"It is still in a general sense," smiled Bob. "It is only when the amplifier of the wireless magnifies the sounds that we realize how many of them our ears fail to hear."
"It's a downright mercy they do!" exclaimed Jerry.
"You're right there, Jerry!" agreed Mr. Crowninshield.
"But how do messages come through such a chaos?" Dick inquired.
"Sometimes they don't," laughed Bob. "But nine cases out of ten they do because there are ways of combating static interference. You can, for instance, tune your apparatus to a higher or lower pitch and thereby escape from the zone where the noise is. That whine you hear is produced by my turning the tuning knob and increasing our range of meters. Already with the higher vibration you will notice the hubbub has lessened."
"Yes, things are ever so much clearer," agreed a chorus of voices.
"That is one way, then, out of the difficulty. There are, in addition, other mechanical means that can be resorted to when you learn more about handling the outfit. Suffice it to say that in a general way whatever tends toward inertia, or a lack of electrical activity, decreases static interference."
There was a pause in which above the crackling and the wailing of the instrument a faint sound became audible.
"Gee! Did you hear that?" cried Walter.
"Hush!"