The Young Wireless Operator--As a Fire Patrol | Page 7

cells were to be
taken to provide current. Then there were a spark-gap, a spark-coil, a
key, and a detector, with the receiving set, switch, and aerial. To be
sure, the entire aerial was not packed, but merely the wires and
insulators, as spreaders could be made in the forest. Then there was an
additional coil of wire to be used for lead-in and suspension wires. No
tuning instrument was necessary, because the wireless outfits of all the
members of the Camp Brady Wireless Patrol were exactly alike and so
were already in tune with one another. Without a tuning instrument, to
be sure, it might not be possible for Charley and Lew to talk with
anybody except their fellows of the Wireless Patrol, but in the present
circumstances that made no difference to them. They had no intention
of talking to anybody else.
The various instruments were carefully packed so that they could be
carried without injury. The dishes were nested as well as possible. Then
all were stowed away in the pack bags, together with the food supplies.
The two blankets were tightly folded and tied, ready to be slung over

the shoulders. Long before that last session of school, everything was
in readiness. When finally that last session was over, the two lads had
only to strap their packs on their backs, sling their blankets into place,
and pick up their little fishing-rods, unjointed and compactly packed in
cloth cases. Lew buckled the pistol to his belt and suspended the
canteen from his shoulder, while Charley sheathed his little axe and
hung it on his hip. Then, completely ready, the two lads waved farewell
to their envious comrades and hastened away to the train. In less than
an hour the train stopped to let them off at the little flag-station at the
foot of Stone Mountain. In a moment more it had gone whistling
around the shoulder of the hill, leaving the two boys alone on the edge
of the wilderness.
Quickly they adjusted their packs and started back along the
railroad-track toward the gap through which they were to pass to Old
Ironsides. Rapidly they made their way along the road-bed.
"We'd better hustle while the going's good," commented Lew, glancing
at the heavy clouds that obscured the sun, "for it will get dark early
to-night. It'll be slow enough going once we leave the track."
"There's one thing sure," replied Charley. "We won't be bothered with
wet ground. I think I never saw the earth so dry at this season of the
year. There was almost no snow last winter and we've hardly had a rain
this spring. Usually it rains every day at this time of year."
Charley's prediction proved true. When the boys at last reached the
notch in the mountains and left the railroad-track, they found the way
almost as dry as a village street. Years before, the timber had been cut
from Stone Mountain, and a logging trail had passed up the very gap
through which the boys were now traveling. But brush and brambles
had come in soon after the lumbermen left and now a thick stand of
saplings also helped to choke the path. The briars tore at the boys'
clothing and blankets. The bushy growths caught in their packs and
straps and wrapped themselves about their feet and legs. Very quickly
it became evident that a hard struggle lay before them.
Back from the trail, in the forest proper, there was little underbrush, but

the stand of young trees was dense and the way underfoot was so rough
and uneven that it was almost impossible to make any headway there.
For Stone Mountain was a stone mountain in very truth. It appeared to
be just one enormous heap of rocks and boulders. In a very little while
both boys were perspiring profusely from their efforts, and both were
conscious that they were tiring fast; for the grade up the notch was
steep.
"Gee!" said Lew, at last. "This is tougher than anything I ever saw
when I was in the Maine woods with Dad. We've got to take it easy or
we'll be tuckered out before we get through this gap. Let's rest a bit."
He sat down on a stone and Charley followed his example. As they
rested, they looked sharply about them. They could see for some
distance through the naked forest. The tree trunks stood straight and tall,
and seemed to be crowded as close together as pickets on a fence.
"This sure is a fine stand of poles," remarked Lew, "but it's just as that
lumber dealer said. There isn't a tree in it that would make a board
wider than six inches. But there's some good timber farther back in the
mountains. Do you remember