boat at a time when his son and the latter's two chums were busy
experimenting with crystal outfits, and the name of the cruiser was
suggested to them by the fine spring-wires used to make contact with the
crystals in their detectors. No doubt, it was the catchiness of the word,
as well as its association with their hobby, that appealed to them in the
general search for a name for the boat.

This vessel was 36 feet long, with a beam of nine feet and with a canopy
covering the after deck. Amidships was a raised bridge deck on which were
mounted and housed the wheel and engine controls. Under this and the
after deck were the engine-room and the galley, and forward of these were
the cabin and two small staterooms. At the bow and in the stern were two
tall slim masts that had been erected solely for the extension of a radio
aerial. The hull was painted white with a blue stripe midway between the
bridge-deck level and the water line.

Cub and his father were real chums in matters of boating. Mr. Perry,
although ordinarily a man of very neat appearance, on the present
occasion had discarded his usual sartorial excellence and appeared on the
Catwhisker in clothes easily associated with cotton waste and oil cans.
Indeed, he could take care of the engine quite as well as his son, who
was an amateur expert, and seemed to enjoy discharging his full share, of
all the "overall and apron tasks" on board.

Mr. Perry took charge of the wheel and engine controls of the yacht at
the beginning of the cruise, so that his son and the other two boys were
left free to perfect the hook-up of the radio set supplied by Hal. First,
two wires, attached to spreaders at both ends, were extended between the
two masts for an aerial, and a lead-in was arranged through one of the
windows of the cabin. On a fixed table near this window they anchored