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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice, by Allen
+Chapman
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice
+       or, Solving a Wireless Mystery
+
+
+Author: Allen Chapman
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 20, 2008  [eBook #25858]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustration.
+      See 25858-h.htm or 25858-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/5/25858/25858-h/25858-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/5/25858/25858-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+The Radio Boys Series
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE
+
+Or
+
+Solving a Wireless Mystery
+
+by
+
+ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+Author of
+The Radio Boys' First Wireless
+The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass
+Ralph of The Roundhouse
+Ralph on the Army Train, Etc.
+
+With Foreword by Jack Binns
+
+Illustrated
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN WAS EVIDENTLY RECEIVING A MESSAGE.
+The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice. Page 153]
+
+
+
+New York
+Grosset & Dunlap
+Publishers
+
+Made in the United States of America
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+BOOKS FOR BOYS
+BY ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS SERIES
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS
+Or Winning the Ferberton Prize
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT
+Or The Message that Saved the Ship
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION
+Or Making Good in the Wireless Room
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS
+Or The Midnight Call for Assistance
+
+THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE
+Or Solving a Wireless Mystery
+
+THE RAILROAD SERIES
+
+RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE
+Or Bound to Become a Railroad Man
+
+RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER
+Or Clearing the Track
+
+RALPH ON THE ENGINE
+Or The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail
+
+RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS
+Or The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer
+
+RALPH THE TRAIN DESPATCHER
+Or The Mystery of the Pay Car
+
+RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN
+Or The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York
+
+Copyright, 1922, By
+GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+BY JACK BINNS
+
+Within a comparatively short time after this volume is published the
+human voice will be thrown across the Atlantic Ocean under conditions
+that will lead immediately to the establishment of permanent telephone
+communication with Europe by means of radio.
+
+Under the circumstances therefore the various uses of radio which are so
+aptly outlined in it will give the reader an idea of the tremendous
+strides that have been made in the art of communicating without wires
+during the past few months.
+
+Of these one of the most important, which by the way is dealt with to a
+large extent in the present volume, is that of running down crooks. It
+must not be forgotten that criminals, and those criminally intent are
+not slow to utilize the latest developments of the genius of man, and
+radio is useful to them also. However, the forces of law and order
+inevitably prevail, and radio therefore is going to be increasingly
+useful in our general police work.
+
+Another important use, as outlined in this volume, is in the detection
+of forest fires, and in fact generally protecting forest areas in
+conjunction with aircraft. With these two means hundreds of thousands of
+acres can now be patrolled in a single day more efficiently than a few
+acres were previously covered.
+
+Radio is an ideal boy's hobby, but it is not limited to youth.
+Nevertheless it offers a wonderful scope for the unquenchable enthusiasm
+that always accompanies the application of youthful endeavor, and it is
+a fact that the majority of the wonderful inventions and improvements
+that have been made in radio have been produced by young men.
+
+Since this book was written there has been produced in this country the
+most powerful vacuum tube in the world. In size it is small, but in
+output it is capable of producing 100 kilowatts of electrical power.
+Three such tubes will cast the human voice across the Atlantic Ocean
+under any conditions, and transmit across the same vast space the
+world's grandest music. Ten of these tubes joined in parallel at any of
+the giant transmitting wireless telegraph stations would send telegraph
+code messages practically around the world.
+
+[Illustration: author's signature "Jack Binns"]
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    I.  Splintering Glass                 9
+   II.  In a Dilemma                     20
+  III.  The Stuttering Voice             31
+   IV.  A Puzzling Mystery               43
+    V.  Marvels of Wireless              51
+   VI.  The Forest Ranger                61
+  VII.  Radio and the Fire Fiend         70
+ VIII.  Near Disaster                    77
+   IX.  A Happy Inspiration              83
+    X.  The Escaped Convict              91
+   XI.  Down the Trap Door               99
+  XII.  Groping in Darkness             106
+ XIII.  Cunning Scoundrels              112
+  XIV.  A Daring Holdup                 119
+   XV.  Off to the Woods                127
+  XVI.  Put to the Test                 136
+ XVII.  The Bully Gets a Ducking        143
+XVIII.  A Startling Discovery           151
+  XIX.  The Robbers' Code               160
+   XX.  On the Trail                    168
+  XXI.  The Glimpse Through the Window  177
+ XXII.  A Nefarious Plot                185
+XXIII.  Preparing an Ambush             193
+ XXIV.  Lying in Wait                   202
+  XXV.  An Exciting Struggle            208
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SPLINTERING GLASS
+
+
+"You fellows want to be sure to come round to my house to-night and
+listen in on the radio concert," said Bob Layton to a group of his
+chums, as they were walking along the main street of Clintonia one day
+in the early spring.
+
+"I'll be there with bells on," replied Joe Atwood, as he kicked a piece
+of ice from his path. "Trust me not to overlook anything when it comes
+to radio. I'm getting to be more and more of a fan with every day that
+passes. Mother insists that I talk of it in my sleep, but I guess she's
+only fooling."
+
+"Count on yours truly too," chimed in Herb Fennington. "I got stirred up
+about radio a little later than the rest of you fellows, but now I'm
+making up for lost time. Slow but sure is my motto."
+
+"Slow is right," chaffed Jimmy Plummer. "But what on earth are you sure
+of?"
+
+"I'm sure," replied Herb, as he deftly slipped a bit of ice down Jimmy's
+back, "that in a minute you'll be dancing about like a howling dervish."
+
+His prophecy was correct, for Jimmy both howled and danced as he tried
+vainly to extricate the icy fragment that was sliding down his spine.
+His contortions were so ludicrous that the boys broke into roars of
+laughter.
+
+"Great joke, isn't it?" snorted Jimmy, as he bent nearly double. "If you
+had a heart you'd lend a hand and get this out."
+
+"Let's stand him on his head," suggested Joe. "That's the only thing I
+can think of. Then it'll slide out."
+
+Hands were outstretched in ready compliance, but Jimmy concluded that
+the remedy was worse than the presence of the ice and managed to keep
+out of reach.
+
+"Never mind, Jimmy," said Bob consolingly. "It'll melt pretty soon,
+anyhow."
+
+"Yes, and it'll be a good thing for Jimmy to grin and bear it," added
+Herb brightly. "It's things like that that develop one's character."
+
+"'It's easy enough to be pleasant, when life moves along like a song,
+but the man that's worth while, is the man who can smile when
+everything's going dead wrong,'" quoted Joe.
+
+Jimmy, not at all comforted by these noble maxims, glared at his
+tormentors, and at last Bob came to his relief, and, putting his hand
+inside his collar, reached down his back and brought up the piece of
+ice, now greatly reduced in size.
+
+"Let's have it," demanded Jimmy, as Bob was about to throw it away.
+
+"What do you want it for?" asked Bob. "I should think you'd seen enough
+of it."
+
+"On the same principle that a man likes to look at his aching tooth
+after the dentist has pulled it out," grinned Joe.
+
+"Don't give it to him!" exclaimed Herb, edging away out of reach, justly
+fearing that he might feel the vengeance of the outraged Jimmy.
+
+"You gave it to him first, so it's his," decided Bob, with the wisdom of
+a Solomon, as he handed it over to the victim.
+
+Jimmy took it and started for Herb, but just then Mr. Preston, the
+principal of the high school, came along and Jimmy felt compelled to
+defer his revenge.
+
+"How are you, boys?" said Mr. Preston, with a smile. "You seem to be
+having a good time."
+
+"Jimmy is," returned Herb, and Jimmy covertly shook his fist at him.
+"We're making the most of the snow and ice while it lasts."
+
+"Well, I don't think it will last much longer," surmised Mr. Preston, as
+he walked along with them. "As a matter of fact, winter is 'lingering in
+the lap of spring' a good deal longer than usual this year."
+
+"I suppose you had a pleasant time in Washington?" remarked Joe
+inquiringly, referring to a trip from which the principal had returned
+only a few days before.
+
+"I did, indeed," was the reply. "To my mind it's the most interesting
+city in the country. I've been there a number of times, and yet I always
+leave there with regret. There's the Capitol, the noblest building on
+this continent and to my mind the finest in the world. Then there's the
+Congressional Library, only second to it in beauty, and the Washington
+Monument soaring into the air to a height of five hundred and fifty-five
+feet, and the superb Lincoln Memorial, and a host of other things
+scarcely less wonderful.
+
+"But the pleasantest recollection I have of the trip," he went on, "was
+the speech I heard the President make just before I came away. It was
+simply magnificent."
+
+"It sure was," replied Bob enthusiastically. "Every word of it was worth
+remembering. He certainly knows how to put things."
+
+"I suppose you read it in the newspaper the next day," said Mr. Preston,
+glancing at him.
+
+"Better than that," responded Bob, with a smile. "We all heard it over
+the radio while he was making it."
+
+"Indeed!" replied the principal. "Then you boys heard it even before I
+did."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Joe, in some bewilderment. "I understood that
+you were in the crowd that listened to him."
+
+"So I was," Mr. Preston answered, in evident enjoyment of their
+mystification. "I sat right before him while he was speaking, not more
+than a hundred feet away, saw the motion of his lips as the words fell
+from them and noted the changing expression of his features. And yet I
+say again that you boys heard him before I did."
+
+"I don't quite see," said Herb, in great perplexity. "You were only a
+hundred feet away and we were hundreds of miles away."
+
+"And if you had been thousands of miles away, what I said would still be
+true," affirmed Mr. Preston. "No doubt there were farmers out on the
+Western plains who heard him before I did.
+
+"You see it's like this," the schoolmaster went on to explain. "Sound
+travels through the air to a distance of a little over a hundred feet in
+the tenth part of a second. But in that same tenth of a second that it
+took the President's voice to reach me in the open air radio could have
+carried it eighteen thousand six hundred miles."
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Jimmy. "Eighteen thousand six hundred miles! Not feet,
+fellows, but miles!"
+
+"That's right," said Bob thoughtfully. "Though I never thought of it in
+just that way before. But it's a fact that radio travels at the rate of
+one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles a second."
+
+"Equal to about seven and a half times around the earth," observed the
+principal, smiling. "In other words, the people who were actually
+sitting in the presence of the President were the very last to hear what
+he said.
+
+"Put it in still another way. Suppose the President were speaking
+through a megaphone in addition to the radio and by the use of the
+megaphone the voice was carried to people in the audience a third of a
+mile away. By the time those persons heard it, the man in the moon could
+have heard it too--that is," he added, with a laugh, "supposing there
+really were a man in the moon and that he had a radio receiving set."
+
+"It surely sounds like fairyland," murmured Joe.
+
+"Radio is the fairyland of science," replied Mr. Preston, with
+enthusiasm, "in the sense that it is full of wonder and romance. But
+there the similarity ceases. Fairyland is a creation of the fancy or the
+imagination. Radio is based upon the solid rock of scientific truth. Its
+principles are as certain as those of mathematics. Its problems can be
+demonstrated as exactly as that two and two make four. But it's full of
+what seem to be miracles until they are shown to be facts. And there's
+scarcely a day that passes without a new one of these 'miracles' coming
+to light."
+
+He had reached his corner by this time, and with a pleasant wave of his
+hand he left them.
+
+"He sure is a thirty-third degree radio fan," mused Joe, as they watched
+his retreating figure.
+
+"Just as most all bright men are becoming," declared Bob. "The time is
+coming when a man who doesn't know about radio or isn't interested in it
+will be looked on as a man without intelligence."
+
+"Look here!" exclaimed Jimmy suddenly. "What's become of my piece of
+ice?"
+
+He opened his hand, which was red and wet and dripping.
+
+"That's one on you, Jimmy, old boy," chuckled Joe. "It melted away while
+you were listening to the prof."
+
+"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," said Herb complacently.
+"Jimmy meant to put that down my back."
+
+"Oh, there are plenty of other pieces," said Jimmy, as he picked one up
+and started for Herb.
+
+Herb started to run, but slipped and fell on the icy sidewalk.
+
+"You know what the Good Book says," chaffed Joe. "The wicked stand on
+slippery places."
+
+"Yes, I see they do," replied Herb, as quick as a flash, looking up at
+him. "But I can't."
+
+The laugh was on Joe, and Herb felt so good over the retort that he did
+not mind the fall, though it had jarred him considerably. He scrambled
+to his feet and brushed off his clothes, while Jimmy, feeling that his
+comrade had been punished enough, magnanimously threw away the piece of
+ice that was to have been the instrument of his vengeance.
+
+"The reason why I wanted you fellows to be sure to be on hand to-night,"
+resumed Bob, as they walked along, "was that I saw in the program of the
+Newark station in the newspaper this morning that Larry Bartlett was
+down for an entirely new stunt. You know what a hit he made with his
+imitations of birds."
+
+"He sure did," agreed Joe. "To my mind he had it all over the birds
+themselves. I never got tired listening to him."
+
+"He certainly was a dabster at it," chimed in Jimmy.
+
+"Now he's going in to imitate animals," explained Bob. "I understand
+that he's been haunting the Zoo for weeks in every minute of his spare
+time studying the bears and lions and tigers and elephants and snakes,
+and getting their roars and growls and trumpeting and hisses down to a
+fine point. I bet he'll be a riot when he gives them to us over the
+radio."
+
+"He sure will," assented Herb. "He's got the natural gift in the first
+place, and then he practices and practices until he's got everything
+down to perfection."
+
+"He's a natural entertainer," affirmed Bob. "I tell you, fellows, we
+never did a better day's work than when we got Larry that job at the
+sending station. Not only was it a good thing for Larry himself when he
+was down and out, but think of the pleasure he's been able to give to
+hundreds of thousands of people. I'll bet there's no feature on the
+program that is waited for more eagerly than his."
+
+By this time the boys had reached the business portion of the town and
+the short spring day was drawing to a close. Already lights were
+beginning to twinkle in the stores that lined both sides of the street.
+
+"Getting near supper time," remarked Bob. "Guess we'd better be getting
+along home. Don't forget to come--Gee whiz!"
+
+The ejaculation was wrung from him by a snowball that hit him squarely
+in the breast, staggering him for a moment.
+
+Bang! and another snowball found a target in Joe. It struck his shoulder
+and spattered all over his face and neck.
+
+"That felt as though it came from a gun!" he exclaimed. "It's the
+hardest slam I ever got."
+
+"Who did it?" demanded Bob, peering about him in the gathering darkness.
+
+Halfway up the block they saw a group of dark figures darting into an
+alleyway.
+
+"It's Buck Looker and his crowd!" cried Jimmy. "I saw them when they ran
+under that arc light."
+
+"Just like that crowd to take us unawares," said Bob. "But if they're
+looking for a tussle we can accommodate them. Get busy, fellows, and let
+them have something in return for these two sockdolagers."
+
+They hastily gathered up several snowballs apiece, which were easily
+made because the snow was soft and packed readily, and ran toward the
+alleyway just in time to see Buck and his crowd emerging from their
+hiding place.
+
+There was a spirited battle for a few minutes, each side making and
+receiving some smashing hits. Buck's gang had the advantage in that they
+had a large number of missiles already prepared, and even in the
+excitement of the fight the radio boys noticed how unusually hard they
+were.
+
+"Must have been soaking them in water until they froze," grunted Jimmy,
+as one of them caught him close to the neck and made him wince.
+
+As soon as their extra ammunition was exhausted and the contending
+forces in this respect were placed more on a footing of equality, Buck
+and his cronies began to give ground before the better aim and greater
+determination of Bob and his comrades.
+
+"Give it to them, fellows!" shouted Bob, as the retreat of their
+opponents was rapidly becoming a rout.
+
+At the moment he called out, the progress of the fight had brought the
+radio boys directly in front of the windows of one of the largest
+drygoods stores in the town.
+
+In the light that came from the windows Bob saw a snowball coming
+directly for his head. He dodged, and----
+
+Crash! There was the sound of splintering glass, and the snowy missile
+whizzed through the plate glass window!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN A DILEMMA
+
+
+There was a moment of stupor and paralysis as the meaning of the crash
+dawned upon the radio boys.
+
+Buck and his crowd had vanished and were footing it up the fast-darkening
+street at the top of their speed.
+
+The first impulse of the radio boys was to follow their example. They
+knew that none of them was responsible for the disaster, and they were
+of no mind to be sacrificed on behalf of the gang that had attacked
+them. And they knew that in affairs of that kind the ones on the ground
+were apt to suffer the more severely.
+
+They actually started to run away, but had got only a few feet from the
+scene of the smash when Bob, who had been thinking quickly, called a
+halt.
+
+"None of this stuff for us, fellows," he declared. "We've got to face
+the music. I'm not going to have a hunted feeling, even if we succeeded
+in getting away. We know we didn't do it and we'll tell the plain truth.
+If that doesn't serve, why so much the worse for us. But at any rate we
+won't be despising ourselves as cowards."
+
+As usual, his comrades accorded him the leadership and fell in with his
+plan, although it was not without many misgivings that they awaited the
+coming of the angry proprietor of the place, who had already started in
+pursuit of them, accompanied by many others who had been attracted by
+the crash and whose numbers were being rapidly augmented.
+
+"Here are the fellows that smashed my window!" cried Mr. Larsen, the
+proprietor of the drygoods store, rushing up to them and shaking his
+fist in their faces. "Where are the police?" he shouted, looking around
+him. "I'll have them arrested for malicious damage."
+
+And while he faced them, gesticulating wildly, his face purple with
+anger and excitement, it may be well for the benefit of those who have
+not read the preceding volumes of this series to tell briefly who the
+radio boys are and what had been their adventures before the time this
+story opens.
+
+The acknowledged leader of the boys was Bob Layton, son of a prosperous
+chemist of Clintonia, in which town Bob had been born and brought up.
+Mr. Layton was a respected citizen of the town and foremost in its civic
+activities. Clintonia was a thriving little city of about ten thousand
+population, situated on the Shagary River, about seventy-five miles from
+the city of New York.
+
+Bob at the beginning of this story was about sixteen years old, tall and
+stalwart and a clean-cut specimen of upstanding American youth. He was
+of rather dark complexion and had a pair of eyes that looked straight at
+one. Those eyes were usually merry, but could flash with indignation
+when circumstances required it. He was never on the lookout for trouble,
+but was always ready to meet it half way, and his courageous character
+together with his vigorous physique had made him prominent in the sports
+of the boys of his own age. He was a crack baseball player and one of
+the chief factors of the high school football eleven. No one in
+Clintonia was held in better liking.
+
+Bob's special chum was Joe Atwood, son of the leading physician of the
+town. Joe was fair in complexion and sturdy in makeup. He and Bob had
+been for many years almost inseparable companions, Bob usually acting as
+captain in anything in which they might be engaged, while Joe served as
+first mate. The latter had a hot temper, and his impulsiveness sometimes
+got him into trouble and would have involved him in scrapes oftener if
+it had not been for the cooler head and steadying influence of Bob.
