'"
Simmons touched the key. The spark leaped crashing.
"What do you get?" asked Eldridge, after a moment.
"Oh, a lot of the same sort of dope," answered Simmons wearily. "Do you
want it?"
"No, it is not necessary," replied Eldridge. "But listen for another
message from about the same distance when he has finished."
Silence fell on the room. At the end of ten minutes Simmons raised his
head.
"I get 'O K Q' over and over," said he. "Want that?"
"That," replied Eldridge with satisfaction, "indicates that my crew on the
special train in the Adirondacks two hundred miles away has heard your
message to Monsieur X." He glanced at his watch. "Now, if you would be so
good as to afford me a moment's assistance," he requested Simmons, "I wish
to disconnect from your battery one of your powerful Leyden jars, and to
substitute for it one of weaker voltage. I ventured to instruct my
delivery man to leave a few in the outer hall."
"That will weaken the sending power of my instrument," objected Simmons.
"Exactly what I wish to do," replied Eldridge.
"He's clever all right," Darrow murmured admiringly to Jack. "See what
he's up to?"
"Not yet," muttered Jack.
The substitution completed, Eldridge again glanced at his watch.
"Now," he instructed Simmons, "send the letters 'Q E D,' and continue to
do so until you again hear the letters 'O K Q.'"
Simmons set himself to the task.
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