“Not by a jug-full! Johnnie’s got a young man, I was just going to mention him when she came in, a sort of portigee——”
“Protégé Papa! Though he’s not that, either. He’s——”
“Oh, well, protyshay, then. Anyway, he’s got a system that beats Macarony’s to death. I call this chap Macarony, too, because he’s Italian, and his name is a good deal the same.”
“His name is Ferratoni, Papa, and the other isn’t Macaroni, either, but Marconi. Papa never calls anything by its right name, if he can help it,” she apologized. “He gets into dreadful trouble sometimes, too, and I’m glad of it. He should be more particular.”
“All right, then, it’s Ferry—Ferry what? How is it again, Johnnie?”
“Fer-ra-toni.”
“Now we’ve got it. Oh, well, let’s compromise and call him Tony, for short. Well, Tony’s got a system that does all that Macarony’s does, and goes it one better. Obstructions in the way don’t seem to make much difference, and you can use it with a telephone attachment instead of a—a what do you call it—a knocker?”
“A sounder, Daddy.”
“A sounder, that’s it, instead of a sounder. We tried it here the other day, and could talk to him over in the Tract building as well as if we’d been connected with the central office. He’s perfecting it now for long distance, and we might take him right along with us, and let him experiment between the balloon and the ship. How’s that?”
“It would complete our plans perfectly,” I agreed, “if his system of communication prove successful. But do you think he would care to go on such a voyage?”