+
+Two other friends of the boys who were almost always in their company
+were Herb Fennington, whose father kept a large general store in the
+town, and Jimmy Plummer, son of a respected carpenter and contractor.
+Herb was of a rather indolent disposition, but was jolly and
+good-natured and always full of jokes, some of them good, others poor,
+which he frequently sought to spring on his companions.
+
+Jimmy was a trifle younger than his mates, fat and round and excessively
+fond of the good things of life. His liking for that special dainty had
+gained him the nickname of "Doughnuts," and few of such nicknames were
+ever more fittingly bestowed.
+
+Apart from the liking that drew them together, the boys had another link
+in their common interest in radio. From the time that this wonderful new
+science had begun to spread over the country with such amazing rapidity,
+they had been among the most ardent "fans." Everything that they could
+read or learn on the subject was devoured with avidity, and they were
+almost constantly at the home of one or the other, listening in on their
+radio sets and, lately, sending messages, in the latter of which they
+had now attained an unusual degree of proficiency.
+
+In decided contrast to Bob and his friends was another group of
+Clintonia youth, between whom and the radio boys there was a pronounced
+antipathy. The leader of this group was Buck Looker, a big overgrown,
+hulking boy, dull in his studies and a bully in character. His two
+special cronies were Carl Lutz, a boy of about his own age, and Terry
+Mooney, both of them noted for their mean and sneaking dispositions.
+Buck lorded it over them, and as his father was one of the richest men
+in the town they cringed before him and were always ready to back him up
+in any piece of meanness and mischief.
+
+The enthusiasm of Bob and his friends for radio was fostered by the help
+and advice of the Reverend Doctor Dale, the clergyman in charge of the
+Old First Church of Clintonia, who, in addition to being an eloquent
+preacher, was keenly interested in all latter-day developments of
+science, especially radio. Whenever the boys got into trouble with their
+sets they knew that all they had to do was to go to the genial doctor
+and be helped out of their perplexities.
+
+An incident that gave a great impetus to their interest in the subject
+was the offering of prizes by Mr. Ferberton, the member of Congress for
+their district, for the best radio sets turned out by the boys of his
+congressional district by their own endeavors. Bob, Joe, and Jimmy
+entered into this competition with great zest. Herb with his habitual
+indolence kept out of it.
+
+While the boys were engrossed with their radio experiments an incident
+happened in town that led them into many unexpected adventures. An
+automobile run by a visitor in town, a Miss Nellie Berwick, got out of
+her control and dashed through the window of a store. Bob and Joe, who
+happened to be at hand, rescued the girl from imminent peril, while Herb
+and Jimmy did good work in curbing the fire that followed the accident.
+
+How the boys learned of the orphan girl's story, got on the track of the
+rascal who had tried to swindle her and forced him to make restitution;
+what part the radio played in bringing the fellow to terms; how they
+detected and thwarted the plans of Buck Looker and his cronies to wreck
+their sets; are told in the first volume of this series entitled: "The
+Radio Boys' First Wireless; Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize."
+
+That summer the chums went to Ocean Point on the seashore, where many of
+the Clintonia folks had established a little bungalow colony of their
+own. What adventures they met with there; what strides they made in the
+practical work of radio; how they were enabled by their knowledge and
+quick application of it to save a storm-tossed ship on which members of
+their own families were voyaging; how they ran down and captured the
+scoundrel Cassey who had knocked out with a blackjack the operator at
+the sending station and looted his safe--these and many more incidents
+are narrated in the second volume of this series entitled: "The Radio
+Boys at Ocean Point; Or, The Message That Saved the Ship."
+
+While the summer season was yet at its height, the boys had occasion to
+rescue the occupants of a rowboat that had been run down by men in a
+stolen motor boat. The two rescued youths proved to be vaudeville
+actors, and the boys grew very friendly with them. The injury that
+crippled one of them, Larry Bartlett; the false accusation brought
+against him by Buck Looker; the way in which the boys succeeded in
+getting work for Larry at the sending station, where his remarkable gift
+of mimicry received recognition; how they themselves were placed on the
+broadcasting program, and the clever way in which they trapped the
+motor-boat thieves; are told in the third volume of the series,
+entitled: "The Radio Boys at the Sending Station; Or, Making Good in the
+Wireless Room."
+
+The coming of fall brought the boys back to Clintonia, where, however,
+the usual course of their studies was interrupted by an epidemic that
+made necessary for a time the closing of the schools. This gave the
+radio boys an opportunity to make a trip to Mountain Pass, a popular
+resort in the hills. Here they came in contact with a group of plotters
+who were trying to put through a nefarious deal and were able to thwart
+the rascals through the use of radio. By that same beneficent science
+too they were able to save a life when other means of communication were
+blocked. And not the least satisfactory feature was the utter
+discomfiture they were able to visit upon Buck Looker and his gang.
+These and many other adventures are told in the fourth volume of the
+series, entitled: "The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass; Or, The Midnight
+Call for Assistance."
+
+And now to return to the radio boys as they stood facing the angry
+storekeeper amid a constantly growing throng of curious onlookers. They
+had been in many tighter fixes in their life but none that was more
+embarrassing.
+
+"I'll have them arrested!" the storekeeper repeated, his voice rising to
+a shrill treble.
+
+"Now look here," replied Bob. "Suppose you cut out this talk of having
+us arrested. In the first place, we didn't break your window. In the
+second place, if we had it wouldn't be a matter of arrest but of making
+good the damage."
+
+"All right then," said Mr. Larsen eagerly, catching at the last word.
+"Make good the damage. It will cost at least two hundred dollars to
+replace that window."
+
+"I think you're a little high," returned Bob. "But that doesn't matter.
+I didn't say that we'd make the damage good. I said that if we'd broken
+it, it would be a matter of making good. But we didn't break it, and
+that lets us out I'll say."
+
+"It's easy to say that," sneered the merchant. "How do I know that you
+didn't break it? It would of course be natural for you to try to lie out
+of it."
+
+"It wouldn't be natural for us to lie out of it," replied Bob,
+controlling his temper with difficulty. "That isn't our way of doing
+things. Why do you suppose we stayed here when it would have been
+perfectly easy for us to get away? It wasn't a snowball we threw that
+broke your window. It was one thrown by the fellows we were fighting
+with."
+
+"Always the other fellow that does it!" replied the storekeeper angrily.
+"Who was that other fellow or fellows then? Tell me that. Come on now,
+tell me that."
+
+Bob kept silent. He had no love for Buck Looker and his gang, who had
+always tried to injure him, but he was not going to inform.
+
+"See," said Mr. Larsen, misunderstanding his silence. "When I ask you,
+you can't tell me. You're the fellows that did it, all right, and you'll
+pay me for it or I'll have you put in jail, that's what I'll do."
+
+"I saw the fellows who were firing snowballs in this direction," spoke
+up Mr. Talley, a caterer, pushing his way through the throng. "I nearly
+bumped into them as they were running away. Buck Looker was one of them.
+I saw his face plainly and can't be mistaken. The others I'm not so sure
+of, but I think they were Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney.
+
+"For my part, Mr. Larsen," he continued, "I don't see how a snowball
+could break that heavy plate-glass window, anyway. My windows are no
+heavier, and they've often had snowballs come against them without doing
+any harm. Are you sure it wasn't something else that smashed the glass?"
+
+"Dead sure," replied Larsen. "Come inside and see for yourself."
+
+He led the way into his store, and Mr. Talley, the boys, and a number of
+others crowded in after him.
+
+"Look," said Larsen, pointing to a piece of dress goods that had been
+hanging in the window. "See where the snow has splashed against it?
+There's no question that a snowball did it. You can see the bits of snow
+around here yet if you'll only look."
+
+This was true and the evidence seemed conclusive. But just then Bob's
+keen eyes detected something else. He stooped down and brought up quite
+a large sharp-edged stone which still had some fragments of snow
+adhering to it and held it up for all to see.
+
+"Here's the answer," he said. "This stone was packed in the snowball,
+and that is why it smashed the window!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE STUTTERING VOICE
+
+
+There was a stir of interest and exclamations of surprise as those in
+the store crowded closer to get a better view.
+
+"That explains it," said Mr. Talley, as he examined the missile. "I was
+sure that no mere ball of snow could break that heavy window. To put
+such a stone in a snowball was little less than criminal," he went on
+gravely. "If that had hit any one on the temple it would almost
+certainly have killed him."
+
+"It was coming straight for my head when I dodged," said Bob.
+
+"That's another proof that it wasn't any ball we threw that broke the
+window," put in Joe. "Each one of us is willing to swear that there was
+no stone in any ball that we threw."
+
+"Not only then but at any time," put in Herb. "Only a mean coward would
+do a thing like that. None of us has done it any time in his life."
+
+"I believe that," replied Mr. Talley. "I've known all you boys ever
+since you were little kids and I know you wouldn't be capable of it."
+
+"That's all very well," said Mr. Larsen. "But that doesn't pay for my
+window. Whether any of you boys threw the ball or not you can't deny
+that you were engaged in a snowball fight right in front of my windows.
+If the fight hadn't been going on the window wouldn't have been
+smashed."
+
+There was a certain amount of justice in this, and the boys were fair
+enough to acknowledge it.
+
+"I suppose you are right there, Mr. Larsen," said Bob regretfully. "We
+ought to have kept out of range of the windows, but in the excitement we
+forgot all about that. Then, too, we never would have supposed that any
+ordinary snowball would have broken the window. Perhaps that was in the
+back of our minds, if we thought of it at all."
+
+"Is the window insured?" queried Mr. Talley.
+
+"Yes, it is," answered the storekeeper.
+
+"Well, then, that lets you out," remarked Mr. Talley, with a note of
+relief in his voice. "That puts the matter up to the insurance company.
+If they want to take any legal steps they can; and of course they ought
+to be compensated by the parents of the boy who may be found guilty of
+having thrown the ball with a stone in it. For my part, I doubt very
+much that it can ever be proved, unless the boy himself owns up to it."
+
+"Think of Buck Looker ever owning up to anything!" muttered Jimmy.
+
+"As for these boys," continued Mr. Talley, "I am perfectly sure in my
+own mind that they are telling the truth. You'll have to look for the
+culprit in the other crowd, and I've already told you who they are, or
+who one of them is, at least."
+
+"Well," said the storekeeper, who by this time had cooled down
+considerably, "that, I suppose, will be something for the insurance
+company to settle. But by the terms of my contract with them I'll have
+to help them all I can to find out the responsible party, and I'll have
+to give them the names of all the boys concerned in the fight."
+
+"That's all right," responded Bob. "You know our folks and you know that
+they're good for any judgment that may be found against them. But I'm
+sure it will be somebody else that will have to pay the bill."
+
+There was nothing more to be done for the present, and the boys filed
+out of the store, after having expressed their thanks to Mr. Talley for
+the way he had championed their cause.
+
+"Gee!" murmured Joe, as they went up the street toward their homes, "I
+know how a fellow feels now after he's been put through the third
+degree."
+
+"It was rather a hot session," agreed Bob. "But I'm glad we had it out
+with him instead of running away. It's always best to take the bull by
+the horns. And you can't blame Mr. Larsen for feeling sore about it. Any
+one of us would probably have felt the same way."
+
+"Sure thing," admitted Herb. "But think of that dirty trick of Buck
+Looker in putting stones in snowballs! It wasn't only that one that went
+through the window. Every time I got hit it made me jump."
+
+"Same here," said Jimmy. "I was thinking all the time that they were the
+hardest snowballs I ever felt, but it never came into my mind that there
+were stones in them."
+
+"Trust Buck to be up to every mean trick that any one ever thought of,"
+returned Bob. "He hasn't got over the way we showed him up at Mountain
+Pass. He thought he had us dead to rights in the matter of that burned
+cottage, and it made him wild to see the way we came out on top. He and
+his gang would do anything to get even."
+
+"It will be interesting to see what he'll say when this matter of the
+window is put up to him and his pals," remarked Herb.
+
+"Not a doubt in the world what he'll say," replied Joe. "He'll swear
+till he's blue in the face that he never dreamed of using a stone in the
+snowballs. Do you remember how he told us that he'd lie in court to keep
+us from putting anything over on him? Any one that expects to get the
+truth out of Buck is barking up the wrong tree. I guess the insurance
+company would better kiss their money good-by."
+
+"I'm afraid so," returned Bob. "It was dark and there probably weren't
+any witnesses who saw them put the stones in, and it is likely that the
+company will have to let the matter drop."
+
+The lads had reached Bob's gate by this time, and they separated with a
+promise to come over and listen in on the radio later on.
+
+Bob told the whole story to his parents at the supper table that night,
+and his father and mother listened with great interest and some concern.
+
+"I'm sorry you were mixed up in the thing at all, Bob," his father
+remarked thoughtfully. "Being in it, however, you acted just as you
+should have done. Just how far you and your friends may be held
+responsible, in case they can't find the one who actually threw the ball
+that broke the window, I'm not lawyer enough to say. It's barely
+possible that there may be some ground for action on the score of
+culpable carelessness in taking part in a snowball fight in front of
+store windows, and of course you were wrong in doing that. But the total
+amount involved is not very great after all, and it would be divided up
+among the parents of the four of you, so there's nothing much to worry
+about. It would gall me though to have to pay for damages that were
+really caused by that cub of Looker's."
+
+"I'm sorry, Dad," said Bob. "I'm hoping yet that something may develop
+that will put the thing up to Buck, or whoever it was of his gang that
+actually threw the ball."
+
+"Let's hope so," returned Mr. Layton, though without much conviction in
+his voice, and dismissed the subject.
+
+A little while afterward the other three boys came over to Bob's house
+to listen in on the radio concert. So much time, however, had been taken
+up in discussing the afternoon's adventure that they missed Larry's
+offering, which was among the first on the program. This was a keen
+disappointment, which was tempered, however, by the probability that
+they could hear him some evening later in the week.
+
+"Sorry," remarked Joe. "But it only means that we still have a treat in
+store when the old boy begins to roar and growl and hiss so as to make
+us think that a whole menagerie has broken loose and is chasing us. In
+the meantime we can fix up that aerial so as to get a little better
+results."
+
+"Funny thing I noticed the other day," remarked Bob, as they embarked
+upon some experiments.
+
+"All sorts of funny things in the radio game," observed Joe. "Something
+new turns up every day. Things in your set that you think you can't do
+without you find you can do without and get results just about as
+usual."
+
+"Just what I was going to tell you," returned Bob. "You must be
+something of a prophet."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't go quite so far as to say that," replied Joe, with mock
+modesty.
+
+"Isn't he the shrinking violet?" chaffed Jimmy.
+
+"Stop your kidding, you boobs, and let a regular fellow talk," chided
+Bob. "What I was going to say was that while I was tinkering with the
+set I disconnected the ground wire. Of course I thought that would put
+the receiver out of business for the time, and I was almost knocked
+silly when I found that I could hear the concert that was going on just
+about as well as though the wire had been connected. How do you account
+for that?"
+
+"Don't account for it at all," replied Herb. "Probably just a freak, and
+might not happen again in a thousand times. Likely it was one of the
+unexplainable things that happen once in a while. Maybe there was a
+ground connection of some kind, if not by the wire. I wouldn't bank on
+it."
+
+"It's queer, too, how many kinds of things can be used as aerials," put
+in Joe. "I heard the other day of a man in an apartment house where the
+owner objected to aerials, who used the clothesline for that purpose.
+The wire ran through the rope, which covered it so that it couldn't be
+seen. It didn't prevent its use as a clothesline either, for he could
+hear perfectly when the wash was hanging on it."
+
+"Oh, almost anything will do as an aerial," chimed in Jimmy. "The rib of
+an umbrella, the rainspout at the side of the house, the springs of a
+bed give good results. And that's one of the mighty good things about
+radio. People that have to count the pennies don't have to buy a lot of
+expensive materials. They can put a set together with almost any old
+thing that happens to be knocking around the house."
+
+Bob had been working steadily, and, as the room was warm, his hands were
+moist with perspiration. He had unhooked an insulated copper wire that
+led to his outside aerial. His head phones were on, as he had been
+listening to the radio concert while he worked.
+
+"I'll have to miss the rest of that selection, I guess," he remarked
+regretfully, as he unhooked the wire. "It's a pity, too, for that's one
+of the finest violin solos I ever heard. Great Scott! What does that
+mean?"
+
+The ejaculation was wrenched from him by the fact that although he had
+disconnected the wire he still heard the music--a little fainter than
+before but still with every note distinct.
+
+He could scarcely believe his ears and looked at his friends in great
+bewilderment.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Joe, jumping to his feet. "Get a shock?"
+
+"Not in the sense you mean, but in another way, yes," replied Bob, still
+holding the exposed end of the copper wire in his fingers. "What do you
+think of that, fellows? I'm an aerial!"
+
+"Come out of your trance," adjured Herb unbelievingly. "They talk that
+way in the insane asylums."
+
+"Clap on your headphones," cried Bob, too intent on his discovery to pay
+any attention to the gibe.
+
+They did so, and were amazed at hearing the selection as plainly as did
+Bob himself.
+
+The latter had been holding the disconnected wire so that his fingers
+just touched the uncovered copper portion at the end. Now he hastily
+scraped off several inches of the insulation and grasped the copper wire
+with his hand. Instantly the volume of sound grew perceptibly greater.
+
+Hardly knowing what to make of it, he scraped off still more of the
+insulation.
+
+"Here, you fellows," he shouted. "Each of you take hold of this."
+
+Joe was the first to respond, and the sound became louder. Then Herb and
+Jimmy followed suit, and it was evident that they served as amplifiers,
+for with each additional hand the music swelled to greater volume.
+
+The boys looked at each other as if asking whether this was all real or
+if they had suddenly been transferred to some realm of fancy. They would
+not have been greatly surprised to wake up suddenly and find that they
+had been dreaming.
+
+But there was no delusion about it and they listened without saying
+another word until, in a glorious strain of melody, the selection came
+to an end. Nor did they break the silence until a band orchestra was
+announced and crashed into a brilliant overture.
+
+While it was still in full swing, Bob had an inspiration. He took off
+his headphones and clamped them on to the phonograph that stood on a
+table near by. Instantly the music became intensified and filled the
+room. When all their hands were on the wire, it became so loud that they
+had to close the doors of the phonograph.
+
+"Well," gasped Bob, when the last strain had died away and the
+demonstration was complete, "that's something new on me."
+
+"Never dreamed of anything like it," said Joe, sinking back in his
+chair. "Of course we know that the human body has electrical capacity
+and that operators sometimes have to use metal shields to protect the
+tube from the influence of the hand. And in our loop aerial at Ocean
+Point you noticed that the receptivity of the tube was modified when we
+touched it with our fingers."
