“Why, sooner or later curiosity would get the better of the Orient’s operator and he’d answer.”
“By George! Hemight. And what then?”
“Ask him some question that he would be likely to answer.”
“What, for instance?”
“Well, if you asked if the Orient had seen anything of some long-overdue steamer that sails the same waters the Orient does, wouldn’t he answer that? There is certainly nothing in such a request that would arouse suspicion.”
“That might work,” said the captain thoughtfully. “It’s a thing that’s often done. And the Navy Yard could call other boats far away from the Orient and ask the same question. That would make it even less suspicious. Yes, I believe that would work. The question is, Are there any boats that sail to southern waters that are now overdue?” The captain paused in thought. “I believe there are two,” he continued. “If we got the Orient, we could ask her position. It wouldn’t matter whether she gave it correctly or not. It would keep her wireless going and give us more time to get a good compass bearing. I believe we'll try it.”
The captain got into his launch and went ashore. He was gone a long time. When he returned, he called Henry to his cabin. “We're