“That’s the spirit,” encouraged Brandon. “Remember, all great men have had to fight an uphill battle against criticism.”
“That’s true,” said Herb, with a melancholy sigh. “And what’s more, if you can judge by the amount of criticism, I must be going to be extra great. Still, that’s likely enough, I suppose.”
“Don’t stop him, fellows,” said Bob, with a mischievous grin. “Let him rave on. If he enjoys kidding himself that way, why should we wake him up?”
“Aw, you fellows who think you’re so smart are probably kidding yourselves,” said Herb. “Nobody could really be as smart as you Indians think you are and live to tell the story.”
“That’s one of the failings of human nature to rate ourselves too highly,” interposed Dr. Dale, with a smile. “But now, how would you all like to go in and hear the rest of the concert? We’ve missed only the first part, and there’s still quite a good deal to come.”
They all acceded to this proposal with alacrity, and found that, as the doctor had said, they had not missed much of the programme. The wireless 154 apparatus worked to perfection, and they could hear everything perfectly.
“The static isn’t nearly as bad to-night as it was a month or two ago,” said Dr. Dale. “At times last summer it interfered a good deal with my receiving.”
“Yes, it’s always a good deal worse in summer than in winter,” remarked Frank Brandon. “I always advise beginners not to start at wireless in mid-summer, as they sometimes get such poor results with their small sets that they get discouraged and give up the game altogether. It’s better to wait until fall, and then by the next summer they’ve had experience enough to know how to reduce the bad effects of static.”
“It used to get pretty bad sometimes at Ocean Point last summer,” observed Bob. “Once or twice our concerts were almost spoiled by it, while at other times we’d hardly notice it.”
“With that set, you ought to be able to get any broadcasting station in the Eastern States,” said Brandon. “And if you have luck, and conditions happened to be just right, you might even get something from the other side, although of course that isn’t very likely.”