+
+"Of course, in theory," observed Bob thoughtfully, "the human body
+possesses inductance as well as capacity, and so might serve as an
+antenna. But I never thought of demonstrating it in practice."
+
+"So Bob is an aerial," grinned Herb. "I always knew he was a 'live
+wire,' but I never figured him out as an antenna."
+
+"And don't forget that if Bob is an aerial we're amplifiers," put in
+Jimmy.
+
+"There's glory enough for all," laughed Joe. "We'll have to tell Doctor
+Dale and Frank Brandon about this. We've got so many tips from them that
+it's about time we made it the other way around."
+
+They were so excited about this new development which they had stumbled
+upon purely through accident that they sat talking about it for a long
+time until Bob chanced to look at his watch.
+
+"Just have time for the last selection," he remarked, as he reconnected
+the aerial. "We'll wind up in the regular way this time. It's an aria
+from Lucia and I don't want to miss it."
+
+He had some difficulty in making his adjustment, as there was a lot of
+interference at the moment.
+
+"Raft of amateurs horning in," he muttered. "All of them seem to have
+chosen just this time to do it. I wonder----"
+
+He stopped as though he had been shot, and listened intently. Then he
+beckoned to the others to adjust their headphones.
+
+Into the receiver was coming a succession of stuttering sounds that
+eventually succeeded in framing intelligible words. Ordinarily this
+might have provoked laughter, but not now. They had heard that voice
+before.
+
+It was the voice of Dan Cassey!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A PUZZLING MYSTERY
+
+
+For the second time that evening the radio boys thought they must be
+dreaming.
+
+Cassey! Cassey the swindler, whom they had compelled to make restitution
+to the victim he had wronged. Cassey the thug, whom they had captured in
+that wild chase after he had looted the safe and nearly killed the
+operator in the sending station. Cassey the convict, who, to their
+certain knowledge, had been sentenced to a long term in prison.
+
+What was Cassey doing over the radio? That it was that scoundrel they
+had no doubt. The stuttering, the tones of the voice, the occasional
+whistle which he indulged in in order to go on--all these things they
+recognized perfectly. It was the wildest kind of improbability that he
+had a double anywhere who could reproduce him so perfectly.
+
+Gone now was any thought of the aria from Lucia. Bob motioned
+frantically to Jimmy to hand him a pencil and a sheet of paper. Then he
+jotted down the words, as after great efforts they fell one by one from
+the stutterer's lips. As Bob did this he bent over the paper in frowning
+perplexity. The words themselves were intelligible, but they did not
+seem to make sense, nor was there anywhere a connected sentence.
+
+Finally the stammering voice ceased, and after they had waited several
+minutes longer to make sure that it would not resume, the boys took off
+their headphones and gazed at each other in utter bewilderment.
+
+"Well, I'll be blessed!" exclaimed Joe. "That villain Cassey, of all men
+on the face of the earth! What do you make of it, Bob?"
+
+"I don't know what to make of it," confessed Bob. "It has simply knocked
+me endways. I never thought to hear of that rascal again for the rest of
+my life. Yet here he is, less than a year after he's been sentenced,
+talking over the radio."
+
+"Perhaps he's received a pardon," hazarded Jimmy.
+
+"Not at all likely," answered Bob. "It isn't as though he were a first
+offender. He's old in crime. You remember the raking over the judge gave
+him when he sentenced him. Told him if he had it in his power he'd give
+him more than he actually did. No, I think we can dismiss that idea."
+
+"Isn't it possible," suggested Herb, "that he's employed as radio
+operator in the prison? He understands sending and receiving all right."
+
+"That doesn't strike me hard either," Bob objected. "Likely enough the
+prison is equipped with a wireless set, but it isn't probable that
+they'd let a prisoner operate it. It would give him too good a chance to
+get in touch with confederates outside the jail. Then, too, his
+stuttering would make him a laughing stock.
+
+"The only explanation that I can see," he went on, "is that he's
+escaped, and he's sending this message on his own hook. Though what the
+message is about is beyond me."
+
+"Just what did you get down?" asked Jimmy curiously. "I caught a few
+words, but I don't remember them all."
+
+"It's a regular hodgepodge," replied Bob, spreading out the sheet of
+paper, while they all crowded around to read.
+
+"Corn--hay--six--paint--water--slow--sick--jelly," read Joe aloud.
+"Sounds to me like the ravings of a delirium patient."
+
+"And yet I'm sure that I got all the words down right," said Bob
+perplexedly. "It must be a code of some kind. We can't understand it,
+and Cassey didn't mean that any one should except some one person whose
+ear was glued to a radiophone. But you can bet that that person
+understood it all right."
+
+"I wonder if we couldn't make it out," suggested Herb.
+
+"No harm in trying," said Joe, "though compared to this a Chinese puzzle
+is as simple as A B C. Let's take a hack at it, anyhow. We'll each take
+a separate sheet of paper and try to get something out of it that makes
+sense."
+
+For nearly an hour the boys did their best. They put the words in
+different orders, read them forward and backward. But the ideas conveyed
+by the separate words were so utterly dissimilar that they could frame
+nothing that had the slightest glimmering of sense and they were finally
+compelled to give it up.
+
+"If time were money, we'd spend enough on this stuff to make us
+bankrupt," Joe remarked, in vast disgust, as he rose to get his cap.
+"Dan Cassey was foxy when he made this up. We'll have to give the rascal
+credit for that."
+
+"Yes," admitted Herb, "it's the best kind of a code. Any one of those
+words might mean any one of a hundred thousand things. A man might spend
+a lifetime on it and be no nearer success at the end than he was when he
+started. The only way it can be unraveled is by finding the key that
+tells what the words stand for. And even that may not exist in written
+form. The fellows may simply have committed them to memory.
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do!" Bob exclaimed. "I'll get the prison
+to-morrow on the long distance 'phone and ask them about Cassey. I'll
+tell them all about this radio message, and it may be a valuable tip to
+them. They may be able to locate the station from which the messages
+come, if there are any more of them. You remember how Mr. Brandon
+located Cassey's sending station the first time."
+
+Bob was as good as his word, and got in communication with the prison
+just before school time. The warden was gruff and inclined to be
+uncommunicative at first, but his manner changed remarkably after he
+heard of the radio message and he inquired eagerly for the slightest
+details.
+
+"Yes, Cassey has escaped," he told Bob. "He got away about two months
+ago. He had behaved himself well for the first six months of his
+imprisonment, and we made him a trusty. In that capacity he had access
+to various parts of the prison and occasionally to my own quarters,
+which are in a wing connected with the prison. In some way that hasn't
+yet been discovered he got possession of clothes to cover his prison
+uniform and got away one day from the yard in which he was working.
+Probably with his help, two others got away at the same time. Their
+names are Jake Raff and Toppy Gillen, both of them desperate criminals
+and in for long terms. Likely enough the three of them are operating
+together somewhere. We made a careful search for them and have sent out
+descriptions of them to the police of all the important cities in the
+United States. But this clue of yours is the only one we have, and it
+may prove a most important one. I'll see that the Federal radio
+authorities are notified at once. Keep in touch with me and let me know
+if you come across anything else that seems to point to Cassey. His
+escape is a sore point with me, and I'd be glad to have him once more
+behind the bars. You can be sure he'll never get away again until he's
+served out the last day of his sentence."
+
+With a warm expression of thanks the warden hung up his telephone
+receiver, and Bob hurried off to school to tell his comrades of what he
+had learned.
+
+There was no chance for this, however, before recess, as he had been
+kept so long at the telephone that he was barely able to reach the
+school before the bell rang.
+
+When at last he told them of his talk with the warden, they listened
+with spellbound interest.
+
+"So the villain managed to escape, did he?" ruminated Joe. "That's a
+black mark against the warden, and it's no wonder he's anxious to get
+him back. I'd hate to be in Cassey's shoes if the prison gates ever
+close on him again."
+
+"You'd think it would be a comparatively easy matter to capture him,"
+suggested Herb. "The fact that he stutters so badly makes him a marked
+man."
+
+"You can bet that he doesn't do any more talking than he can help,"
+replied Joe. "And, for that matter, I suppose there are a good many
+thousand stutterers in the United States. Almost every town has one or
+more. Of course it's against him, but it doesn't by any means make it a
+sure thing that he'll be nabbed."
+
+Buck Looker and his cronies happened to pass them in the yard just at
+that moment and caught the last word. Buck whispered something to Carl
+Lutz, and the latter broke out into uproarious laughter.
+
+It was so obviously directed against Joe that his impulsive temper took
+fire at once. He stepped up to the trio, despite Bob's outstretched hand
+that tried to restrain him.
+
+"Were you fellows laughing at me?" he asked of the three, though his
+eyes were fastened directly on Buck's.
+
+"Not especially at you," returned Buck insolently. "But at something you
+said."
+
+"And what was that?" asked Joe, coming a step nearer, at which Buck
+stepped back a trifle.
+
+"About getting nabbed," he said. "It made me think of some fellows I
+know that were nabbed last night for breaking windows."
+
+"Oh, that was it!" remarked Joe, with dangerous calmness while his fist
+clenched. "Now let me tell you what it reminds me of. It makes me think
+of three cowards who smashed a window last night with a stone packed in
+a snowball and then ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.
+Perhaps you'd like me to tell you their names?"
+
+"I don't know what you're talking about," retorted Buck, changing color.
+
+"Oh, yes, you do," replied Joe. "And while I'm about it, I'll add that
+the fellows who smashed the window were not only cowards, but worse. And
+their names are Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney."
+
+"What's that?" cried Buck, bristling up, while an angry growl arose from
+his cronies.
+
+"You heard me the first time," replied Joe; "but to get it into your
+thick heads I'll say it again. The cowards, and worse, I referred to are
+named Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MARVELS OF WIRELESS
+
+
+"That's fighting talk," blustered Buck, as he made a pretense of getting
+ready to throw off his coat.
+
+"That's precisely what I want it to be," declared Joe, as he tore off
+his coat and threw it to the ground.
+
+By this time most of the boys in the school yard had sensed the
+tenseness of the situation and had gathered around Joe and Buck, forming
+a ring many lines deep.
+
+"A fight!" was the cry.
+
+"Go in, Joe!"
+
+"Soak him, Buck!"
+
+Before Joe's determined attitude and flashing eyes, Buck wavered. He
+fingered his coat uncertainly and glanced toward the school windows.
+
+"There's one of the teachers looking out," he declared. "And it's
+against the rules to fight on the school grounds. If it wasn't for that
+I'd beat you up."
+
+There was a general snicker from the boys at Buck Looker's sudden regard
+for the rules of the school.
+
+"Any other place you can think of where you'd like to beat me up?" said
+Joe sarcastically. "How about this afternoon after school down by the
+river?"
+
+"I----I've got to go out of town this afternoon," Buck stammered. "But
+don't you worry. I'll give you all the fight you're looking for the
+first chance I get."
+
+Murmurs of derision arose from the crowd, and the flush on the bully's
+sour face grew much deeper.
+
+"You're just a yellow dog, Buck!" exclaimed Joe, in disgust. "Have I got
+to pull your nose to make you stand up to me?"
+
+He advanced toward him, and Buck retreated. What would have happened
+next will never be known, for just at that moment one of the teachers
+emerged from the school and came toward the ring. Hostilities at the
+moment were out of the question, and the boys began to scatter. Buck
+heaved a sigh of evident relief, and now that he felt himself safe, all
+his old bluster came back to him.
+
+"It's mighty lucky for you that Bixby came out just then," he declared.
+"I was just getting ready to thrash you within an inch of your life."
+
+Joe laughed sarcastically.
+
+"The trouble with you, Buck, is that you spend so much time getting
+ready that you never have any time for real fighting," he remarked. "It
+took you an awfully long time to get your coat unbuttoned."
+
+"They laugh best who laugh last," growled Buck. "And don't forget that
+you fellows have got to pay for that glass you broke."
+
+"You've got another guess coming," replied Joe. "You or one of your gang
+broke that glass and we can prove it."
+
+"I wasn't downtown that night at all," said Buck glibly.
+
+"Don't add any more lies to your score," said Joe scornfully. "We've got
+you! You and your gang are the only fellows in town who would put stones
+in snowballs, anyway."
+
+"If that's all the evidence you've got, it wouldn't go far in a court of
+law," sneered Buck. "Any judge would see that you were trying to back
+out of it by putting it up to somebody else."
+
+"Perhaps you don't know that Mr. Talley bumped into you while you were
+running away," remarked Joe.
+
+This shot told, for Buck had banked on the darkness and had forgotten
+all about his encounter with Mr. Talley. He had been nursing the
+comfortable assurance that all he had to do was to deny. Now his house
+of cards had come tumbling about his ears. Mr. Talley was a respected
+citizen, and his word would be accepted by everybody.
+
+Joe saw the effect of his remark and smiled drily.
+
+"Want to revise that statement of yours that you weren't downtown at all
+last night?" he asked, with affected politeness.
+
+"He--he was mistaken," stammered Buck weakly, as he walked away,
+followed by his discomfited cronies.
+
+"I guess that will hold him for a while," chuckled Jimmy, as the radio
+boys watched his retreating figure.
+
+Two or three days passed without special developments. The broken pane
+of glass had been restored and the parents of the boys had been formally
+notified by the insurance company that they would be held responsible
+jointly for the damages. A similar notice had been sent to the fathers
+of Buck and his mates.
+
+Mr. Looker replied, denying that his son was at all implicated in the
+matter and refusing to pay. Mr. Layton admitted that his son had been
+throwing snowballs in front of the store on the night in question, but
+he stated that he had not thrown the ball with a stone in it that broke
+the window. He added that any further communication regarding the matter
+could be sent to his lawyer.
+
+Of the others involved, some had taken similar positions and others had
+ignored the matter altogether, leaving it to the insurance company to
+make the next move. And there for the time the matter rested.
+
+The radio boys had missed Larry's performance on the night that he had
+opened with his new repertoire, but they were bound not to be cheated of
+the second, which took place only a few nights later.
+
+They crowded eagerly about the radio set when their friend's turn was
+announced, and listened with a breathless interest, that was intensified
+by their warm personal regard for the performer, to the rendition of the
+cries of various animals with which Larry regaled them.
+
+The imitations were so lifelike that the boys might well have imagined
+they were in a zoölogical garden. Lions, tigers, bears, elephants,
+snakes, moose, and other specimens of the animal and the reptile tribes
+were imitated with a fidelity that was amazing. In addition, the
+renditions were interspersed with droll and lively comments by Larry
+that added immensely to the humor of the performance. When at last it
+was over, the boys broke out into enthusiastic hand-clapping that would
+have warmed Larry's heart, had he been able to hear it.
+
+"The old boy is all there!" chortled Bob enthusiastically.
+
+"He's a wonder!" ejaculated Joe. "No question there of a square peg in a
+round hole. He's found exactly the work in life he's specially fitted
+for."
+
+"And think of the audience he has," put in Jimmy. "At this very minute
+there are probably hundreds of thousands of people who have been tickled
+to death at his performance. Just suppose those people all clapped their
+hands at once just as we have done and we could hear it. Why, it would
+be like a young earthquake."
+
+At this moment the doorbell rang, and Dr. Dale was announced. He spent a
+few minutes with Mr. and Mrs. Layton, and then came up to have a little
+chat with the boys. This was one thing he never overlooked. His interest
+in and sympathy with the young were unbounded, and accounted largely for
+the influence that he exerted in the community.
+
+The radio boys greeted the minister warmly and gladly made room for him
+around the table. His coming was never felt by them to be an
+interruption. They regarded him almost as one of themselves. Apart, too,
+from the thorough liking they had for him as a man, they were
+exceedingly grateful to him for the help he had been to them in radio
+matters. He was their mentor, guide and friend.
+
+"I knew I'd find you busy with the radio," he said, with a genial smile.
+
+"We can't be torn away from it," replied Bob. "We think it's just the
+greatest thing that ever happened. Just now we've been listening to
+Larry Bartlett give his imitations of animals. You remember Larry?"
+
+"I certainly do," replied Dr. Dale. "And I remember how you boys helped
+him get his present position. It was one of the best things you ever
+did. He's certainly a finished artist. I heard him on his opening night,
+and I've laughed thinking of it many times since. He's a most amusing
+entertainer."
+
+It was the first opportunity the boys had had to tell the doctor of the
+night when Bob found that he was a human aerial, and he listened to the
+many details of the experiment with absorbed interest.
+
+"It's something new to me," he said. "You boys have reason to be
+gratified at having had a novel experience. That's the beauty of radio.
+Something new is always cropping up. Many of the other sciences have
+been more or less fully explored, and while none of them will ever be
+exhausted, their limits have been to some extent indicated. But in radio
+we're standing just on the threshold of a science whose infinite
+possibilities have not even been guessed. One discovery crowds so
+closely on the heels of another that we have all we can do to keep track
+of them.
+
+"I've just got back from a little trip up in New York State," he went
+on, as he settled himself more comfortably in his chair, "and I stopped
+off at Schenectady to look over the big radio station there. By great
+good luck, Marconi happened to be there on the same day----"
+
+"Marconi!" breathed Bob. "The father of wireless!"
+
+"Yes," smiled Dr. Dale. "Or if you want to put it in another way, the
+Christopher Columbus who discovered the New World of radio. I counted it
+a special privilege to get a glimpse of him. But what attracted my
+special attention in the little while I could spend there was a small
+tube about eighteen inches long and two inches in diameter which many
+radio experts think will completely revolutionize long distance radio
+communication."
+
+"You mean the Langmuir tube," said Joe. "I was reading of it the other
+day, and it seems to be a dandy."
+
+"It's a wonderful thing," replied the doctor. "Likely enough it will
+take the place of the great transatlantic plants which require so much
+room and such enormous machinery. It's practically noiseless. Direct
+current is sent into the wire through a complicated wire system and
+generates a high frequency current of tremendous power. I saw it working
+when it was connected with an apparatus carrying about fifteen thousand
+volts of electricity in a direct current. A small blue flame shot
+through the tube with scarcely a particle of noise. The broken impulse
+from the electrical generators behind the tube was sent through the tube
+to be flung off from the antenna into space in the dots and dashes of
+the international code. That little tube was not much bigger than a
+stick of dynamite, but was infinitely more powerful. I was so fascinated
+by it and all that it meant that it was hard work to tear myself away
+from it. It marks a great step forward in the field of radio."
+
+"It must have been wonderfully interesting," remarked Bob. "And yet I
+suppose that in a year or two something new will be invented that will
+put even that out of date."
