Alec slipped on the headpiece and sat down at his key. "WNA—WNA—WNA de 3ADH—3ADH—3ADH," he flashed.
Almost at once came the response. "3ADH—3ADH—3ADH de WNA—WNA—WNA—K."
"Hello, Roy!" ticked off Alec. "This is Alec Cunningham. Just happened to hear you calling Cape May. Can't imagine why they didn't answer. How are you?"
"Fine. How are you? What are you doing?"
"All O. K. Counting oyster larvæ with a microscope just now. Tell you all about it some day. What are you sailing so early for?"
"New schedule. Going to touch at some West Indian ports and Yucatan on way to Galveston. Due back here a month from to-day. That's August twenty-two. Be sure to watch for me. May have something interesting to tell you. How are you getting on? Heard from any of the other fellows of the Camp Brady Wireless Patrol?"
For some time the two old comrades talked as fast as they could flash their messages to each other. Then Alec laid down his receivers and turned to Elsa. "It certainly is good to hear from Roy," he said. "He's one of the fellows from the Camp Brady Wireless Patrol at home. He's a prince, too. No end of pluck and brains. Why, he saved the Lycoming from a collision in a fog, just with his wireless. And he was washed overboard when he was helping to take a line to the disabled steamer Empress during a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, and was swept into Corpus Christi by the tidal wave. He got the news of the disaster there to the outside world by wireless that he made himself and so got help for the city. Oh! He's a wonderful chap. How I wish you knew him. He's true as steel. They don't make any others quite so fine as Roy."
"If he's a friend of yours, Alec, I know he's all right. You wouldn't have any other kind of friends. But as for their not making any other boys as fine as Roy, humph! I guess I know somebody that's true as steel myself."
"I must hustle along with my job," said Alec, and he went back to his microscope.
Finally, his bottles examined and cleaned and all his apparatus stowed away, Alec picked up the setting-pole. "It's time we were heading for Bivalve," he said.