human
I can tell you just how to find those fellows, he replied.
gpt
I listened-in to the best line of detective work on that subject you ever heard of. Sherlock Holmes isn't in it there.
human
Hooray!
gpt
There are three amateurs, one in Clayton, N.Y., one in Rockport and one in Gananoque, Ontario, who have radio compasses and they worked together to locate the fellow on the island, continued the informant with the eagerness of fraternal interest and generosity.
human
I will give you their calls--
gpt
I will save you the trouble, read the dots and dashes evidently addressed to the operator he had just
human
gpt
I am at Rockport and am one of the three radio compass boys referred to. I can supply the dope right now.
human
Shoot!
gpt
Have you a good map of the Thousand Island region?
human
Yes,
gpt
Well, take these directions and then draw the line on the map. Draw one line from Clayton, N.Y., northeast, 47-1/2 degrees from perpendicular; another from Rockport, Ontario, southeast, 11 degrees from perpendicular; another from Gananoque, southeast, 76 degrees from perpendicular. The intersection of those lines will indicate the island those messages came from.
human
He was on an island, was he?
gpt
Sure, or on a boat, was the reply.
human
He could not have been on the mainland. We were careful and could not have been more than a mile off in our reckoning. All three of us hit it the same.
gpt
Where was the fellow who tried to head us off?
human
When?
gpt
At any time.
human
We located him at various points along the river. No doubt he was on a boat up to the very last when the two were very near together.
gpt
Where was the island operator when he sent his last message? Did you get the one in which he confessed the affair was a hoax?
human
Yes. But he did not send that message. It was sent by the other fellow.
gpt
How do you know?
human
That was plain. Did you not notice his peculiar manner of sending? All three of us noticed that.
gpt
Did you pick up any more from them since then?
human
Not a dot.
gpt
Well, your two main points have been proved, Mr. Perry,
human
What are they?
gpt
Mathematics and geography.
human
Yes, he said
gpt
I could hardly have hoped for so remarkable a demonstration of my theory. You boys have solved the geography of this problem with the aid of some very clever mathematics. But what branch of mathematics is it?
human
We didn't do it ourselves, Hal reminded.
gpt
It was those three amateurs with their loop aerials.
human
Wasn't it more mechanical than mathematical? Cub inquired meditatively.
gpt
Those radio compasses make me think of a surveyor's instrument.
human
Oh, pshaw, my boy, don't spoil everything, pleaded the last speaker's father.
gpt
I'm afraid you've missed the big point. Mathematics is the biggest factor in all mechanics. Bud, I thought from the way you spoke that you grasped the situation completely. Can't you help Bob and Hal out? By means of what branch of mathematics was that island of our Canadian Crusoe located?
human
Geometry,
gpt
Of course! he exclaimed in disgust.
human
Every branch of mathematics I ever heard of, except geometry, went buzzing through my head. I was trying to recall something in algebra that would fit this case.
gpt
Oh, Cub, laughed Hal;
human
I admit I'm a chump, Cub grinned with a shrug of self-commiseration;