+
+"It's practically certain that there will be," assented the doctor. "The
+miracles of to-day become the commonplaces of to-morrow. That
+fifty-kilowatt tube that develops twelve horsepower within its narrow
+walls of glass, wonderful as it is, is bound to be superseded by
+something better, and the inventor himself would be the first one to
+admit it. Some of the finest scientific brains in the country are
+working on the problem, and he would be a bold prophet and probably a
+false prophet that would set any bounds to its possibilities.
+
+"Radio is yet in its infancy," the doctor concluded, as he rose to go.
+"But one thing is certain. In the lifetime of those who witnessed its
+birth it will become a giant--but a benevolent giant who, instead of
+destroying will re-create our civilization."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE FOREST RANGER
+
+
+Some days later Bob and Herb and Joe were on their way to Bob's house to
+do a little experimenting on the latter's set, when they were surprised
+at the alacrity with which Jimmy turned a corner and came puffing up to
+them.
+
+"Say, fellows!" he yelled, as he came within earshot, "I've got some
+mighty interesting news for you."
+
+"Let's have it," said Bob.
+
+"It's about the snowball Buck fired through the window," panted Jimmy,
+falling into step beside them. "I met a man who's staying up at the
+Sterling House. He says Buck's the boy who did it, all right."
+
+"How does he know?" all of the others asked with interest.
+
+"Saw Buck pick up a stone and pack the snow hard around it," said Jimmy
+importantly. "He saw it himself, so we've got one witness for our side,
+all right."
+
+"That's good," said Bob, adding, with a glint in his eye: "Say, wouldn't
+I like to get my hands on Buck, just for about five minutes!"
+
+"Well, you won't have a chance," said Jimmy, enjoying being the bearer
+of so much news. "Buck's gone with his father to a lumber camp up in
+Braxton woods."
+
+"How do you know all this?" inquired Herb curiously. "You seem to be
+chock full of information to-day."
+
+"Oh, a little bird told me," said Jimmy, looking mysterious. However, as
+Herb made a threatening motion toward him, he hurried to explain. "I met
+Terry Mooney," he said. "I told him I knew all about who put the stone
+in the snowball and I told him that our crowd was going to make his look
+like two cents. He laughed and said swell chance we'd have. Said Buck
+had gone to the lumber camp with his father and that he and Carl Lutz
+were going to join him in a day or two. Just like Buck to run away when
+he knows there's a good licking coming to him!" added Jimmy, with a
+sneer.
+
+"Oh, well, what do we care?" said Joe. "At least we sha'n't have those
+fellows around spoiling all the fun."
+
+"I'm glad you found out about the snowball just the same," said Bob
+thoughtfully. "Every little bit helps when we have to fight against that
+crooked gang of Buck's."
+
+"Here's hoping," said Herb fervently, "that they stay away all the rest
+of the spring."
+
+By this time the lads had reached Bob's house. It was Saturday
+afternoon, and as the boys crowded noisily into the hall Bob noticed
+that his father was in the library and that he seemed to have company.
+
+He was starting upstairs with the other lads when his father came out of
+the library and called to him.
+
+"Come on in for a few minutes, boys," he said. "I have a friend here who
+is a man after your own hearts," and his eyes twinkled. "He's interested
+in radio."
+
+The boys needed no second invitation, for they never missed an
+opportunity of meeting any one who could tell them something about the
+wonders of radio.
+
+Mr. Layton's guest was lounging in one of the great chairs in the
+library, and from the moment the boys laid eyes on him they knew they
+were going to hear something of more than usual interest.
+
+The stranger was big, over six feet, and his face and hands were like a
+Cuban's, they were so dark. Even his fair hair seemed to have been burnt
+a darker hue by the sun. There was a tang of the great out-of-doors
+about him, a hint of open spaces and adventure that fascinated the radio
+boys.
+
+"This is my son, Mr. Bentley," said Mr. Layton to the lounging stranger,
+still with a twinkle in his eye. "And the other boys are his inseparable
+companions. Also I think they are almost as crazy about radio as you
+are."
+
+The stranger laughed and turned to Bob.
+
+"I've been upstairs to see your set," he said, adding heartily: "It's
+fine. I've seldom seen better amateur equipment."
+
+If Bob had liked this stranger before, it was nothing to what he felt
+for him now. To the radio boys, if any one praised their radio sets,
+this person, no matter who it was, promptly became their friend for
+life.
+
+"I'm glad you think it's pretty good," Bob said modestly. "We fellows
+have surely worked hard enough over it."
+
+"This gentleman here," said Mr. Layton to the boys, "ought to know quite
+a bit about radio. He operates an airplane in the service of our
+Government Forestry."
+
+"In the United States Forest Service?" cried Bob, breathlessly, eyeing
+the stranger with increasing interest. "And is your airplane equipped
+with radio?"
+
+"Very much so," replied Mr. Bentley. "It seems almost a fairy tale--what
+radio has done for the Forest Service."
+
+"I've read a lot about the fighting of forest fires," broke in Joe
+eagerly. "But I didn't know radio had anything to do with it."
+
+"It hadn't until the last few years," the visitor answered, adding, with
+a laugh: "But now it's pretty near the whole service!"
+
+"Won't you tell us something about what you do?" asked Bob.
+
+Mr. Bentley waved a deprecating hand while Mr. Layton leaned back in his
+chair with the air of one who is enjoying himself.
+
+"It isn't so much what I do," protested this interesting newcomer, while
+the boys hung upon his every word. "It is what radio has done in the
+fighting of forest fires that is the marvelous, the almost unbelievable,
+thing. The man who first conceived the idea of bringing radio into the
+wilderness had to meet and overcome the same discouragements that fall
+to the lot of every pioneer.
+
+"The government declared that the cost of carrying and setting up the
+radio apparatus would be greater than the loss occasioned every season
+by the terribly destructive forest fires. But there was a fellow named
+Adams who thought he knew better."
+
+"Adams!" repeated Bob breathlessly. "Wasn't he the fellow who had charge
+of the Mud Creek ranger station at Montana?"
+
+The visitor nodded and gazed at Bob with interest. "How did you know?"
+he asked.
+
+"Oh, I read something about him a while ago," answered Bob vaguely. He
+was chiefly interested in having Mr. Bentley go on.
+
+"I should think," said Herb, "that it would be pretty hard work carrying
+delicate radio apparatus into the lumber country."
+
+"You bet your life it is," replied Mr. Bentley. "The only way the
+apparatus can be carried is by means of pack horses, and as each horse
+can't carry more than a hundred and fifty pounds you see it takes quite
+a few of the animals to lug even an ordinary amount of apparatus.
+
+"The hardest part of the whole thing," he went on, warming to his
+recital as the boys were so evidently interested, "was packing the
+cumbersome storage batteries. These batteries were often lost in
+transit, too. If a pack horse happened to slip from the trail, its pack
+became loosened and went tumbling down the mountain side----"
+
+"That's the life!" interrupted Jimmy gleefully, and the visitor smiled
+at him.
+
+"You might not think so if you happened to be the one detailed to travel
+back over the almost impassable trails for the missing apparatus,"
+observed Mr. Bentley ruefully. "It wasn't all fun, that pioneer
+installation of radio. Not by any means."
+
+"But radio turned the trick just the same," said Bob slangily. "I've
+read that a message that used to take two days to pass between ranger
+stations can be sent now in a few seconds."
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Mr. Bentley, his eyes glinting. "In a little while
+the saving in the cost of forest fires will more than pay for the
+installation of radio. We nose out a fire and send word by wireless to
+the nearest station, before the fire fairly knows it's started."
+
+"But just what is it that you do?" asked Joe, with flattering eagerness.
+
+"I do scout work," was the reply. "I help patrol the fire line in cases
+of bad fires. The men fighting the fire generally carry a portable
+receiving apparatus along with them, and by that means, I, in my
+airplane, can report the progress of a fire and direct the distribution
+of the men."
+
+"It must be exciting work," said Herb enviously. "That's just the kind
+of life I'd like--plenty of adventure, something doing every minute."
+
+"There's usually plenty doing," agreed Mr. Bentley, with a likable grin.
+"We can't complain that our life is slow."
+
+"I should think," said Bob slowly, "that it might be dangerous,
+installing sets right there in the heavy timber."
+
+"That's what lots of radio engineers thought also," agreed Mr. Bentley.
+"But no such trouble has developed so far, and I guess it isn't likely
+to now."
+
+"Didn't they have some trouble in getting power enough for their sets?"
+asked Joe, with interest.
+
+"Yes, that was a serious drawback in the beginning," came the answer.
+"They had to design a special equipment--a sort of gasoline charging
+plant. In this way they were able to secure enough power for the
+charging of the storage batteries."
+
+Bob drew a long breath.
+
+"Wouldn't I have liked to be the one to fit up that first wireless
+station!" he cried enthusiastically. "Just think how that Mr. Adams must
+have felt when he received his first message through the air."
+
+"It wasn't all fun," the interesting visitor reminded the boys. "The
+station was of the crudest sort, you know. The first operator had a box
+to sit on and another box served as the support for his apparatus."
+
+"So much the better," retorted Bob stoutly. "A radio fan doesn't know or
+care, half the time, what he's sitting on."
+
+"Which proves," said Mr. Bentley, laughing, "that you are a real one!"
+And at this all the lads grinned.
+
+"But say," interrupted Joe, going back to the problem of power, "weren't
+the engineers able to think up something to take the place of the
+gasoline charging stations?"
+
+"Oh, yes. But not without a good deal of experimenting. Now they are
+using two hundred and seventy number two Burgess dry batteries. These,
+connecting in series, secure the required three hundred and fifty-volt
+plate current."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+RADIO AND THE FIRE FIEND
+
+
+"Well, I hope that the boys know what you're talking about," interrupted
+Mr. Layton at this point, his eyes twinkling, "for I'm sure I don't."
+
+"They know what I'm talking about all right," returned his guest,
+admiration in his laughing eyes as he looked at the boys. "Unless I miss
+my guess, these fellows are the stuff of which radio experts are made. I
+bet they'll do great things yet."
+
+"Won't you tell us more about your experiences?" begged Herb, while the
+other boys tried not to look too pleased at the praise. "It isn't often
+we have a chance to hear of adventures like yours first hand."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Bentley, modestly, "I don't know that there's much to
+tell. All we scouts do is to patrol the country and watch for fires. Of
+course, in case of a big fire, our duties are more exciting. I remember
+one fire," he leaned back in his chair reminiscently and the boys
+listened eagerly, hanging on every word. "It was a beauty of its kind,
+covering pretty nearly fourteen miles. Thousands of dollars' worth of
+valuable timber was menaced. It looked for a time as if it would get the
+better of us, at that.
+
+"Men were scarce and there was a high wind to urge the fire on. A
+receiving set was rushed to the fire line, some of the apparatus in a
+truck and some carried by truck horses. My plane was detailed to patrol
+the fire line and give directions to the men who were fighting the
+fire."
+
+He paused, and the boys waited impatiently for him to go on.
+
+"The good old plane was equipped for both sending and receiving, and I
+tell you we patrolled that fourteen miles of flaming forest, sometimes
+coming so close to the tree tops that we almost seemed to brush them.
+
+"My duty, of course, was to report the progress of the fire. Controlled
+at one point, it broke out at another, and it was through the messages
+from my 'plane to the ground set stationed just behind the fire line
+that the men were moved from one danger point to the next.
+
+"Finally, the fire seeming nearly out along one side of the ridge, I
+sent the men to fighting it on the other side, where it had been left to
+rage uncontrolled. No sooner had the men scattered for the danger point
+than the brooding fire broke out again and it was necessary to recall
+half the men.
+
+"It was a long fight and a hard one, but with the aid of the blessed old
+wireless, we finally won out. As a matter of fact, the wireless-equipped
+airplane has become as necessary to the Forest Service as ships are to
+the navy.
+
+"In the old days," he went on, seeing that the boys were still deeply
+interested, "when they depended upon the ordinary telephone to convey
+warnings of fires they were surely leaning upon a broken reed.
+
+"Often, just when they needed the means of communication most, the fire
+would sweep through the woods, destroying trees to which the telephone
+wires were fastened, and melting the wires themselves. So the eyes of
+the Forest Service were put out and they were forced to work in the
+dark."
+
+"But I should think," protested Bob, "that there would be times when
+even wireless would be put out of the job. Suppose the fire were to
+reach one of the stations equipped with wireless. What then?"
+
+Mr. Bentley laughed as though amused at something.
+
+"I can tell you an interesting incident connected with that," he said.
+"And one that shows the pluck and common sense of radio operators in
+general--don't think that I'm throwing bouquets at myself, now, for
+first and last, I am a pilot, even if sometimes I find it necessary to
+employ radio.
+
+"Well, anyway, this operator that I am speaking of, found himself in a
+perilous position. A fire had been raging for days, and now it was so
+close to his station that the station itself was threatened.
+
+"One morning when he got up the smoke from the burning forest was
+swirling about the open space in front of the station and he knew that
+before long he would be seeing flame instead of smoke. The fire fighters
+had been working ceaselessly, fighting gallantly, but the elements were
+against them. The air was almost as dry and brittle as the wood which
+the flames lapped up and there was a steady wind that drove the fire on
+and on.
+
+"If only there might come a fog or the wind change its direction! But
+the radio man had no intention of waiting on the elements. I don't
+believe he gave more than a passing thought to his own safety--his chief
+interest was for the safety of his beloved apparatus.
+
+"He decided to dismantle the set, build a raft and set himself and the
+apparatus adrift upon the water in the attempt to save it.
+
+"And so he worked feverishly, while the fire came closer and he could
+hear the men who were fighting the fire shouting to each other. Finally
+he succeeded in dismantling the set and got it down to the water's edge.
+
+"Here he built a rough raft, piled the apparatus upon it, jumped after
+it, and drifted out into the middle of the lake."
+
+"Did the station burn down?" asked Jimmy excitedly.
+
+"No, fortunately. The wind died down in the nick of time, giving the men
+a chance to control the blaze. When it was evident the danger was past,
+the operator set up his apparatus again and prepared to continue his
+duties, as though nothing had happened.
+
+"There you have the tremendous advantage of radio. There were no wires
+to be destroyed. Only a radio set which could be dismantled and taken to
+safety while the fire raged."
+
+"That operator sure had his nerve with him, all right," said Bob
+admiringly.
+
+"More nerve than common sense perhaps," chuckled Mr. Bentley. "But you
+certainly can't help admiring him. He was right there when it came to
+grit."
+
+After a while they began to discuss technicalities, and the boys learned
+a great many things they had never known before. The pilot happening to
+mention that there were sometimes a number of airplanes equipped with
+radio operating within a restricted district, Joe wanted to know if they
+did not have a good deal of trouble with interference.
+
+"No. There was at first some interference by amateurs, but these soon
+learned to refrain from using their instruments during patrol periods.
+
+"You see," he explained, "we use a special type of transmitting outfit
+aboard our fire-detection craft. It's called the SCR-Seventy-three. The
+equipment obtains its power from a self-excited inductor type
+alternator. This is propelled by a fixed wooden-blade air fan. In the
+steam-line casing of the alternator the rotary spark gap, alternator,
+potential transformer, condenser and oscillation transformer are
+self-contained. Usually the alternator is mounted on the underside of
+the fuselage where the propeller spends its force in the form of an air
+stream. The telegraph sending keys, field and battery switch, dry
+battery, variometer and antenna reel are the only units included inside
+the fuselage.
+
+"The type of transmitter is a simple rotary gap, indirectly excited
+spark and provided with nine taps on the inductance coil of the closed
+oscillating circuit. Five varying toothed discs for the rotary spark gap
+yield five different signal tones and nine different wave lengths are
+possible.
+
+"So," he finished, looking around at their absorbed faces, "you see it
+is quite possible to press into service a number of airplanes without
+being bothered by interference."
+
+"It sounds complete," said Bob. "I'd like a chance to see one of those
+sets at close range sometime."
+
+The time passed so quickly that finally the visitor rose with an apology
+for staying so late. The radio boys were sorry to see him go. They could
+have sat for hours more, listening to him.
+
+"That fellow sure has had some experiences!" said Joe, as, a little
+later, the boys mounted the stairs to Bob's room. "It was mighty lucky
+we happened along while he was here."
+
+"You bet your life," said Herb. "I wouldn't have missed meeting him for
+a lot."
+
+"Say, fellows," Jimmy announced from the head of the stairs, "I know now
+what I'm going to do when I'm through school. It's me for the tall
+timber. I'm going to pilot an airplane in the service of my country."
+
+"Ain't he noble?" demanded Herb, grinning, as the boys crowded into
+Bob's room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+NEAR DISASTER
+
+
+Several days later while the radio boys were experimenting with their
+big set and talking over their interesting meeting with the Forest
+Service ranger, Herb displayed an immense horseshoe magnet.
+
+"Look what he's got for luck," chortled Jimmy. "The superstitious nut!"
+
+"Superstitious nothing!" snorted Herb. "If I'd wanted it for luck I
+wouldn't have got a magnet, would I? Any old common horseshoe would have
+done for luck."
+
+"Well, what's the big idea?" asked Bob, looking up from the audion tube
+he was experimenting with. "Or is there any?" he added, with a grin.
+
+"You bet your life there is!" returned Herb. "It's got to do with that
+very audion tube you're fussing with."
+
+"Ah, go on," jeered Joe, good-naturedly. "What's a magnet got to do with
+an audion tube, I'd like to know!"
+
+"Poor old Herb," added Jimmy, with a commiserating shake of the head.
+
+"Say, look here, all you fellows! Don't you go wasting any pity on me,"
+cried Herb hotly. "If you don't look out, I won't show you my experiment
+at all."
+
+"Go on, Herb," said Bob consolingly. "I'm listening."
+
+"Well, I'm glad there's one sensible member of this bunch!" cried Herb,
+and from then on addressed himself solely to Bob. "Look here," he said.
+"You can make the audion tube ever so much more sensitive to vibration
+if you put this magnet near it."
+
+"Who says so?" asked Bob, with interest.
+
+"I do. Here, put on the headphones and listen. I'll prove it to you."
+
+Bob obeyed and tuned in to the nearest broadcasting station where a
+concert was scheduled. As soon as he signified by a nod of his head that
+the connection was satisfactory Herb placed the big horseshoe magnet in
+such a position that the poles of the magnet were on each side of the
+tube.
+
+Sure enough, Bob was amazed at the almost magical improvement in the
+sound. It was clearer, more distinct, altogether more satisfactory. He
+listened in for another moment then wonderingly took off the headphones
+while Herb grinned at him in triumph.
+
+"Well, what do you think?" asked the latter while Joe and Jimmy looked
+at them curiously.
+
+"Think?" repeated Bob, still wonderingly. "Why, there's only one thing
+to think, of course. That fool horseshoe of yours, Herb, is one
+wonderful improvement. I don't know how it works, but it surely is a
+marvel."
