It was May Farncombe!
“I know the young lady. She’s a friend of mine,” Falconer said briefly, more puzzled than ever. “But do you really know anything about Paget?”
“Only that he seems to be a man of considerable means, very generous, and quite a good sort.”
Geoffrey remained silent. He was thinking deeply. It seemed that May Farncombe’s knowledge of wireless—and she quite unconsciously had betrayed a fairly wide grasp of the science and its latest developments—had been derived from the man whom she had pretended was a stranger to her.
Paget’s attitude towards Geoffrey’s friend had been most affable. He had even called him by his Christian name, and had reminded him of an appointment for dinner two days later.
Before they left the stranger added: “I hope, Mr. Falconer, that we shall meet again very soon.”
They did meet, and once under rather curious circumstances.
Geoffrey each night worked hard at his new design for the calling-device, to which he was attaching apparatus to record upon the tape the signals received. He met with failure after failure until at last, one night, he set his calling-device to receive signals from the efficient station of a Dutch amateur at Amsterdam—known in the world of wireless as “P.Y.N.” In wireless both in America and England, people and places are known by their call-signal, rather than by their names. He knew that on that particular evening “P.Y.N.” would call by Morse before sending telephony and music to English amateurs.
So having set his instrument attached to the “inker,” he waited. Suddenly at nine o’clock the Morse sounder gave two or three sharp clicks. He switched on the tape, and out upon it came a printed message from Amsterdam to certain stations in England.
His invention was complete!