e pain's nothing. The thing that
counts is the fact that I am safe at home. I owe it to you, Charley, and
you may be sure I'll never forget."

That was as much as the ranger, reticent, hating any display of emotion,
quiet like most men of the woods, could bring himself to say. But Charley
knew that it meant volumes. He tried to reply, but found himself also
suffering from a strange embarrassment. So Charley said good-bye to the
ranger, assured him that he would take good care of the forest, and set
about fixing the wireless outfit. The forester helped him. Quickly they
got up the aerial, brought the lead-in wire into the living-room, and set
up the instruments on a board table close beside the telephone instrument.

"Now everything is complete except for the battery," Charley said to the
forester when they had finished wiring up the outfit. "Half a dozen dry
cells will supply all the current needed."

"I'll send them out by the doctor in the morning," said the forester.

Charley showed Mrs. Morton how to wire the cells and couple them to the
instruments. Then he told her how to adjust her spark-gap and tune the
instrument to any given wave-length. He compared his watch with the clock
on the wall.

"At eight o'clock every night," he said, "I will call you up. Suppose you
take Mr. Morton's initials as your call signal. What are they?"

"J. V. M.," replied Mrs. Morton.

"Very well. Then at eight o'clock every night I will call J. V. M. slowly
a number of times. Then I will tick off the alphabet slowly and the
numerals one to ten. You listen in, and if the sounds are blurred or not
sharp, tune your instrument as I have shown you until you can hear
distinctly. If you make the letters with a pencil as you read them, it
may help you. I'm sure you will soon learn to read. I'll repeat the
alphabet and the numbers three times slowly. Then I'll listen in for five
or ten minutes. If you want to try to call me, give my signal and follow
it with your own, thus: 'CBC--CBC--CBC--JVM.' That means 'Charley
Russell--James Morton calling.' If I hear you, I will send the letters
'JVM--JVM--JVM--I--I--I.' That means 'James Morton--I am here.' Then you
can begin to send your message. I hope we'll be able to talk to each other
very soon."

"It won't be my fault if we don't," smiled the ranger's wife.

"Now I must be off," said Charley. "I've no doubt Mr. Marlin is getting
impatient. We'll just clean up this mess and then I'll go."