+
+Herb glanced at Jimmy and Joe in triumph.
+
+"What did I tell you?" he said. "Perhaps now you'll believe that my idea
+wasn't such a fool one after all."
+
+"But what did it do, Bob?" asked Joe, mystified.
+
+"It increased the sensitivity of that old audion tube, that's what it
+did," replied Bob, absently, his mind already busy with inventive
+thoughts. "I can't see yet just how it accomplished it, but the
+connection with the station was certainly clearer and more distinct than
+usual."
+
+"But how can a magnet increase the sensitivity of a vacuum tube?" asked
+Jimmy, not yet wholly convinced. "It doesn't make sense."
+
+"Well, I don't see why not," contradicted Joe slowly. "I suppose the
+improvement is due to the magnetic effect of the magnet upon the
+electrons flowing from the filament to the plate. I don't exactly see
+why it should be an improvement, but if it is, then there must be some
+reason for it."
+
+"I wish we could find the reason!" cried Bob excitedly. "If we could
+make some improvement upon the vacuum tube----"
+
+"Don't wake him up, he is dreaming!" cried Herb. "If you don't look out,
+old boy, you'll have us all millionaires."
+
+"Well, there are worse things," retorted Bob, taking the magnet from
+Herb's hand and placing it near the tube. "This has given us something
+to think about, anyway."
+
+For a while they puzzled over the mystery, trying to find some way in
+which the discovery might be made to serve a practical purpose--all
+except Herb, who retired to one corner of the "lab" to fuss with some
+chemicals which he fondly hoped might be used in the construction of a
+battery.
+
+So engrossed were the boys in the problem of the magnet and vacuum tube
+that they forgot all about Herb and his experiments. So what happened
+took them completely off their guard.
+
+There was a sudden cry from Herb, followed closely by an explosion that
+knocked them off their feet. For a moment they lay there, a bit dazed by
+the shock. Then they scrambled to their feet and looked about them.
+Herb, being the nearest to the explosion, had got the worst of it. His
+face and hands were black and he was shaking a little from the shock. He
+gazed at the boys sheepishly.
+
+"Wh-what happened?" asked Jimmy dazedly.
+
+"An earthquake, I guess," replied Bob, as he looked about him to see
+what damage had been done.
+
+Some doughnuts, which their namesake had recently fetched from the
+store, lay scattered upon the floor, together with some rather
+dilapidated-looking pieces of candy, but aside from this, nothing seemed
+to have been damaged seriously.
+
+Jimmy's followed Bob's gaze, and, finding his precious sweets upon the
+floor, began gathering them up hastily, stuffing a doughnut in his mouth
+to help him hurry. What mattered it to Jimmy that the floor was none too
+clean?
+
+"Say, what's the big idea, anyway," Joe demanded of the blackened Herb.
+"Trying to start a Fourth of July celebration, or something?"
+
+"I was just mixing some chemicals, and the result was a flare-up,"
+explained Herb sulkily. "Now, stop rubbing it into a fellow, will you?
+You might know I didn't do it on purpose."
+
+Bob began to laugh.
+
+"Better get in connection with some soap and water, Herb," he said.
+"Just now you look like the lead for a minstrel show."
+
+"Never mind, Herb," Joe flung after the disconsolate scientist as he
+made for the door. "As long as you don't hurt anything but Jimmy's
+doughnuts, we don't care. You can have as many explosions as you like."
+
+"Humph, that's all right for you," retorted Jimmy. "But I'll have you
+know I spent my last nickel for those doughnuts."
+
+"Just the same," said Bob soberly, as they returned to the problem of
+the vacuum tube, "we're mighty lucky to have come off with so little
+damage. Mixing chemicals is a pretty dangerous business unless you know
+just what you're doing."
+
+"And even then it is," added Joe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A HAPPY INSPIRATION
+
+
+The days passed by, the boys becoming more and more engrossed in the
+fascination of radio all the time. They continued to work on their sets,
+sometimes with the most gratifying results, at others seeming to make
+little headway.
+
+But in spite of occasional discouragements they worked on, cheered by
+the knowledge that they were making steady, if sometimes slow, progress.
+
+There were so many really worth-while improvements being perfected each
+day that they really found it difficult to keep up with them all.
+
+"Wish we could hear Cassey's voice again," said Herb, one day when they
+had tuned in on several more or less interesting personal messages.
+
+"I don't know what good it would do us," grumbled Joe. "If he speaks
+always in code he could keep us guessing till doomsday."
+
+"He's up to some sort of mischief, anyway," said Bob; "and I, for one,
+would enjoy catching him at it again."
+
+"We would be more comfortable to have Dan Cassey in jail, where he
+belongs," observed Jimmy.
+
+But just at present the trailing of that stuttering voice seemed an
+impossible feat even for the radio boys. If they could only get some
+tangible clue to work on!
+
+They saw nothing of Buck Looker or his cronies about town, and concluded
+that they were still at the lumber camp.
+
+"Can't stay away too long to suit me," Bob said cheerfully.
+
+It was about that time that Bob found out about Adam McNulty. Adam
+McNulty was the blind father of the washerwoman who served the four
+families of the boys.
+
+Bob went to the McNulty cabin, buried in the most squalid district of
+the town, bearing a message from his mother. When he got there he found
+that Mr. McNulty was the only one at home.
+
+The old fellow, smoking a black pipe in the bare kitchen of the house,
+seemed so pathetically glad to see some one--or, rather, to hear some
+one--that Bob yielded to his invitation to sit down and talk to him.
+
+And, someway, even after Bob reached home, he could not shake off the
+memory of the lonesome old blind man with nothing to do all day long but
+sit in a chair smoking his pipe, waiting for some chance word from a
+passer-by.
+
+It did not seem fair that he, Bob, should have all the good things of
+life while that old man should have nothing--nothing, at all.
+
+He spoke to his chums about it, but, though they were sympathetic, they
+did not see anything they could do.
+
+"We can't give him back his eyesight, you know," said Joe absently,
+already deep in a new scheme of improvement for the set.
+
+"No," said Bob. "But we might give him something that would do nearly as
+well."
+
+"What do you mean?" they asked, puzzled.
+
+"Radio," said Bob, and laid his hand lovingly on the apparatus. "If it
+means a lot to us, just think how much more it would mean to some one
+who hasn't a thing to do all day but sit and think. Why, I don't suppose
+any of us who can see can begin to realize what it would mean not to be
+able even to read the daily newspaper."
+
+The others stared at Bob, and slowly his meaning sank home.
+
+"I get you," said Joe slowly. "And say, let me tell you, it's a great
+idea, Bob. It wouldn't be so bad to be blind if you could have the daily
+news read to you every day----"
+
+"And listen to the latest on crops," added Jimmy.
+
+"To say nothing of the latest jazz," finished Herb, with a grin.
+
+"Well, why doesn't this blind man get himself a set?" asked Jimmy
+practically. "I should think every blind person in the country would
+want to own one."
+
+"I suppose every one of them does," said Bob. "And Doctor Dale said the
+other day that he thought the time would come when charities for the
+blind would install radio as a matter of humanity, and that prices of
+individual sets would be so low that all the blind could afford them.
+The blind are many of them old, you know, and pretty poor."
+
+"You mean," said Herb slowly, "that most of the blind folks who really
+need radio more than anybody else can't afford it? Say, that doesn't
+seem fair, does it?"
+
+"It isn't fair!" cried Bob, adding, eagerly: "I tell you what I thought
+we could do. There's that old set of mine! It doesn't seem much to us
+now, beside our big one, but I bet that McNulty would think it was a
+gold mine."
+
+"Hooray for Bob!" cried Herb irrepressibly. "Once in a while he really
+does get a good idea in his head. When do we start installing this set
+in the McNulty mansion, boys?"
+
+"As soon as you like," answered Bob. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so we could
+start early in the morning. It will probably take us some time to rig up
+the antenna."
+
+The boys were enthusiastic about the idea, and they wasted no time
+putting it into execution. That very night they looked up the old set,
+examining it to make sure it was in working order.
+
+When they told their families what they proposed to do, their parents
+were greatly pleased.
+
+"It does my heart good," said Mr. Layton to his wife, after Bob had gone
+up to bed, "to see that those boys are interested in making some one
+besides themselves happy."
+
+"They're going to make fine men, some day," answered Mrs. Layton softly.
+
+The boys arrived at the McNulty cottage so early the next morning that
+they met Maggie McNulty on her way to collect the day's wash.
+
+When they told her what they were going to do she was at first too
+astonished to speak and then threatened to fall upon their necks in her
+gratitude.
+
+"Shure, if ye can bring some sunshine into my poor old father's dark
+life," she told them in her rich brogue, tears in her eyes, "then ye'll
+shure win the undyin' gratitude uv Maggie McNulty."
+
+It was a whole day's job, and the boys worked steadily, only stopping
+long enough to rush home for a bit of lunch.
+
+They had tried to explain what they were doing to Adam McNulty, but the
+old man seemed almost childishly mystified. It was with a feeling of
+dismay that the boys realized that, in all probability, this was the
+first time the blind man had ever heard the word radio. It seemed
+incredible to them that there could be anybody in the world who did not
+know about radio.
+
+However, if Adam McNulty was mystified, he was also delightedly,
+pitifully excited. He followed the boys out to the cluttered back yard
+where they were rigging up the aerial, listening eagerly to their
+chatter and putting in a funny word now and then that made them roar
+with laughter.
+
+Bob brought him an empty soap box for a seat and there the old man sat
+hour after hour, despite the fact that there was a chill in the air,
+blissfully happy in their companionship. He had been made to understand
+that something pleasant was being done for him, but it is doubtful if he
+could have asked for any greater happiness than just to sit there with
+somebody to talk to and crack his jokes with.
+
+They were good jokes too, full of real Irish wit, and long before the
+set was ready for action the boys had become fond of the old fellow.
+
+"He's a dead game sport," Joe said to Bob, in that brief interval when
+they had raced home for lunch. "I bet I'd be a regular old crab, blind
+like that."
+
+Mrs. Layton put up an appetizing lunch for the blind man, topping it off
+with a delicious homemade lemon pie and a thermos bottle full of
+steaming coffee.
+
+The way the old man ate that food was amazing even to Jimmy. Maggie was
+too busy earning enough to keep them alive to bother much with dainties.
+At any rate, Adam ate the entire lemon pie, not leaving so much as a
+crumb.
+
+"I thought I was pretty good on feeding," whispered Joe, in a delighted
+aside, "but I never could go that old bird. He's got me beat a mile."
+
+"Well," said Jimmy complacently, "I bet I'd tie with him."
+
+If the boys had wanted any reward for that day of strenuous work, they
+would have had it when, placing the earphones upon his white head, they
+watched the expression of McNulty's face change from mystification to
+wonder, then to beatific enjoyment.
+
+He listened motionless while the exquisite music flooded his starved old
+soul. Toward the end he closed his eyes and tears trickled from beneath
+the lids down his wrinkled face. He brushed them off impatiently and the
+boys noticed that his hand was trembling.
+
+It was a long, long time before he seemed to be aware that there was any
+one in the room with him. He seemed to have completely forgotten the
+boys who had bestowed this rare gift upon him.
+
+After a while, coming out of his dream, the old man began fumbling with
+the headphones as if he wanted to take them off, and Bob helped him. The
+man tried to speak, but made hard work of it. Emotion choked him.
+
+"Shure, an' I don't know what to make of it at all, at all," he said at
+last, in a quivering voice. "Shure an' I thought the age of miracles was
+passed. I'm only an ignorant old man, with no eyes at all; but you lads
+have given me something that's near as good. Shure an' it's an old
+sinner I am, for shure. Many's the day I've sat here, prayin' the Lord
+would give me wan more minute o' sight before I died, an' it was
+unanswered my prayers wuz, I thought. It's grateful I am to yez, lads.
+It's old Adam McNulty's blessin' ye'll always have. An' now will yez put
+them things in my ears? It's heaven's own angels I'd like to be hearin'
+agin. That's the lad--ah!"
+
+And while the beatific expression stole once more over his blind old
+face the boys stole silently out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE ESCAPED CONVICT
+
+
+The boys saw a good deal of Adam McNulty in the days that followed, and
+the change in the old man was nothing short of miraculous.
+
+He no longer sat in the bare kitchen rocking and smoking his pipe,
+dependent upon some passer-by for his sole amusement. He had radio now,
+and under the instruction of the boys he had become quite expert in
+managing the apparatus. Although he had no eyes, his fingers were
+extraordinarily sensitive and they soon learned to handle the set
+intelligently.
+
+His daughter Maggie, whose gratitude to the boys knew no bounds, looked
+up the radio program in the paper each day and carefully instructed her
+father as to just when the news reports were given out, the story
+reading, concerts, and so forth.
+
+And so the old blind man lived in a new world--or rather, the old world
+which he had ceased to live in when he became blind--and he seemed
+actually to grow younger day by day. For radio had become his eyes.
+
+Doctor Dale heard of this act of kindness on the part of the boys and he
+was warm in his praise.
+
+"Radio," he told the boys one day when he met them on the street, "is a
+wonderful thing for those of us that can see, but for the blind it is a
+miracle. You boys have done an admirable thing in your kindness to Adam
+McNulty, and I hope that, not only individuals, but the government
+itself will see the possibilities of so great a charity and follow your
+example."
+
+The boys glowed with pride at the doctor's praise, and then and there
+made the resolve that whenever they came across a blind person that
+person should immediately possess a radio set if it lay within their
+power to give it to him.
+
+On this particular day when so many things happened the boys were
+walking down Main Street, talking as usual of their sets and the
+marvelous progress of radio.
+
+Although it was still early spring, the air was as warm almost as it
+would be two months later. There was a smell of damp earth and pushing
+grass in the air, and the boys, sniffing hungrily, longed suddenly for
+the freedom of the open country.
+
+"Buck and his bunch have it all their own way," said Herb discontentedly.
+"I wouldn't mind being up in a lumber camp myself just now."
+
+"Too early for the country yet," said Jimmy philosophically. "Probably
+be below zero to-morrow."
+
+"What you thinking about, Bob?" asked Joe, noticing that his chum had
+been quiet for some time.
+
+"I was thinking," said Bob, coming out of his reverie, "of the
+difference there has been in generators since the early days of
+Marconi's spark coil. First we had the spark transmitters and then we
+graduated to transformers----"
+
+"And they still gave us the spark," added Joe, taking up the theme.
+"Then came the rotary spark gap and later the Goldsmith generator----"
+
+"And then," Jimmy continued cheerfully, "the Goldsmith generator was
+knocked into a cocked hat by the Alexanderson generator."
+
+"They'll have an improvement on that before long, too," prophesied Herb.
+
+"They have already," Bob took him up quickly. "Don't you remember what
+Doctor Dale told us of the new power vacuum tube where one tube can take
+care of fifty K. W.?"
+
+"Gee," breathed Herb admiringly, "I'll say that's some energy."
+
+"Those same vacuum tubes are being built right now," went on Bob
+enthusiastically. "They are made of quartz and are much cheaper than the
+alternators we're using now."
+
+"They are small too, compared to our present-day generators," added Joe.
+
+"You bet!" agreed Bob, adding, as his eyes narrowed dreamily: "All the
+apparatus seems to be growing smaller these days, anyway. I bet before
+we fellows are twenty years older, engineers will have done away
+altogether with large power plants and cumbersome machinery."
+
+"I read the other day," said Joe, "that before long all the apparatus
+needed, even for transatlantic stations, can be contained in a small
+room about twenty-five feet by twenty-five."
+
+"But what shall we do for power?" protested Herb. "We'll always have to
+have generators."
+
+"There isn't any such word as 'always' in radio," returned Bob. "I
+shouldn't wonder if in the next twenty or thirty years we shall be able,
+by means of appliances like this new power vacuum tube, to get our power
+from the ordinary lighting circuit."
+
+"And that would do away entirely with generators," added Joe
+triumphantly.
+
+"Well, I wouldn't say anything was impossible," said Herb doubtfully.
+"But that seems to me like a pretty large order."
+
+"It is a large order," agreed Bob, adding with conviction: "But it isn't
+too large for radio to fill."
+
+"Speaking of lodging all apparatus in one fair-sized room," Joe went on.
+"I don't see why that can't really be done in a few years. Why, they say
+that this new power vacuum tube which handles fifty K. W. is not any
+larger than a desk drawer."
+
+"I see the day of the vest-pocket radio set coming nearer and nearer,
+according to you fellows," announced Herb. "Pretty soon we'll be getting
+our apparatus so small we'll need a microscope to see it."
+
+"Laugh if you want to," said Bob. "But I bet in the next few years we're
+going to see greater things done in radio than have been accomplished
+yet."
+
+"And that's saying something!" exclaimed Joe, with a laugh.
+
+"I guess," said Jimmy thoughtfully, "that there have been more changes
+in a short time in radio than in any other science."
+
+"I should say so!" Herb took him up. "Look at telephone and telegraph
+and electric lighting systems. There have been changes in them, of
+course, but beside the rapid-fire changes of radio, they seem to have
+been standing still."
+
+"There haven't been any changes to speak of in the electric lighting
+systems for the last fifteen years or more," said Bob. "And the
+telephone has stayed just about the same, too."
+
+"There's no doubt about it," said Joe. "Radio has got 'em all beat as
+far as a field for experiment is concerned. Say," he added fervently,
+"aren't you glad you weren't born a hundred years ago?"
+
+The boys stopped in at Adam McNulty's cabin to see how the old fellow
+was getting along. They found him in the best of spirits and, after
+"listening in" with him for a while and laughing at some of his Irish
+jokes, they started toward home.
+
+"I wish," said Bob, "that we could have gotten a line on Dan Cassey. It
+seems strange that we haven't been able to pick up some real clue in all
+this time."
+
+For, although the boys had caught several other mysterious messages
+uttered in the stuttering voice of Dan Cassey, they had not been able to
+make head nor tail of them. The lads liked mysteries, but they liked
+them chiefly for the fun of solving them. And they seemed no nearer to
+solving this one than they had been in the beginning.
+
+"I know it's a fool idea," said Herb sheepishly. "But since we were the
+ones that got Cassey his jail sentence before, I kind of feel as if we
+were responsible for him."
+
+"It's pretty lucky for us we're not," remarked Joe. "We certainly would
+be up against it."
+
+On and on the boys went. Presently Joe began to whistle and all joined
+in until suddenly Jimmy uttered a cry and went down on his face.
+
+"Hello, what's wrong?" questioned Bob, leaping to his chum's side.
+
+"Tripped on a tree root," growled Doughnuts, rising slowly. "Gosh! what
+a spill I had."
+
+"Better look where you are going," suggested Herb.
+
+"I don't see why they can't chop off some of these roots, so it's better
+walking."
