night we might be able to talk fifty miles. We can
carry six cells easily. The remainder of the outfit won't weigh much.
We'll have to go as light as we can, for it's a mighty tough hike over Old
Ironsides and on into that little valley."

"Shall we take our pistols?" asked Charley.

"We'd better have at least one. You never can tell when you're going to
need a pistol in the forest. Remember the time that bear treed me on the
first hike of the Wireless Patrol? I don't ever want to get into another
situation like that without something to shoot with."

Charley chuckled. "It wasn't a pistol that saved you then," he smiled,
"but Willie Brown and his spark-gap."

"Then we'll be doubly armed," replied Lew. "Since you have so much faith
in wireless, you can carry the outfit. I'll pack the gun. We're almost
certain to have some kind of adventure, for every time the Wireless Patrol
or any of its members venture into the woods, something exciting happens."

Chapter III

Off to the Mountains

Busy, indeed, were the succeeding ten days. The outfit that the two boys
were to carry was packed and repacked several times, and each time it was
overhauled something was eliminated from the packs; for both boys knew
well enough that the trip before them would test their endurance even with
the lightest of packs. Finally their outfit was reduced to two
fishing-rods, one hatchet, a first-aid kit, a flash-light, the necessary
food and dishes, one canteen, and one pistol, with the wireless equipment.

This was made as simple as possible. Six new dry 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