“There is no such amateur in Kingston,” the latter announced.  “I know them all here.  V A X is held by somebody in Port Hope.  I listened-in to a lot of that stuff and called up three amateurs in Port Hope.  I learned that A V L is Alvin Baker who is attending Edwards College.”

“Why, he’s my cousin!”

This exclamation from Hal created a real sensation in the cabin of the Catwhisker.  Meanwhile Bud had been taking the message down longhand in order to preserve a record of the investigation, so that Mr. Perry, who read as the boys wrote, got the progress of events about as rapidly as did the three youthful experts.  It is needless to say that he was as much astonished as were his boy companions.

But there was no time now for a discussion of family relationship.  After a round of gasps and exclamations, they got down again to the business of their radio investigation.

That was about the extent of the information that the Kingston amateur was able to communicate to them, except that he had been an interested listener-in to much of the code conversations between the would-be rescuers and the two very strange radio contestants.  He, however, promised to make further inquiries and to call them again if he learned anything that might be of interest to them.

“Well, dad, it looks as if you were right when you told us how to go about to solve this mystery,” Cub remarked as he dash-and-dotted a “G N” (good night) to the Kingston amateur.

“You mean problem,” reminded Mr. Perry with a smile.

“Well, maybe,—­I won’t dispute your word since your idea has proved so brilliant thus far—­but I can’t see the mathematics yet.”

“Nor the geography?”

“Well, yes; it took us from Kingston to Port Hope and from there to Edwards College,” Cub admitted.  “I suppose there’s a little geography in that.”

“Remember this, that mathematics isn’t all figures,” said the operator’s father.  “Keep that in mind, and maybe it’ll be worth something to you before we’re through with this affair.”

“How does the discovery of my cousin come in?” Hal inquired.  “Is that geography or mathematics?”

“Do you mean that, Hal?” asked Bud wonderingly.  “You don’t mean that fellow is really your cousin?”

“I surely do, if he’s Alvin Baker.  You know my folks used to live in Canada.  And don’t you remember that my cousin Al visited us three years ago with his father and mother?  He wrote to me several times from Edwards College, but I didn’t know he had a wireless set, and I suppose he didn’t know I had one.”

“Well, it makes the hunt more interesting, anyway,” said Cub.  “But let’s not waste any more time.  Here goes again.”

He called the other Canadian amateur on his list of three and learned from him that many wireless boys had followed the course of the rescue boat with their receiving outfits.  From him Cub got the calls of four of these interested boys.  Then he called the third on his original list, but all the information the latter was able to give was that a metropolitan morning newspaper carried a column “story” on the front page about the Thousand Island Crusoe and the rescue boat from Oswego.