+
+"All right--you come down and do the chopping," returned Joe, lightly.
+
+"Not much! The folks that own the woods can do that."
+
+"Don't find fault, Jimmy. Remember, some of these very roots have
+furnished us with shinny sticks."
+
+"Well, not the one I tripped over."
+
+It was some time later that the boys noticed that they had tramped
+further than they had intended. They were on the very outskirts of the
+town, and before them the heavily-wooded region stretched invitingly.
+
+Jimmy, who, on account of his plumpness, was not as good a hiker as the
+other boys, was for turning back, but the other three wanted to go on.
+And, being three against one, Jimmy had not the shadow of a chance of
+getting his own way.
+
+It was cool in the shadows of the woods, and the boys were reminded that
+it was still early in the season. It was good to be in the woods, just
+the same, and they tramped on for a long way before they finally decided
+it was time to turn back.
+
+They were just about to turn around when voices on the path ahead of
+them made them hesitate. As they paused three men came into full view,
+and the boys stood, staring.
+
+Two of the men they had never seen before, but the other they knew well.
+It was the man whose voice they had been trailing all these weeks--Dan
+Cassey, the stutterer!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DOWN THE TRAP DOOR
+
+
+It seemed that in the semi-darkness of the woods Cassey did not at once
+recognize the radio boys. He was talking excitedly to his companions in
+his stuttering tongue and he was almost upon the boys before he realized
+who they were.
+
+He stopped still, eyes and mouth wide open. Then, with a stuttered
+imprecation, he turned and fled. The men with him stayed not to
+question, but darted furtively into the woods.
+
+"Come on, fellows!" cried Bob, with a whoop of delight. "Here's where we
+nail Dan Cassey, sure."
+
+The boys, except poor Jimmy, were unusually fleet, and they soon
+overtook Cassey. Bob's hand was almost upon him when the man doubled
+suddenly in his tracks and darted off into the thick underbrush.
+
+Bob, with Herb and Joe close at his heels, was after him in a minute. He
+reached a clearing just in time to see Cassey dash into an old barn
+which had been hidden by the trees.
+
+The boys plunged into the barn with Jimmy pantingly bringing up the
+rear. In Bob's heart was a wild exultation. They had Cassey cornered.
+Once more they would bring this criminal to justice.
+
+"You guard the door," he called in a low tone to Joe. "See that Cassey
+doesn't get out that way, and Herb and I will get after him in here."
+
+The barn was so dark that they could hardly see to move around. There
+was a window high up in the side wall, but this was so covered with dirt
+and cobwebs that it was almost as though there was none.
+
+However, Cassey must be lurking in one of those dark corners, and if
+they moved carefully they were sure to capture him!
+
+There was a loft to the barn, but if there had been a ladder leading up
+to it it had long since rotted and dropped away, so that Bob was
+reasonably sure the man could not be up there.
+
+It was eery business, groping about in the musty darkness of the old
+barn for a man who would go to almost any lengths of villainy to keep
+from being caught.
+
+Suddenly Bob saw something move, and, with an exultant yell, jumped
+toward it. Once more he almost had his hand upon Cassey when--something
+happened.
+
+The floor of the barn seemed to open and let him through, and his chums
+with him. As he fell through the hole into blackness he had confused
+thoughts of an earthquake. Then he struck bottom with a solid thump that
+almost made him see stars.
+
+He heard similar thumps about him and realized that Herb and Jimmy had
+followed him. Whatever it was they had shot through had evidently
+magically closed up again, for they were in absolute darkness.
+
+"Well," came in a voice which Bob recognized as Jimmy's, "I must say,
+this is a nice note!"
+
+"We've been pushed off the end of the world, I guess," said Herb, with a
+sorry attempt at humor. "Who all's in this party anyway? Are we all
+here?"
+
+"I guess so," said Joe, and at the sound of his voice Bob jumped.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were going to guard
+the door."
+
+"That's what I should have done, but I played the big idiot," retorted
+Joe bitterly. "I couldn't resist coming after you fellows to be in on
+the big fight. I suppose while I was trailing you boys somebody sneaked
+in the door and signed our finish."
+
+"Looks like it," said Bob, feeling himself to make sure there were no
+bones broken. "And now, instead of delivering Cassey to justice we're
+prisoners ourselves. Say, I bet the old boy isn't laughing at us or
+anything just now."
+
+"I'm awful sorry, Bob," said Joe penitently. "I thought if I kept my eye
+on the door----"
+
+"Oh, it's all right," said Bob generously. "Accidents will happen and
+there's no use crying over spilled milk. I suppose the most sensible
+thing for us to do right now is to hustle around and find a way out of
+this place."
+
+"Maybe there isn't any," said Jimmy dolefully. "Then what'll we do?"
+
+"Stay here and let the rats eat us, I guess," said Herb cheerfully, and
+Jimmy groaned.
+
+"Gosh, don't talk about eating, old boy," he pleaded. "I'm just about
+starved this minute."
+
+"You'll probably stay starved for some little time longer," said Bob
+unfeelingly. He had risen cautiously to his feet, and finding that their
+prison was at least high enough for them to stand up in, reached his
+hands tentatively above his head.
+
+As, even by standing on tiptoe, his fingers encountered nothing but air,
+he decided that they must have dropped further than he had thought at
+the time.
+
+A hand reached out and took hold of him and he realized that Joe was
+standing beside him.
+
+"Must have been some sort of trap door opening inward, I guess," said
+the latter. "You didn't see anything, did you, Bob?"
+
+"No. It happened too suddenly. One minute I was reaching forward to grab
+hold of Cassey and the next moment I found myself flying through space."
+
+"Humph," grunted Joe. "It was lucky for Cassey that we all happened to
+be in a bunch," he said. "He couldn't have gotten rid of us so quickly
+if we'd been scattered about----"
+
+"As we should have been," added Bob. "Just the same," he added, after a
+minute, "I don't suppose it would have done any good if one of us had
+been left up there. It must have been the men who were with Cassey who
+sprang the trap on us; and if that's so, the fight would have been three
+to one."
+
+"I'd like to have tried it just the same," said Joe belligerently. "I
+bet Cassey would have got a black eye out of it, anyway."
+
+For some time they groped around the black hole of their prison, hoping
+to find some way of escape, but without success. They were beginning to
+get tired and discouraged, and they sat down on the floor to talk the
+situation over.
+
+The queer thing about this hole in the ground was that it possessed a
+flooring where one would have expected to find merely packed-down dirt.
+The flooring consisted of rough boards laid side by side, and when the
+boys moved upon it it sounded like the rattling of some rickety old
+bridge.
+
+"There's some mystery about this place," said Bob. "I bet this is a
+regular meeting place for Cassey and whoever his confederates may be. In
+case of pursuit all they would have to do would be to hide in this hole
+and they'd be practically safe from discovery."
+
+"I wonder," said Herb, "why Cassey didn't do that now."
+
+"Probably didn't have time," said Bob. "I was right on his heels, you
+know, and probably he didn't dare stop for anything."
+
+"And so they turned the trick on us," said Joe. "And it sure was a neat
+job."
+
+"Too neat, if we don't get out of here soon," groaned Jimmy. "I bet
+they've just left us here to starve!"
+
+"I wouldn't put it beyond Cassey," said Herb gloomily. "It would be just
+the kind of thing he'd love to do. He's got a grudge against us, anyway,
+for doing him out of Miss Berwick's money and landing him in jail, and
+this would be a fine way to get even."
+
+"Well, if that's his game, he's got another guess coming," said Bob,
+adding excitedly: "Say, fellows, if that was a trap door that let us
+down into this hole, and it must have been something of that sort, we'll
+probably be able to get out the same way."
+
+"But it's above our heads," protested Herb.
+
+"What difference does that make?" returned Bob impatiently. "One of us
+can stand on the other's back, and we can haul the last fellow out by
+his hands."
+
+"Simple when you say it quick," said Joe gloomily. "But I bet that trap
+door is bolted on the outside. You don't think Cassey's going to let us
+off that easy, do you?"
+
+"Well, we could see anyway," returned Bob. "Anything's better than just
+sitting here. Come on, let's find that trap door."
+
+This feat, in itself, was no easy one. They had wandered about in the
+dark so much that they had become completely confused.
+
+Since Herb was the slightest, he was hoisted up on Bob's shoulders and
+they began the stumbling tour of their prison. It seemed ages before
+Herb's glad cry announced a discovery of some sort.
+
+"I've found a handle," he said. "Steady there, Bob, till I give it a
+pull."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GROPING IN DARKNESS
+
+
+Herb tugged gently and gave another yell of delight when whatever was
+attached to the handle yielded grudgingly to the pull.
+
+"It's the trap door, fellows!" he cried. "Move over a bit, Bob, till I
+pull the thing down."
+
+Bob, who, about this time, was finding Herb's weight not any too
+comfortable, moved over, and, in doing so, stumbled, nearly pitching
+himself and Herb to the floor.
+
+As it was, Herb lost his balance and leaped wildly. He landed on his
+feet and reached out a hand to find Bob.
+
+"Of all the tough luck," he groaned. "There I had the thing in my hand
+and now we've gone and lost it again."
+
+"Sorry. But stop your groaning and get busy," Bob commanded him. "I
+haven't moved from this spot, so if you get up on my shoulders again you
+ought to be able to get hold of the handle easily enough."
+
+So, hoisted and pushed by Joe and Jimmy, Herb finally regained his perch
+and felt for the handle. He found it, and this time pulled the door so
+far open that the boys could see through the opening in the barn floor.
+
+"If somebody can hold that door," panted Herb, "I think I can get
+through this hole. Grab hold, boy. It sure is heavy."
+
+So Joe caught the door as it swung downward and Herb scrambled through
+the aperture. Bob gave a grunt of relief as the weight was taken from
+his shoulders.
+
+"You're next, Joe," Bob was saying when Jimmy came stumbling up,
+carrying something that banged against Bob's legs.
+
+"I've got it," he panted. "Had an idea I might find something like it.
+Trust your Uncle Jimmy----"
+
+"For the love of butter, what are you raving about?" interrupted Joe,
+and Jimmy proudly exhibited his prize.
+
+"A soap box," he said. "And a good big one, too. If we stand on that we
+can reach the opening easily."
+
+"Good for you, Doughnuts," cried Bob, joyfully seizing upon the soap
+box. "This beats playing the human footstool all hollow. Jump up on it,
+Jimmy, and see how quick you can get out of here."
+
+Jimmy needed no second invitation. He scrambled up on the tall box, and
+by stretching up on tip toe could just manage to get his fingers over
+the edge of the flooring above.
+
+"Give me a boost, some one," he commanded, and Bob obligingly
+administered the boost.
+
+Joe was next. Bob went last, holding the trap door with his foot to keep
+it from closing too quickly. Once upon the floor of the barn he took his
+foot away and the door banged to with a snap, being balanced by a rope
+and weight above.
+
+"Well, there's that!" exclaimed Bob, eyeing the closed door with
+satisfaction. "If Cassey thought he was going to fool us long, he sure
+was mistaken."
+
+"Maybe he's hiding around here somewhere," suggested Herb, lowering his
+voice to a whisper.
+
+"No such luck," replied Bob. "I'd be willing to wager that the moment we
+struck bottom there, Cassey and his friends beat it away from here as
+fast as their legs could take them."
+
+"Don't you think we'd better look around a little bit, anyway?"
+suggested Joe.
+
+"It wouldn't do any harm," agreed Bob. "But first let's have a look
+outside. We don't want to overlook any clues."
+
+The boys thrashed around the bushes about the barn until they were
+satisfied no one was hiding there and then returned to the barn. They
+were curious to find out just how they had been shot through that trap
+door.
+
+They thought at first that it was perhaps worked by some sort of
+apparatus, but they found that this was not the case. They found by
+experimenting that the trap door yielded easily to their weight, and
+decided that it had been their combined rush upon Cassey that had done
+the trick. The weight of the four of them upon it had shot the door down
+so rapidly that they had not had time even to know what was happening to
+them, much less scramble to safety. Then it had shut on them.
+
+"It couldn't have worked better for them," said Herb, as they turned
+toward the door of the barn. "I bet they're laughing yet at the way they
+put things over."
+
+"Let 'em laugh," said Bob, adding fiercely: "But I bet you anything that
+the last laugh will be ours!"
+
+"I wonder what Cassey was doing here, anyway," said Jimmy, as they
+walked slowly homeward. "It was lucky, wasn't it, that we happened along
+when we did?"
+
+"I don't see where it's so lucky," grumbled Joe. "We're no nearer
+catching him now than we ever were."
+
+"Except that we know he's around this locality," put in Bob. "I guess
+the police will be glad to know that."
+
+"Oh! are you going to tell the police?" asked Jimmy, whose thoughts had
+been upon what he was going to get for dinner.
+
+"Of course," said Bob. "He's an escaped criminal, and it's up to us to
+tell the police all we know about him."
+
+"I only wish we knew more to tell," said Joe disconsolately.
+
+Since they had been flung through the trap door, Joe had called himself
+every unpleasant name he could think of for his carelessness. If he had
+stayed at the door where he belonged, there would have been one of them
+left to grapple with Dan Cassey. Probably the two men who had been with
+Cassey when they had surprised him had not been anywhere around. They
+belonged to the type of criminal that always thinks of its own safety
+first. Probably they had not been anywhere near the barn. And if it had
+been only Dan Cassey and himself, well, he, Joe, could at least have
+given the scoundrel a black eye--maybe captured him.
+
+He said something of this to his chums, but they laughed at him.
+
+"Stop your grouching," said Bob. "Haven't we already agreed that there's
+no use crying over spilled milk? And, anyway, you just watch out. We'll
+get Cassey yet."
+
+As soon as the boys reached town they went straight to the police
+station and told the story of their encounter with Cassey to the
+grizzled old chief, who nodded his head grimly and thanked them for the
+information.
+
+"I'll send some men out right away," he told them. "If there's a
+criminal in those woods, they're sure to get him before dark. It's too
+bad you lads couldn't have got him yourselves. It would sure have been a
+feather in your caps!"
+
+"Why doesn't he rub it in?" grumbled Joe, as they turned at last toward
+home and dinner. "He ought to know we feel mad enough about it."
+
+"Well," said Bob, "if the police round him up, because of our
+information, it will be almost as good as though we'd caught him
+ourselves. I wouldn't," he added, with a glint in his eye, "exactly like
+to be in Cassey's shoes, now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+CUNNING SCOUNDRELS
+
+
+But, contrary to the expectations of the radio boys, the police were not
+able to locate Cassey nor any of the rest of the gang. They searched the
+woods for miles around the old barn about which the boys had told them,
+even carrying their search into the neighboring townships, but without
+any result. It seemed as though the earth had opened and swallowed up
+Cassey together with his rascally companions. If such a thing had
+actually happened, their disappearance could not have been more
+complete.
+
+"They must be experts in the art of hiding," grumbled Bob, upon
+returning from a visit to the chief of police. "I was certain they would
+be rounded up before this."
+
+"Guess they must have made a break for the tall timber," said Joe.
+
+"Decided, maybe, it isn't just healthy around here," added Herb, with a
+grin.
+
+And then, just when they had decided that Cassey and his gang had made a
+masterly getaway, the radio boys got on their trail once again.
+
+That very evening, when tuning in for the concert, they caught another
+of those mysterious, stuttering messages in the unmistakable voice of
+Dan Cassey!
+
+"Rice, rats, make hay," was the substance of this message, and the boys
+would have laughed if they had not been so dumbfounded.
+
+"What do you know about that?" gasped Jimmy. "That old boy sure has his
+nerve with him."
+
+"They're still hanging around here somewhere!" cried Bob excitedly.
+"They've probably got a hiding place that even the police can't find."
+
+"Oh, if we could only make sense of this!" exclaimed Herb, staring at
+the apparently senseless message which he had written down. "If we only
+had their code the whole thing would be simple."
+
+"Oh, yes, if we only had a million dollars, we'd be millionaires!"
+retorted Jimmy scornfully. "Where do you get that stuff, anyway?"
+
+"Well," said Bob, temporarily giving up the problem, "as far as I can
+see, all there is for us to do is to keep our eyes and ears open and
+trust to luck. Now what do you say we listen in on the concert for a
+little while?"
+
+In the days that followed Cassey's voice came to them several times out
+of the ether, and always in that same cryptic form that, try as they
+would, they could not make out.
+
+It was exasperating, that familiar voice coming to them out of the air
+day after day without giving them the slightest clue to the whereabouts
+of the speaker.
+
+And then, while they were in town one day, they quite unexpectedly ran
+into their old friend, Frank Brandon, the wireless inspector, whose work
+for some time had taken him into another district.
+
+However, he was to stay in Clintonia for a few days on business now, and
+since he had nothing particular to do that day, Bob enthusiastically
+invited him up to his home for a visit.
+
+"Maybe you can give us some tips on our set," Bob added, as Mr. Brandon
+readily accepted the invitation. "We're not altogether satisfied with
+our batteries. For some reason or other they burn out too quickly."
+
+"Yes, I'll take a look at it," agreed Mr. Brandon good-naturedly.
+"Although I imagine you boys are such experts by this time I can't tell
+you very much. What have you been doing with yourselves since we last
+met?"
+
+The boys told him something of their experiences, in which he showed
+intense interest, and in return he told them some interesting things
+that had happened to him.
+
+And when he spoke of catching mysterious messages in the stuttering
+voice of Dan Cassey, Bob broke in upon him eagerly.
+
+"We've caught a good many such messages too," he said. "Have you managed
+to make anything of them?"
+
+"Not a thing," said Mr. Brandon, shaking his head. "If it is a criminal
+code, and I am about assured that it is, then it is a remarkably clever
+one and one that it is almost impossible to decipher without a key. I've
+just about given up trying."
+
+Then the boys told of their encounter with Cassey in the woods and their
+adventure in the old barn, and Frank Brandon was immensely excited.
+
+"By Jove," he said, "the man is up to his old tricks again! I'd like to
+get hold of him before he does any serious harm. That sort of criminal
+is a menace to the community.
+
+"The funny part of it," he continued, as they turned the corner into
+Bob's block, "is that these messages are not all in Cassey's voice. Have
+you noticed that?"
+
+It was the boys' turn to be surprised.
+
+"That's a new one on us," Bob confessed. "The only messages we have
+caught so far have been in Cassey's voice."
+
+Frank Brandon slowly shook his head.
+
+"No," he said, "I have caught a couple in a strange voice, a voice I
+never heard before."
+
+"The same kind of message?" asked Herb eagerly.
+
+"The same kind of message," Brandon affirmed. "I have taken it for
+granted that the owner of the strange voice is a confederate of
+Cassey's."
+
+"Maybe one of the fellows who was with him in the woods," said Jimmy,
+and Mr. Brandon nodded gravely.
