The wireless man sprang to his feet, and stepped to his desk. “What day was that?” he asked.
“The very day you and Roy sailed away.”
“Then your troubles are over. I heard you calling, and here is a record of the fact.” And he opened his wireless log-book and showed to Willie an entry. “Tuesday, 1 o’clock P. M. CBM has been calling CBWC for three-quarters of an hour.”
CHAPTER XIV
WHO MADE THE FALSE KEY?
For a moment Willie was fairly speechless with astonishment. It was too good to be true. The thing he had been unable to accomplish through many hours of patient effort, had been accomplished seemingly by pure luck. At last his innocence was established.
“I can’t understand it,” cried Willie, as soon as he recovered from his astonishment. “I never dreamed you would hear me, because you use a wave-length longer than mine and would be listening for messages in your own wave-length.”
“Ordinarily I should have been. But Roy tried hard to get you by wireless before he left. He wanted to send a friendly good-bye message. He couldn’t get you, so he asked me to see if I could get you and deliver the message. I tried several times, with no luck. Then I made a last effort when I was about two hours out. It was a singular coincidence. Just as I got my instruments regulated for your wave-length, you began to call CBWC yourself. Of course, I listened in, expecting every minute that you would be done calling. Once in a while I shifted to my own wave-length for a moment and then back to yours. Nobody called me, and I heard every call you made. When you stopped calling, I tried to get you, but couldn’t.”
“That was because I left my instrument the instant I stopped calling and went to my desk. I don’t quite see why you entered my call in your log, though.”
“Well, we usually jot down everything out of the usual, and also many things not out of the usual. I thought you’d like to see your call in my log when I got back, so I wrote down that entry as a friendly act.”
“It was indeed a friendly act,” said Willie fervently. “You have done me the greatest service any one could do. You have made it possible for me to clear my reputation. Will you help me do that?”