nd that I could hear the concert that was going on just
about as well as though the wire had been connected. How do you account
for that?"

"Don't account for it at all," replied Herb. "Probably just a freak, and
might not happen again in a thousand times. Likely it was one of the
unexplainable things that happen once in a while. Maybe there was a
ground connection of some kind, if not by the wire. I wouldn't bank on
it."

"It's queer, too, how many kinds of things can be used as aerials," put
in Joe. "I heard the other day of a man in an apartment house where the
owner objected to aerials, who used the clothesline for that purpose.
The wire ran through the rope, which covered it so that it couldn't be
seen. It didn't prevent its use as a clothesline either, for he could
hear perfectly when the wash was hanging on it."

"Oh, almost anything will do as an aerial," chimed in Jimmy. "The rib of
an umbrella, the rainspout at the side of the house, the springs of a
bed give good results. And that's one of the mighty good things about
radio. People that have to count the pennies don't have to buy a lot of
expensive materials. They can put a set together with almost any old
thing that happens to be knocking around the house."

Bob had been working steadily, and, as the room was warm, his hands were
moist with perspiration. He had unhooked an insulated copper wire that
led to his outside aerial. His head phones were on, as he had been
listening to the radio concert while he worked.

"I'll have to miss the rest of that selection, I guess," he remarked
regretfully, as he unhooked the wire. "It's a pity, too, for that's one
of the finest violin solos I ever heard. Great Scott! What does that
mean?"

The ejaculation was wrenched from him by the fact that although he had
disconnected the wire he still heard the music--a little fainter than
before but still with every note distinct.

He could scarcely believe his ears and looked at his friends in great
bewilderment.

"What's the matter?" asked Joe, jumping to his feet. "Get a shock?"

"Not in the sense you mean, but in another way, yes," replied Bob, still
holding the exposed end of the copper wire in his fingers. "What do you
think of that, fellows? I'm an aerial!"

"Come out of your trance," adjured Herb unbelievingly. "They talk that
way in the insane asylums."

"Clap on your headphones," cried Bob, too intent on his discovery to pay
any attention to the gibe.

The