of daylight."

They worked rapidly, and as they were well supplied with material and
tools the progress made by them measured up to expectations. They
fashioned a two-wire antenna with the spreaders left on the island by
Hal's cousin; connected a lead-in to this, and then Cub and Bud climbed
the two trees and, with the aid of ropes tied around their waists and the
guiding assistance of their companions below, drew the "ether-wave
feeler" up to a lofty elevation and fastened it as nearly taut as they
could stretch and hold it. In this work they took due consideration of
the professional objection to tree entanglements in aerials so that the
insulators were well beyond the reach of the longest limbs.

"It's a simple matter now to bring the outfit ashore and hook it up with
the aerial," said Hal. "Let's do it."

Enthused by the novelty of their enterprise, they continued the work,
even though dusk was rapidly gathering. Several electric-battery
flash-lights were produced, so that the twilight did not seriously hinder
them. By the time the stars had become a billion glittering gems in the
sky, the hook-up had been completed with Hal's sending and receiving set
on a table that had been transported from the yacht to a convenient
position directly under the aerial and near the opening of the tent.

"Now, let's see what's going on in the air," said Cub. "Hal, you take the
first whirl through the atmosphere."

Hal sat down by the table and put a pair of phones to his ears. Then he
began to tune. First there came to him a discordant confusion of static
and other noises, including an admixture of "ham impudence".

"W H Q's on," announced Hal presently, pushing over the horn switch,
whereupon the clear tones of a quartet from the Rochester station was
thrown with amplified resonance out upon the reamplifying atmosphere of a
land-and-water wilderness.

They "sat through" the program with a degree of enjoyment never before
experienced by them under a radio spell. They could almost imagine
themselves on an enchanted isle with a band of fairy songsters teasing
harmonious echoes out of their surroundings.

"My! I didn't suppose such weird beauty of sound could be produced under
any possible conditions," exclaimed Mr. Perry at the close of the last
number on the program.

"Now the air will be free for all for a short time," said Hal, putting on
the phones and throwing back the horn switch, while the other boys also
donned thei