Yet the Plymouth police, just ahead, stepped confidently into the little stone "wireless" station. When they pressed the key within, they knew that they could send their message to the Bahia, though she were three times as far beyond the reach of the sharpest eye; and they knew that the answering discharge of the Bahia's spark could bridge that distance twice over.
The villagers of Polporru, though they must have been long used to the wonders of "wireless," pressed up close behind the police and crowded about the entrance of the little building.
The man, escorting Preston and the girl, opened a path through them with difficulty, and the two young Americans entered the station.
As they came in, they heard the heavy hiss and rasp of the powerful sending spark, leaping across the spark gap and on up the aerials to send out its signal swiftly in the direction of the fleeing Bahia.
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