+
+"It's possible," he said. "I don't know, of course, but I imagine that
+there are several in Cassey's gang."
+
+By this time they had reached Bob's home, and as it was nearly lunch
+time, Mrs. Layton insisted that they all stay to lunch. The boys, not
+liking to make her trouble, said they would go home and come back later,
+but the lady of the house would have none of it.
+
+"Sit down, all of you," she commanded, in her cheerful, hospitable way.
+"I know you're starved--all but Jimmy--" this last with a smile, "and
+there's plenty to eat."
+
+Frank Brandon was very entertaining all during the meal and kept them in
+gales of laughter. Mrs. Layton found him as amusing as did the boys.
+
+At last the lunch came to an end and Mr. Brandon professed himself ready
+to talk shop.
+
+He was enthusiastic over the radio set the boys showed him and declared
+that he could see very little improvement to suggest.
+
+"You surely have kept up with the march," he said admiringly. "You have
+pretty nearly all the latest appliances, haven't you? Good work, boys.
+Keep it up and you'll be experts in earnest."
+
+"If we could only find some way to lengthen the life of our storage
+batteries," said Bob, not without a pardonable touch of pride, "we
+wouldn't have much to complain about. But that battery does puzzle us."
+
+"Keep your battery filled with water and see if it doesn't last you
+about twice as long," suggested the radio expert. "Don't add any acid to
+your battery, for it's only the water that evaporates."
+
+"Will that really do the trick?" asked Joe, wondering. "I don't just see
+how----"
+
+"It does just the same," Brandon interrupted confidently. "All you have
+to do is to try it to find out. Don't use ordinary water though. It
+needs to be distilled."
+
+"That's a new one on me, all right," said Bob, adding gratefully: "But
+we're obliged for the information. If distilled water will lengthen the
+life of our battery, then distilled water it shall have."
+
+"It seems queer," said Mr. Brandon reflectively, "how apparently simple
+things will work immense improvement. Marconi, for instance, by merely
+shortening his wave length, is discovering wonderful things. We cannot
+even begin to calculate what marvelous things are in store for us when
+we begin to send out radio waves of a few centimeters, perhaps less. We
+have not yet explored the low wave lengths, and when we do I believe we
+are in for some great surprises."
+
+"Go on," said Joe, as he paused. "Tell us more about these low wave
+lengths."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A DARING HOLDUP
+
+
+Frank Brandon shook his head and smiled.
+
+"I'm afraid I don't know much more to tell," he said. "As I have said,
+what will happen when we materially decrease the wave length, is still
+in the land of conjecture. But I tell you," he added, with sudden
+enthusiasm, "I'm mighty glad to be living in this good old age. What we
+have already seen accomplished is nothing to what we are going to see.
+Why," he added, "some scientists, Steinmetz, for instance, are even
+beginning to claim that ether isn't the real medium for the propagation
+of radio waves."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Bob, with interest. "Is it some sort
+of joke?"
+
+"Joke, nothing!" replied Frank Brandon. "As a matter of fact, I fully
+believe that electro-magnetic waves can as easily be hurled through a
+void as through ether."
+
+The boys were silent for a moment, thinking this over. It sounded
+revolutionary, but they had great respect for Frank Brandon's judgment.
+
+"There's the Rogers underground aerial," Bob suggested tentatively, and
+Brandon took him up quickly.
+
+"Exactly!" he said. "That leans in the direction of what I say. Why, I
+believe the day is coming--and it isn't so very far in the future,
+either--when no aerial will be used.
+
+"Why, I believe," he added, becoming more and more enthusiastic as he
+continued, "that ten years from now we shall simply attach our receiving
+outfits to the ground and shall be able to receive even more
+satisfactorily than we do to-day." He laughed and added lightly:
+
+"But who am I to assume the rôle of prophet? Perhaps, like a good many
+prophets, I see too much in the future that never will come true."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Bob. "I shouldn't wonder if all your prophesy
+will come true in a few years."
+
+"Well," said Herb, with a grin, "it will be a relief not to get any more
+broken shins putting up aerials."
+
+Mr. Brandon laughed.
+
+"I'm with you," he said. "I've been there myself."
+
+"Have you read about that radio-controlled tank?" Joe asked. "The one
+that was exhibited in Dayton, I mean?"
+
+"I not only read about it, I saw it," Mr. Brandon answered, and the boys
+stared at him in surprise. "I happened to be there on business," he
+said; "and you can better believe I was on hand when they rolled that
+tank through the traffic."
+
+"What did it look like?" asked Jimmy eagerly.
+
+"The car was about eight feet long and three feet high," responded
+Brandon. "It was furnished with a motor and storage batteries, and I
+guess its speed was about five or six miles an hour."
+
+"And was it really controlled by radio?" put in Herb, wishing that he
+had been on the spot.
+
+"Absolutely," returned Brandon. "An automobile followed along behind it
+and controlled it entirely by wireless signals. The apparatus that does
+all the work is called the selector, and it's only about the size of a
+saucer. It decodes the dots and dashes and obeys the command in an
+inconceivably short time--about a quarter of a second."
+
+"It can be controlled by an airplane, too, can't it?" asked Bob, and the
+radio inspector nodded.
+
+"In case of war," he said slowly, "I imagine these airplane-controlled
+tanks could do considerable damage."
+
+Their guest left soon after that, and, of course, the boys were sorry to
+have him go. His last words to them were about Cassey.
+
+"Keep your eyes open for that scoundrel," he said, "and we'll find out
+what he's up to yet."
+
+But in the next few days so many alarming things happened that the boys
+had little time to think about Dan Cassey. The alarming happenings
+consisted of a series of automobile robberies in neighboring towns,
+robberies committed so skillfully that no hint nor clue was given of the
+identity of the robbers.
+
+And then the robberies came nearer home, even into Clintonia itself. The
+president of one of the banks left his machine outside the bank for half
+an hour, and when he came out again it was gone. No one could remember
+seeing any suspicious characters around.
+
+Then Raymond Johnston, a prominent business man of the town, had his car
+taken in the same mysterious manner from in front of his home. As
+before, no one could give the slightest clue as to the identity of the
+thieves.
+
+The entire community was aroused and the police were active, and yet the
+mystery remained as dark as ever.
+
+Then, one day, Herb came dashing over to Bob's home in a state of wild
+excitement. Joe and Jimmy were already there, and Herb stopped not even
+for a greeting before he sprang his news.
+
+"Say, fellows!" he cried, sprawling in a chair and panting after his
+run, "it's time somebody caught those auto thieves. They are getting a
+little too personal."
+
+"What's up?" they demanded.
+
+"One of dad's trucks has been held up!" gasped Herb. "In broad daylight,
+too!"
+
+"Was anything taken?" asked Joe.
+
+"Anything? Well, I should say! They looted the truck of everything. It's
+a wonder they didn't steal the machinery."
+
+"That's a pretty big loss for your dad, isn't it?" said Bob gravely.
+
+"It is!" replied Herb, running his fingers through his hair. "He's all
+cut up about it and vows he'll catch the ruffians. Though he'll have to
+be a pretty clever man if he does, I'll say."
+
+"They do seem to be pretty slick," agreed Bob.
+
+"I wonder if the same gang is responsible for all the robberies," put in
+Joe.
+
+"It looks that way," said Jimmy. "It looks as if there were a crook at
+the head of the bunch who has pretty good brains."
+
+"A regular master criminal, Doughnuts?" gibed Herb, then sobered again
+as he thought of his father's loss.
+
+"It's bad enough," he said gloomily, "to hear of other people's property
+being stolen, but when it comes right down to your own family, it's
+getting a little too close for comfort."
+
+"What is your dad going to do about it?" asked Bob.
+
+Herb shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture.
+
+"What can he do?" he asked. "Except what everybody else has done--inform
+the police and hope the rascals will be caught. And even if they are
+caught," he added, still more gloomily, "it won't do dad much good,
+except that he'll get revenge. The crooks will probably have disposed of
+all their stolen property before they're caught."
+
+"Well, I don't know," said Bob hopefully. "Those fellows are getting a
+little bit too daring for their own good. Some day they'll go too far
+and get caught."
+
+"I hope so. But crooks like that are pretty foxy," returned Herb,
+refusing to be cheered. "They're apt to get away with murder before
+they're caught."
+
+The lads were silent for a moment, trying to think things out, and when
+Bob spoke he unconsciously put into words something of what his comrades
+were thinking.
+
+"It seems as if radio ought to be able to help out in a case like this,"
+he said, with a puzzled frown. "But I must say I don't see how it can."
+
+"It can't," returned Herb. "If some one had been lucky enough to get a
+glimpse of one of the thieves, then good old radio would have its
+chance. We could wireless the description all over the country and
+before long somebody would make a capture."
+
+Bob nodded.
+
+"That's where the cunning of these rascals comes in," he said. "Either
+nobody sees them at all, or when they do the thieves are so well
+disguised by masks that a useful description isn't possible."
+
+"Were the fellows who held up your father's truck masked?" asked Jimmy
+with interest.
+
+Herb nodded.
+
+"From all I can hear," he said. "It was a regular highway robbery
+affair--masks, guns, and all complete. The driver of the truck said
+there were only two of them, but since they had guns and he was unarmed,
+there wasn't anything he could do.
+
+"They made him get down off the truck, and then they bound his hands
+behind him and hid him behind some bushes that bordered the road. He
+would probably be there yet if he hadn't managed to get the gag out of
+his mouth and hail some people passing in an automobile. Poor fellow!"
+he added. "Any one might have thought he had robbed the truck from the
+way he looked. He was afraid to face dad."
+
+"Well, it wasn't his fault," said Joe. "No man without a weapon is a
+match for two armed rascals."
+
+"Didn't he say what the robbers looked like?" insisted Jimmy. "He must
+have known whether they were short or tall or fat or skinny."
+
+"He said they were about medium height, both of them," returned Herb.
+"He said they were both about the same build--rather thin, if anything.
+But their faces were so well covered--the upper part by a mask and the
+lower by bandana handkerchiefs--that he couldn't give any description of
+them at all."
+
+"I bet," Bob spoke up suddenly, "that whoever is at the head of that
+rascally gang knows the danger of radio to him and his plans. That's why
+his men are so careful to escape recognition."
+
+The boys stared at him for a minute and then suddenly the full force of
+what he intimated struck them.
+
+At the same instant the name of the same man came into their minds--the
+name of a man who used radio for the exchange of criminal codes, a man
+who stuttered painfully.
+
+"Cassey!" they said together, and Herb added, thoughtfully:
+
+"I wonder!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OFF TO THE WOODS
+
+
+For days the town hummed with the excitement that followed the daring
+robbery of the truck belonging to Mr. Fennington, but as time passed and
+there seemed little prospect of bringing the robbers to justice,
+interest died down. But the radio boys never abated their resolve to do
+all in their power to recover the stolen merchandise, although at that
+time they were kept so busy in high school, preparing for a stiff
+examination, that they had little time for anything else.
+
+"It's getting so bad lately that I don't even get time to enjoy my
+meals," grumbled Jimmy, one sunny spring afternoon. "Swinging an oar a
+la Ben Hur would be just a little restful exercise after the way we've
+been drilling the last week."
+
+"Get out!" exclaimed Joe. "Why, you wouldn't last two hours in one of
+those galleys, Doughnuts. They'd heave you over the side as excess
+baggage once they got wise to you."
+
+"After two hours of rowing in one of those old galleys, he'd be glad to
+get heaved overboard, I'll bet," put in Herb, grinning. "I think Jimmy
+would rather drown any day than work that hard."
+
+"Huh! I don't see where you fellows get off to criticize," retorted the
+harassed youth. "I never saw any of you win gold medals for hard and
+earnest work."
+
+"Lots of people deserve medals who never get them," Bob pointed out.
+
+"Yes. But, likewise, lots of people don't deserve 'em who don't get
+'em," retorted Jimmy, and for once appeared to have won an argument.
+
+"I guess you're right at that," conceded Bob. "But, anyway, I'm going to
+pass those examinations no matter how hard I have to work. It will
+pretty near break my heart, but it can't be helped."
+
+The others were equally determined, and they dug into the mysteries of
+Horace and Euclid to such good effect that they all passed the
+examinations with flying colors. After that came a breathing space, and
+just at that time a golden opportunity presented itself.
+
+Mr. Fennington, Herbert's father, had become interested, together with
+several other business men of Clintonia, in a timber deal comprising
+many acres of almost virgin forest in the northern part of the state. He
+was going to look over the ground personally, and when Herb learned of
+this, he urged his father to take him and the other radio boys along for
+a brief outing over the Easter holiday. When his father seemed extremely
+dubious over this plan, Herb reminded him that Mr. Layton had taken them
+all to Mountain Pass the previous autumn, and that it would be only fair
+to reciprocate.
+
+"But the Lookers are up in that part of the country, too," said Mr.
+Fennington. "Aren't you fellows scared to go where Buck Looker is?" he
+added, with a smile lurking about his mouth.
+
+"Oh, yes, we're terribly afraid of that!" answered Herb sarcastically.
+"We'll take our chances, though, if you'll only let us go with you."
+
+"Well, well, I'll see," said his father, and Herb knew that this was
+practically equivalent to surrender. Accordingly he hunted up his chums
+and broached the project to them.
+
+"Herb, your words are as welcome as the flowers in May," Bob told him,
+with a hearty slap on the back. "If this trip actually works out, we'll
+forgive you all last winter's jokes, won't we, fellows?"
+
+"It's an awful lot to ask of a fellow, but I suppose we can manage it,"
+said Joe, and Jimmy, after pretending to think the matter over very
+seriously, finally said the same.
+
+They were all overjoyed at the prospect of such a trip, and had little
+difficulty in getting the consent of their parents. Mr. Fennington
+eventually consented to take the radio boys with him, and there ensued
+several days of bustle and excited packing. At length all was ready, and
+they found themselves, one bright spring morning, installed in a big
+seven-passenger touring car _en route_ for Braxton Woods, as the strip
+of timberland was called.
+
+"This is the life!" chortled Jimmy, as the miles rolled away behind.
+"Fresh air, bright sun, the song of birds, and--doughnuts!" and he
+produced a bulging paper bag full of his favorite dainty.
+
+"How do you get that way?" asked Joe severely, although he eyed the bag
+hungrily. "The 'song of doughnuts!' You're the only Doughnut that I ever
+heard of that could sing, and you're no great shakes at it."
+
+"Oh, you know what I meant!" exclaimed Jimmy. "At least, you're thicker
+than usual if you don't."
+
+"Do you hear that, Joe?" laughed Bob. "The boy's telling you that you're
+thick. Are you going to stand for that?"
+
+"He knows it's true. And, anyway, he doesn't dare talk back for fear I
+won't give him one of these delicious little morsels," said Jimmy
+placidly. "How about it, Joe?"
+
+"That's taking mean advantage of a poor fellow who's practically dying
+of starvation," said Joe. "Give me a doughnut, and I won't talk
+back--until after I've eaten it, anyway."
+
+"That's all right then," said his plump friend. "After you've eaten one,
+you'll feel so grateful to me that you'll regret all the low-down things
+you've ever said about me."
+
+"Oh, you're the finest pal any fellow ever had," declared Joe. "How many
+doughnuts have you left, Jimmy?"
+
+"Something tells me that you don't mean all you say," said Jimmy
+suspiciously. "Just the same, I'll take a chance and give you another
+one. They won't last long at the rate they're going; I can tell that
+without half trying."
+
+"Well, a short life but a merry one," said Bob. "Come across with
+another, Jimmy, will you?"
+
+"You know I love you too much to refuse you anything, Bob," said Jimmy.
+"Just the same, I'm going to hold out another for myself, and then you
+big panhandlers can finish them up. I've just had four, but I suppose
+those will have to last me for the present."
+
+"Say, that's tough--only four!" exclaimed Herb, in mock sympathy. "What
+will you ever do until lunch time, I wonder?"
+
+"I'm wondering the same thing myself; but I'm used to suffering whenever
+I'm with you fellows, so I suppose I'll have to grin and bear it
+somehow."
+
+"I don't see why you didn't bring some more, while you were about it,"
+complained Bob. "You might have known that wouldn't be half enough."
+
+"It will be a long time before I buy any more for you Indians, you can
+bet your last dollar on that," said Jimmy, in an aggrieved voice.
+"You've been going to school a number of years, now, but you still don't
+know what 'gratitude' means."
+
+"The only one that should be grateful is yourself, Doughnuts," Joe
+assured him. "You know if you had eaten that whole bag full of doughnuts
+that you'd have been heading a funeral to-morrow or next day. It's lucky
+you have us around to save you from yourself."
+
+While Jimmy was still framing an indignant reply to this there was a
+loud report, and the driver quickly brought the big car to a halt.
+
+"Blowout," he remarked laconically, walking around to view a shoe that
+was flat beyond the possibility of doubt. It was not an unmixed evil to
+the boys, however, for they welcomed the chance to get out and stretch
+their cramped muscles. They helped the driver jack up the wheel and
+change shoes, and in a short time they were ready to proceed.
+
+Back they climbed into their places, and with a rasp of changing gears
+they were on their way once more.
+
+Braxton Woods lay something over a hundred miles from Clintonia, but the
+roads were good most of the way, and they had planned to reach their
+destination that evening. When they had covered sixty miles of the
+distance, Mr. Fennington consented to stop for the lunch for which the
+boys had been clamoring for some time. They took their time over the
+meal, building a fire and cooking steak and frying potatoes.
+
+"Gee, this was a feast fit for a king!" exclaimed Jimmy, when it was
+over.
+
+The boys lay down on the newly sprouted grass, but had hardly got
+settled when the driver, who appeared restless, summoned them to
+proceed.
+
+"We've got a long way to go yet," he said, "and the last fifteen miles
+are worse than all the rest of the trip put together. The road is mostly
+clay and rocks, and at this time of year it's apt to be pretty wet. I
+don't want to have to drive it after dark."
+
+Mr. Fennington was also anxious to get on, so their rest was a brief
+one, and they were soon on their way again.
+
+The radio boys laughed and sang, cracked jokes, and waved to passing
+cars, while the mileage record on the speedometer mounted steadily up.
+The sun was still quite a way above the western horizon when they
+reached the place where the forest road branched off from the main
+highway. The driver tackled this road cautiously, and they soon found
+that his description of it had not been overdrawn. It was a narrow
+trail, in most places not wide enough for two cars to pass, and they
+wondered what would happen should they meet another car going in the
+opposite direction. But in the whole fifteen miles they met only one
+other motor, and fortunately that was at a wide place in the road.
