But just as he started to rise from his chair a faint but distinct buzzing sound caught his ear.
“There he is now,” he thought as he quickly pulled the receiver from his pocket and held it to his ear.
“Hello, Bob. Can you hear me?” The words were as distinctly audible as if his brother had been standing at his side.
“Fine,” he replied holding the small receiver, which, by pressing a button on the side of the case, he had converted into a transmitter, a few inches from his mouth. “It seems to work all right at this end. Can you hear me?”
Pressing the button again he held the receiver to his ear once more.
“Plain as day,” came the delighted voice of his brother. “I’ll be down in two shakes of a dog’s tail.”
Bob had hardly disconnected the wires and taken the case and cylinder from his pockets when Jack burst into the room.
“Whoop la, she’s a go all right,” the younger boy shouted as he caught hold of his brother and for a moment the two delighted boys executed an Indian war dance about the room.
“We’d better not make too much noise,” Bob cautioned as out of breath he threw himself into a chair. “I expect the folks are in bed by this time and they may think the house is on fire,” he laughed.
“But to think that we’ve hit it at last after trying more than twenty different things,” Jack declared as he too sat down. “It seems too good to be a fact, but those selenium plates are evidently just the thing. They catch the waves just as well and perhaps better than aerials.”