The decks were cleared of passengers.

They were all sleeping in their staterooms.

Only on the bridge he saw a group of persons:--the captain and all the officers, some of them dressed very lightly as though they had been roused from slumber.
Passing by the wireless office, he obtained an explanation of the matter.

The youth of the night before was near the door and his companion was now wearing the head phone and tapping the keys of the apparatus, listening and replying to invisible boats.
An half hour before, just as the English operator was going off guard and giving place to his just awakened companion, a signal had kept him in his seat.

The _Californian_ was sending out by wireless the danger call, the S.O.S., that is only employed when a ship needs help.