All he asked, though, was a chance to demonstrate his ability as a wireless man on the _Ajax_, a big oil tanker which had just been equipped with such an outfit. He got the job, and then followed many stirring adventures. He took part in a great rescue at sea, and was able to frustrate the schemes of some tobacco smugglers who formed part of the crew of the "tanker." This task, however, exposed him to grave danger and almost resulted in his death.
At sea once more, after the smugglers had been apprehended and locked up, Jack's keen wireless sense enabled him to solve a problem in surgery. The _Ajax_ carried no doctor, and when one of the men in the fireroom was injured, and it appeared that a limb would have to be amputated, a serious question confronted the captain, who, like most of his class, possessed a little knowledge of surgery, but not enough to perform an operation that required so much skill.
The injured man was a chum of Jack's, and he did not want to see him lose a limb if it could be helped, or have his life imperiled by unskillful methods. Yet what was he to do? Finally an idea struck him. He knew that the big passenger liners all carried doctors. He raised one by means of the wireless and explained the case. The injured man was carried into the wireless cabin and laid close to the table. Then, while the liner's doctor flung instructions through space, Jack translated them to the captain. The result was that the man was soon out of danger, but Jack kept in touch with doctors of other liners till everything was all right beyond the shadow of a doubt.
This feat gained him no little commendation from his captain and the owners. Next he was instrumental in saving Mr. Jukes' yacht which was on fire at sea. In the panic Mr. Jukes' son Tom, who was the apple of the ship-owning millionaire's eye, was lost. By means of wireless, Jack located him and reunited father and son.
His promotion was the result, when the regular operator of the _Tropic Queen_ went west to receive a big legacy left him. As the services of the retiring operator's assistant had been unsatisfactory, Jack was asked to find a successor to him. He selected an old school chum, Sam Smalley, who had owned and operated a small station in Brooklyn and was an expert in theory and practice. The ship had now been at sea two days, and Sam had shown that he was quite capable of the duties of his new job.
