It was from the now mysterious "V A X", the "Island Crusoe". Hal answered
it and then received the following message:

"Thanks awfully for your good intentions, but I didn't need any help.
Sorry to have troubled you. I did have a wager with that other fellow,
but not the kind he described. It was the first big contest in the
history of radio. I gave odds of four to one and am the winner. We both
went to the island together and each put up an independent receiving and
sending set. My part of the contest was to induce someone to come to the
rescue of me as an island prisoner; his part was to head off any such
rescue. He admitted I won after it was certain you were headed for us,
and then we both lost our nerve and ducked. Good-bye."

Bud and Cub took the hint, from Hal's eager and almost awed manner, that
something unusual was coming in through the ether and donned phones in
time to catch the latter half of the message. This was sufficient to give
them a clear understanding of the situation. After the "good-bye" finish,
Hal made a desperate effort to hold the "Island operator" for further
conversation, but could get no reply. At last he gave it up and they
turned their attention to discussion of the situation.

"Well, I wonder if that's the last well hear from him," said Bud as he
removed the phones from his ears, while the other two boys did likewise.

"More of a puzzle than ever, isn't it?" Cub remarked.

"Why, don't you believe the explanation he telegraphed to us?" Hal
inquired.

"I do not," the tall youth replied positively.