nip was not dangerous but the sprawl threw him into line for the stinging tall of the holder of venom that meant death death unless heroic measures were adopted whatever else carew was he was not a coward the report of keenan and all information that can be gathered shows he acted with spartan courage but again he was careless the small spot in the calf of the leg where the poison entered was bared by him and a common jackknife brought into play quickly carew cut at the place and slashed until there was a free flow from a wound three inches long he bound up the leg with strips of clothing and hobbled back to his but keenan saw him and hurried to his assistance carew was made comfortable in a bunk and sheltered sweltered ered cheerfully through the afternoon believing he had saved himself copious doses of brandy muddled his senses and keenen returned to his post there were no signs of the swift death that follows the sting of the scorpion two days passed and on the evening of the third keenan noticed the mat curtains drawn in carawa hut A group of natives gesticulated be tore the door but none would enter the wireless operator pushed aside the drawn matting wondering why carew should have closed himself in when the slightest breath of sultry air was a blessed relief carew sat in a corner of the hut laughing he had lighted the lamp which added to the almost unbearable heat of the hut the wireless man gasped out what s the matter don t want any air you 11 suffocate he started to draw aside the curtains when the naturalist stopped him don t he said it s cold my leg will catch cold swiftly keenan had him by the shoulders and there in the stifling room examined the wounded leg it took but a glance to not the swelling and the coming of the first mortification around the wound gangrene would set in if it had not come already the end was certain death more brandy and water thrown on him despite protest brought from the naturalist the story of the cutting he had used an unclean blade and this was the result both men returned to the wireless station keenan helping the now fright ened hunter of scorpions A grim allence settled over them and while carew sat dumbly awaiting the outcome keenan thought hard it was nearly midnight when the idea came away out at sea hundreds of miles were vessels passing if he could only summon one and persuade the captain to turn in to save a life I 1 II 11 wireless a doctor old man keenan shouted joyfully clapping the inert carew on the shoulder the naturalist was too amazed for the time being to grasp the idea but after he caught the spirit his anxiety was pitiful but the steamship would not turn so tar he walled then he cried out promise them anything I 1 can pay his dynamos running smoothly keenan fingered the bey and the blue sparks crackled he repeated at intervals and waited there was no answering click in the receivers through the night tho crackling kept up while the awakened natives and the comber hurried to the station to watch the blue spark that snarled out into the tropical night toward morning port allmon answered but here was no help at daylight the swelling had in creased and with the approach of what he believed the end the new york man became calm I 1 am sorry friend he said f but I 1 think it s pretty near over we are too tar from help and besides it Is all impossible no ship would turn I 1 promise not to break down again it I 1 do become crazy and there Is no hope I 1 depend on you to and he nodded significantly toward bis revolver keenan did not answer somewhere out on the caribbean be knew the santa marta was plough ing along so he piled afie wireless unceasingly the answer came about nine 0 clock in the morning from the santa marta which reported her position exactly miles to the southeast rapid exchanges brought a refusal to turn to swan island the ship s surgeon dr W S iraln standing beside the wireless said it would be useless and the message was sent to keenan who dared not look at the doomed young man that seemed to to be the end tor a moment then there came a new sputtering in the receiver the doctor says to perform the operation yourself how can I 1 the spark from swan island questioned the santa marta at sea back came the instructions get him ready said the wireless you have warrens medical book there and you can go on the pages I 1 mention describe the symptoms keenan told the condition of the wound and the circumstances but ie insisted on his fears when it came time to amputate no amputation necessary came back the message A lot of cutting according to direction aal your man is saved keenan howled this message to the trembling man and made ready for further directions take a tourniquet eald the wireless it was hard to believe that out of sight beyond the horl zon a trained mind at another instrument was dt reeling through space the way to save a human life with the aid of the beach comber the tourniquet was applied and a knife Carew s own which had caused the trouble plunged in boiling water to make it clean more brandy was served to him by the wireless man and everything was ready tor the operation A native boy who acted us hermans helper ran after articles as directed by turning to the page he had been directed keenan found a chart of the leg ready he flashed to dr iraln the first direction came he repeated it back and it was verified so there could be no mistake each part of the lancing was gone over carefully under repeated instructions meantime the santa marta continued to plunge along on the blue ca and when the cutting was over there came the query from the ship to shore have you any tara keenan had and the instruction came to boll it and pour it on the now clean wound it was rough surgery but the best thing under the circumstances cum stances carew tainted under it and was revived tell him he a sate now came the wireless the tourniquet was removed and the numbed leg still horribly painful under the searing tar was bandaged got plenty of brandit bran dyT asked the spark about the only thing we have keenan pound ed back let him have enough to forget his troubles ordered the surgeon and the message was sent now by rights all should have been over with the saving of carew but there remained the one touch that will be a long time finding its duall cate the following day the young naturalist appear ed dragging himself along with a cane in defiance of orders he stopped by the wireless man who had taken his instrument out under the trees forget it he said when the other began to remonstrate 1 I feel great its wonderful to know you re going to live after all I 1 want to thank that doctor so keenan raised the santa marta again and the surgeon was called to the wireless room tell him I 1 can t operate the key so it means anything said carew but it he will sit down at the instrument I 1 II 11 make some dots with the thing and that will serve for the present you know our hands will really touch when his has one key and I 1 the other and the air between and so it happened that through the air over the blue caribbean there passed sundry dots that meant nothing and everything |