The Campfire Girls of Roselawn; Or, a Strange Message from the Air Page 6

  CHAPTER VI

  SOMETHING COMING

  That afternoon Mr. Norwood brought home the radio receiving set in theautomobile. The two girls, with a very little help, but a plethora ofsuggestion from Darry and Burd, proceeded to establish the set on atable in Jessie's room, and attach the lead-in wire and the groundwire.

  Jessie had bought a galena crystal mounted, as that was moresatisfactory, the book said. After all the parts of the radio set hadbeen assembled and the connections made, the first essentialoperation, if they were to make use of the invention at once, was toadjust the tiny piece of wire--the "cat's whisker"--which lightlyrests on the crystal-detector, to a sensitive point.

  Jessie, who had read the instruction book carefully, knew that thisadjustment might be made in several different ways. One satisfactoryway is by the use of a miniature buzzer transmitter.

  "What are we going to hear?" Amy demanded eagerly. "How you going totune her, Jess?"

  "As there are only three sets of head phones," grumbled Burd, "one ofus is bound to be a step-child."

  "We can take turns," Jessie said, eagerly. "What time is it, Darry?"

  "It points to eight, Jess."

  "Then there is a concert about to start at that station not more thanthirty miles away from here. We ought to hear that fine," declared thehostess of the party.

  "What is the wave length?" Amy asked.

  "Three-sixty. We can easily get it," and Jessie adjusted the buzzer alittle, the phones at her ears.

  Eagerly they settled down to listen in. At least, three of themlistened. Darry said he felt like the fifth wheel of anautomobile--the one lashed on behind.

  "I shall have to get an amplifier--a horn," Jessie murmured.

  At first she heard only a funny scratchy sound; then a murmur, growinglouder, as she tuned the instrument to the required wave length. Themurmurous sound grew louder--more distinct. Amy squealed right outloud! For it seemed as though somebody had said in her ear:

  "--and will be followed by the Sextette from Lucia. I thank you."

  "We're just in time," said Burd. "They are going to begin theconcert."

  String music, reaching their ears so wonderfully, hushed their speech.But Darry got close to his sister, stretching his ear, too, todistinguish the sounds. The introduction to the famous composition wasplayed brilliantly, then the voices of the singers traveled to thelittle group in Jessie Norwood's room from the broadcasting stationthirty miles away.

  "Isn't it wonderful! Wonderful!" murmured Amy.

  "Sh!" admonished her chum.

  When the number was ended, Burd Alling removed his head-harness andgravely shook hands with Jessie.

  "Some calico, you are," he declared. "Don't ever go to college, Jess.It will spoil your initiative."

  "You needn't call me by your slang terms. 'Calico,' indeed!" exclaimedJessie. "Calico hasn't been worn since long before the war."

  "You might at least call us 'ginghams,'" sniffed Amy.

  "Wait!" commanded Jessie. "Here comes something else. You take myear-tabs, Darry."

  "Wait a moment," cried Amy, who still had her phones to her ears. Thenshe groaned horribly. "It's a lecture! Oh! Merciful Moses' aunt! Here!You listen in, Darry!"

  "What's it all about?" asked her brother.

  "A talk on 'The Home Beautiful,'" giggled Burd, "by One of theVictims. Come on, Darry. You may have my phones too."

  As all three seemed perfectly willing to let him have their listeningparaphernalia, Darry refused. "Your unanimity is poisonous," he said."The Greeks bearing gifts."

  "Let's get a rain check for this," suggested Burd.

  "It will last only twenty minutes, according to the schedule," Jessiesaid, with a sigh. It was such a fine plaything that she dislikedgiving it up for a minute.

  They talked, on all kinds of subjects. The boys had had no time beforeto tell the girls about the _Marigold_. Just such another craft it wasevident had never come off the ways!

  "And it is big enough to take out a party of a dozen," Darry declared."Some time this summer we are going to get up a nice crowd and sail asfar as Bar Harbor--maybe."

  "Why not to the Bahamas, Darry?" drawled his sister.

  "And there, too," said Darry, stoutly. "Oh, the _Marigold_ is aseaworthy craft. We are going down to Atlantic Highlands in her next.Burd's got a crush on a girl who is staying there for the summer," andhe said it wickedly, grinning at his sister.

  "Sure," his chum agreed quickly, before Amy's tart tongue couldcomment. "She's my maiden aunt, and I've got a lot of things to thankher for."

  "And she can't read writing, so we have to go to see her," chuckledDarry.

  "Send us a snapshot of her, Darry," begged Jessie, not unwilling totease her chum, for it was usually Amy who did the teasing.

  "I should worry if Burd has a dozen maiden aunts," observed Amyscornfully, "and they all knitted him red wristlets!"

  "How savage," groaned Darry. "Red wristlets, no less!"

  The girls had news to relate to the boys as well. The church societywas going to have a summer bazaar on the Fourth of July and a prizehad been offered by the committee in charge for the most novelsuggestion for a money-making "stunt" at the lawn party.

  "I hope they will make enough to pay Doctor Stanley's salary," Darrysaid.

  "We want to raise his salary," Jessie told him. "With all thosechildren I don't see how he gets on."

  "He wouldn't 'get on' at all if it wasn't for Nell," said Amy warmly."She is a wonderful manager."

  The boys departed for City Island and the _Marigold_ the nextmorning; but they promised to return from their trip to AtlanticHighlands in season for the church bazaar.

  For the next few days Jessie and Amy were busy almost all day long,and evening too, with the radio. They even listened to the weatherpredictions and the agricultural report and market prices!

  The Norwood home never had been so popular before. People, especiallyJessie's school friends, were coming to the house constantly to lookat the radio set and to "listen in" on the airways. The interest theyall took in it was amusing.

  "You see, Momsy," laughed Jessie, when she and her mother were aloneone day, "if my radio set were downstairs here, I wouldn't have muchuse of it. Even old Mrs. Grimsby has been in twice to talk about it,and yesterday she came upstairs to try it."

  "But she won't have one in her house," Mrs. Norwood said. "I don'tknow--I didn't think of it before, Jessie. But do you suppose it issafe?"

  "Suppose what is safe, dear?"

  "Having all those wires outside the house? Mrs. Grimsby says she wouldnot risk it."

  "Why not, for mercy's sake?" cried Jessie.

  "Lightning. When we had a shower yesterday I was really frightened.Those wires might draw lightning."

  "But, _dear!_" gasped Jessie. "Didn't I show you the lightningswitch?"

  "Yes, child. I told Mrs. Grimsby about that. Do you know what shesaid?"

  "Something funny, I suppose?"

  "She said she wouldn't trust a little thing like that to turn God'slightning if He wanted to strike this house."

  "O-oh!" gasped Jessie. "What a dreadful idea she must have of theCreator. I'm going to tell Doctor Stanley that."

  "I guess the good doctor has labored with Mrs. Grimsby more than onceregarding her harsh doctrinal beliefs. However, the fact that suchwires may draw lightning cannot be gainsaid."

  "Oh, dear, me! I hope you won't worry Momsy. It can't be so, or therewould be something about it in the radio papers and in those books. Inone place I saw it stated that the aerials were really preventative oflightning striking the house."

  "I know. They used to have lightning rods on houses, especially in thecountry. But it was found to be a good deal of a fallacy. I guess,after all, Mrs. Grimsby has it partly right. Human beings cannoteasily command the elements which Nature controls."

  "Seems to me we are disproving that right in this radio business,"cried Jessie. "And it is going to be wonderful--just _wonderful_--beforelong. They say
moving pictures will be transmitted by radio; and therewill be machines so that people can speak directly back and forth, andyou'll have a picture before you of the person you are speaking to."

  She began to laugh again. "You know what Amy says? She says she alwayspowders her nose before she goes to the telephone. You never know whoyou may have to speak to! So she is ready for the new invention."

  "Just the same, I am rather timid about the lightning, Jessie," hermother said.

  THE CANOE TRIP

  CARTER'S GHOST