+
+The scent of spring and growing things was strong in the air, and
+compensated somewhat for the atrocious road. The boys were often tossed
+high in the air as the car bumped over logs and stones, or came up with
+a lurch out of some deep hole. But they hung on to each other, or
+whatever else was most convenient, and little minded the rough going.
+
+After one particularly vicious lunge, however, the heavy car came down
+with a slam, and there was a sharp noise of snapping steel. With a
+muttered exclamation the driver brought his car to a halt and climbed
+out.
+
+"Just as I thought!" he exclaimed. "A spring busted, and the nearest
+garage twenty miles away. Now we're up against it for fair!"
+
+"Do you mean that we can't go on?" asked Mr. Fennington anxiously. "It
+will be dark in another hour."
+
+"I know it will," replied the chauffeur. "But what can we do about it?"
+
+"Can't we make a temporary repair?" suggested Bob. "We can't have much
+further to go now."
+
+"Well, I'm open to suggestions, young fellow," growled the driver. "If
+you can tell me how to fix this boiler up, go to it. It's more than I
+can do."
+
+Bob and the others made a thorough examination of the damage, and they
+were not long in concocting a plan. Bob had brought with him a small but
+very keen-edged ax, and it was the work of only a few minutes to cut a
+stout limb about six inches in diameter from a tree.
+
+With this, and a coil of heavy rope that was carried in the car for
+emergencies, they proceeded to make the temporary repair.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PUT TO THE TEST
+
+
+First of all the boys trimmed the branch to a length slightly greater
+than the distance between axle and axle of the car. Then, near each end,
+they cut a notch about two inches deep, one to fit over the front and
+one over the rear axle. Next they placed the branch in position, and
+with the heavy rope lashed it securely into position. Thus the front and
+rear axles were kept at the proper distance from each other, and,
+moreover, the side of the car that was over the broken spring could rest
+on the stout pole.
+
+The driver, who at first had watched their efforts with a derisive grin,
+took their plan more seriously as he realized the scheme, and now he
+examined the completed job with an air of surprised respect.
+
+"I've got to admit that that looks as though it might do the trick," he
+admitted, at length. "I've seen a lot of roadside repairs in my time,
+but blest if that hasn't got 'em all beat. I'll take it at slow speed
+the rest of the way, and we'll see if it will stand up long enough to
+get us in."
+
+And get them in it did, in spite of much creaking and groaning and
+bumping.
+
+The automobile drew up before a long one-story building, constructed
+roughly but substantially of unpainted boards. Supper was being served,
+and they were just in time to partake of a typical lumber camp meal. The
+big table was laden with huge joints of meat, platters of biscuits and
+vegetables, while strong, black coffee was served in abundance. After
+this plates of doughnuts were passed around, greatly to Jimmy's delight,
+and for once he could eat all he wanted with nobody to criticize, for
+the lumbermen were no tyros at this sort of thing, and packed away food
+in quantities and at a speed that made the boys gape.
+
+"Gee!" exclaimed Bob, after they had emerged into the balmy spring air
+outside, "I used to think that Jimmy could eat; but he can't even make
+the qualifying heats with this crowd. You're outclassed, Doughnuts,
+beyond the chance of argument."
+
+"I don't see but what I'll have to admit it," sighed his rotund friend.
+"But I don't care. It seems like Heaven to be in a place where they
+serve doughnuts like that. There's none of this 'do-have-a-doughnut'
+business. Some big husky passes you a platter with about a hundred on it
+and says, 'dig in, young feller.' Those are what I call sweet sounding
+words."
+
+"And you dug, all right," remarked Joe, grinning. "I saw you clean one
+platter off all by your lonesome--at least, you came pretty near it," he
+qualified, with some last lingering regard for the truth.
+
+"I didn't anything of the kind! But I only wish I could," lamented
+Jimmy.
+
+"Never mind, Doughnuts, nobody can deny that you did your best," laughed
+Herb. "After you've had a little practice with this crowd, I'll back you
+against their champion eater any day."
+
+"So would I," said Bob. "We've often talked about entering Jimmy in a
+pie-eating contest, but I never before thought we could find anybody who
+would even stand a chance with him. Up here, though, there's some
+likely-looking material. Judging from some of those huskies we saw
+to-night, they might crowd our champion pretty hard."
+
+"You can enter me any time you want to," said Jimmy. "Even if I didn't
+win, I'd have a lot of fun trying. I never really got enough pie at one
+time yet, and that would be the chance of a lifetime."
+
+At first the boys were more than half joking, but after they had been at
+the camp a few days and had begun to get acquainted, they let drop hints
+regarding Jimmy's prowess that aroused the interest of the lumbermen. He
+was covertly watched at meal times, and as the bracing woodland air and
+long hikes combined to give an added edge to his appetite, his ability
+began to command attention. There were several among the woodsmen who
+had a reputation for large capacity, but it was soon evident that Jimmy
+was not to be easily outdistanced in his own particular department.
+
+At length interest became so keen that it was decided to stage a real
+old-fashioned pie-eating contest, to determine whether the champions of
+the camp were to be outdistanced by a visitor from the city. The cook
+was approached, and agreed to make all the pies that, in all human
+probability, would be needed.
+
+"Jimmy, you're in for it now!" exclaimed Herb, dancing ecstatically
+about his plump friend. "Here's your chance to make good on all the
+claims we've ever advanced for you. You're up against a strong field,
+but my confidence in you is unshaken."
+
+"It simply isn't possible that our own Jimmy could lose," grinned Bob.
+"I've seen him wade into pies before this, and I know what he can do."
+
+"I appreciate your confidence, believe me," said Jimmy. "But I don't
+care much whether I win or not. I know I'll get enough pie for once in
+my life, and that's the main thing."
+
+The time for the contest was set for the following evening, the third of
+their stay. Five lumbermen had been put forward to uphold the reputation
+of the camp, and they and Jimmy ate no supper that night, waiting until
+the others had finished. Then the board was cleared, and the cook and
+his helper entered, bringing in several dozen big pies of all varieties.
+One of these was placed before each of the contestants, and they could
+help themselves to as many more as their capacity would admit.
+
+The cook, as having the best knowledge of matters culinary, was
+appointed judge, and was provided with a pad and pencil to check up each
+contestant. A time limit of two hours was set, the one having consumed
+the greatest amount of pie in that time to be declared the winner.
+
+The cook gave the signal to start, and the contest was on.
+
+The lumbermen started off at high speed, and at first wrought tremendous
+havoc among the pies, while Jimmy ate in his usual calm and placid
+manner, evidently enjoying himself immensely. Each of the lumbermen had
+his following, who cheered him on and urged him to fresh endeavors. Bob
+and Joe and Herb said little, for they had observed Jimmy's prowess over
+a period of several years, and knew his staying qualities.
+
+At the end of the first half hour their friend was badly outdistanced,
+but the other contestants had slowed up noticeably, while Jimmy still
+ate calmly on, no faster and no slower than when he had started. He was
+only starting on his second pie when all the others were finishing
+theirs, but the confidence of his three comrades remained unshaken. They
+observed that the lumbermen chose their third pies very carefully, and
+started to eat them in a languid way. They were only about half through
+when Jimmy disposed of his second one, and started on a third.
+
+"How do you feel, Jimmy?" asked Herb, with a grin. "Are you still
+hungry?"
+
+"No, not exactly hungry, but it still tastes good," replied Jimmy
+calmly. "You sure can make good pies, Cook."
+
+The other contestants essayed feeble grins, but it was easy to see that
+their pies no longer tasted good to them. More and more slowly they ate,
+while Jimmy kept placidly on, his original gait hardly slackened. He
+finished the third pie and started nonchalantly on a fourth. At sight of
+this, and his confident bearing, two of the other contestants threw up
+their hands and admitted themselves beaten.
+
+"I used to like pie," groaned one, "but now I hope never to see one
+again. That youngster must be made of rubber."
+
+"I've often said the same thing myself," chortled Bob. "Just look at
+him! I believe he's good for a couple more yet."
+
+Excitement ran high when two of the remaining lumbermen were forced out
+toward the middle of their fourth pie, leaving only Jimmy and a jolly
+man of large girth, who before the start had been picked by his
+companions as the undoubted winner.
+
+"Go to it, Jack!" the lumbermen shouted now. "Don't let the youngster
+beat you out. He's pretty near his limit now."
+
+It was true that flaky pie crust and luscious filling had lost their
+charm for Jimmy, but his opponent was in even worse plight. He managed
+to finish his fourth pie, but when the cook handed him a fifth, the task
+proved to be beyond him.
+
+"I've reached my limit, fellers," he declared. "If the youngster can go
+pie number five, he'll be champion of the camp."
+
+Excitement ran high as Jimmy slowly finished the last crumbs of his
+fourth pie, and the cook handed him a fifth. Would he take it, or would
+the contest prove to be a draw?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE BULLY GETS A DUCKING
+
+
+"Our man doesn't have to eat another whole pie," protested Bob. "If he
+just eats some of it he'll win, Mr. Judge."
+
+"That's right," nodded the cook. "How about you, young feller? Are you
+able to tackle it?"
+
+"Sure thing," responded Jimmy. "Hand it over."
+
+He forced himself to cut and eat a small piece, and when he had
+finished, pandemonium broke loose. The judge declared him undisputed
+champion of the camp, and he was caught up and elevated to broad
+shoulders while an impromptu triumphal procession was organized that
+circled the camp with much laughter and many jokes at the expense of the
+defeated aspirants for the title.
+
+After this was over, the boys held a little private jubilation of their
+own in the little cabin where they were quartered with Mr. Fennington.
+He had been away during the contest, but he returned shortly afterward,
+and laughingly congratulated Jimmy on his newly won honors.
+
+"How do you feel?" he inquired. "Do you think you could manage another
+piece of pie? I'll see that you have a large piece if you think you
+can."
+
+"No, sir! I've had enough pie to last me for a good while to come,"
+declared Jimmy positively. "I'll be ashamed to look a pie in the face.
+For the next week or so I'll have to stick to my favorite doughnuts for
+dessert."
+
+"Well, you did nobly, Doughnuts, and I love you more than ever,"
+declared Bob. "You were up against a field that anybody might be proud
+to beat."
+
+"And the best part of it, to me, is the feeling that our confidence in
+Jimmy's eating powers was justified," declared Joe. "After all the
+wonderful exhibitions he's given in the past, it would have been
+terrible if he hadn't come up to scratch to-night."
+
+"The way that fellow they call Jack started off, I never thought you had
+a chance, Jimmy," confessed Herb.
+
+"If he could have held that pace, I wouldn't have had a look-in,"
+admitted Jimmy. "I figured he'd have to slow down pretty soon, though.
+'Slow but sure' is my motto."
+
+"How would you like to take a nice three-mile sprint now?" asked Herb
+mischievously.
+
+"Three mile nothing!" exclaimed Jimmy scornfully. "I couldn't run three
+yards right now. I think I'll lie down and give my digestion a chance,"
+and in a few minutes he was peacefully snoring.
+
+The next morning he showed no ill effects from the prodigious feast, but
+ate his usual hearty breakfast. The others were forced to the conclusion
+that his table ability was even greater than they had suspected, and
+from that time on they firmly believed him to be invincible in his
+particular department.
+
+By this time they were thoroughly familiar with the camp, and decided to
+make an excursion into the woods the following day, taking lunch with
+them and making it a day's outing. The cook so far departed from his
+usual iron-clad rules as to make them up a fine lunch, making due
+allowance for Jimmy's proven capacity.
+
+They started out immediately after breakfast. Not being particular as to
+direction, they followed the first old logging road that they came to.
+It led them deeper and deeper into the forest that was alive with the
+sounds and scents of spring. Last year's fallen leaves made a springy
+carpet underfoot, while robins sang their spring song in the budding
+branches overhead.
+
+For some time the boys tramped in silence, breathing deeply of the
+exhilarating pine and balsam atmosphere and at peace with all the world.
+Soon there was a glint of water through the trees, and the boys, with
+one accord, diverged from the faint trail that they had been following
+and were a few minutes later standing at the water's edge.
+
+They found themselves on the shore of a large lake. It was ringed about
+with big trees, many of which leaned far out over it as though to gaze
+at their reflections in the water. The ripples lapped gently on a
+sloping sandy beach, and the invitation to swim proved irresistible to
+all but Jimmy.
+
+"I know what lake water is like at this time of year," he said. "You
+fellows can go in and freeze yourselves all you like, but I'll stay
+right here and look after the things. Just dive right in and enjoy
+yourselves."
+
+"Well, we won't coax you," said Bob. "But that water looks too good to
+miss. It is pretty cold, but I guess that won't kill us."
+
+Off came their clothes, and with shouts and laughter they splashed
+through the shallow water and struck out manfully. The icy water made
+them gasp at first, but soon the reaction came, and they thoroughly
+enjoyed their swim. They tried to coax Jimmy in, but he lay flat on his
+back under a tree and was adamant to all their pleadings.
+
+The others did not stay in very long, but emerged glowing from the
+effects of exercise and the cold water. As they were getting into their
+clothes they heard voices coming toward them, and they had hardly
+finished dressing when the voices' owners came crashing through the
+underbrush close to where the boys were standing.
+
+The two groups stared in astonishment for a few moments, for the
+newcomers were none other than Carl Lutz, Buck Looker, Terry Mooney, and
+another older fellow, who was a stranger to the radio boys.
+
+Buck's expression of surprise quickly gave place to an ugly sneer, and
+he turned to his friends.
+
+"Look who's here!" he cried, in a nasty tone. "I wonder what they're up
+to now, Carl?"
+
+"We're not hiding from the cops because we broke a plate glass window
+and were afraid to own up to it," Bob told him.
+
+"Who broke a window?" demanded Buck. "You can't prove that it wasn't a
+snowball that one of your own bunch threw that broke that window."
+
+"We don't throw that kind of snowballs," said Joe.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Buck.
+
+"Are you trying to say that we put stones in our snowballs?"
+
+"I don't have to say it," retorted Joe. "You just said it yourself."
+
+Too late Buck realized his mistake, and his coarse red face grew purple
+as Herb and Jimmy grinned at him in maddening fashion.
+
+"Don't you laugh at me, Jimmy Plummer!" he exclaimed, picking on Jimmy
+as being the least warlike of the radio boys. "I'll make you laugh out
+of the other side of your mouth in a minute," and he started to dash
+past Bob to reach his victim.
+
+But to do so he had to pass between Bob and the bank of the lake, which
+just at this point was a foot or so above the water.
+
+As he rushed past, Bob adroitly shot out a muscular arm and his elbow
+caught the bully fair in the side. Buck staggered, made a wild effort to
+regain his balance, and with a prodigious splash disappeared in the icy
+waters of the lake.
+
+For a few seconds friend and enemy gazed anxiously at the spot where he
+had gone under, but he soon came to the surface, and, sputtering and
+fuming, struck out for the shore and dragged himself out on to dry land.
+
+He made such a ludicrous figure that even his cronies could not forbear
+laughing, but he turned on them furiously and their laughter suddenly
+ceased. Then he turned to Bob.
+
+"If I didn't have these wet clothes on, I'd make you pay for that right
+now, Bob Layton," he sputtered. "I'll make you sorry for that before
+you're much older."
+
+"Why not settle it right now?" offered Bob. "Your clothes will dry soon
+enough, don't worry about that."
+
+"Yes, I know you'd like nothing better than to see me get pneumonia,"
+said Buck. "You wait here till I go home and get dry clothes on, and
+I'll come and give you the licking that you deserve."
+
+"That's only a bluff, and you know it," said Bob contemptuously. "But if
+any of your friends would like to take your place, why, here I am. How
+about you, Lutz?"
+
+But Carl muttered something unintelligible, and backed away. The others
+likewise seemed discouraged by the mischance to their leader, for they
+turned and followed his retreating form without another word.
+
+"Some sports!" commented Joe.
+
+"Game as a mouse," supplemented Herb.
+
+"That was a swell ducking you gave Buck," chuckled Jimmy. "Just when he
+was going to pick on me, too. I owe you something for that, Bob."
+
+"Pay me when you get rich and famous," laughed his friend. "You don't
+owe me anything, anyway. It was a pleasure to shove Buck into the lake.
+I'm perfectly willing to do it again any time I get the chance."
+
+"Oh, it's my turn next time," said Joe. "I can't let you hog all the
+fun, Bob."
+
+"All right," replied his friend. "If we run into him again, I'll leave
+him to your tender mercies. But I don't imagine he or his friends will
+bother us any more to-day, so why not have lunch?"
+
+"I was thinking the same thing," remarked Jimmy, and they forthwith set
+to work to prepare what Jimmy termed a "bang-up lunch."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A STARTLING DISCOVERY
+
+
+The cook had supplied the radio boys with a lavish hand, but their long
+walk and the swim had given them ravenous appetites, and by the time
+they finished there was little left of the lunch. Even this little was
+soon disposed of by the bright-eyed birds that ventured close in pursuit
+of the tempting bits. By sitting as still as statues the boys succeeded
+in enticing the little fellows almost within arm's length, and derived
+no little amusement at the evident struggle between greed and caution.
+
+But soon the last crumb was gone, and after a short rest the lads began
+to think of returning to camp. They did not want to go back by the same
+road over which they had come, however, so decided to follow the shores
+of the lake until they should find some other path. This was, of course,
+a roundabout way of getting home, but they had the better part of the
+afternoon before them, and were in no particular hurry.
+
+"Come on over to the north," suggested Joe. "I think there is another
+trail in that direction."
+
+"Yes, and I imagine the walking is better," put in Herb.
+
+"Say, you don't want to go too far out of the way," came hastily from
+Jimmy. "We've got to walk back remember."
+
+"Forward it is!" cried Bob. "Come on, Jimmy, you've got to walk off that
+big lunch you stowed away."
+
+"Gee, if I walk too far I'll be hungry again before I get home," sighed
+the stout youth.
+
+"Wow! hear Jimmy complain," burst out Joe. "He hardly has one meal down
+than he's thinking of another."
+
+To find another trail was not as simple a matter as it had seemed, and
+they must have traveled over two miles before Bob's keen eyes detected a
+slight break in the dry underbrush that might denote a path such as they
+sought. They found a dim trail leading in the general direction in which
+they wished to go, and set out at a brisk pace, even Jimmy being willing
+to hurry as visions of the loaded supper table floated before him.
+
+Gradually the path widened out, as others ran into it, until it became a
+fairly well-defined woods road. It was thickly strewn with last year's
+soft and rotting leaves, and the boys made little sound in spite of the
+rapidity of their pace. Bob and Joe and Herb were striding along in a
+group, Jimmy having dropped behind while he fixed a refractory shoe
+lace, when suddenly Bob halted abruptly and held up a warning hand. The
+others, scenting something amiss, stopped likewise, looking inquiringly
+at Bob.
+
+Silently he pointed to a spot slightly ahead of them and several paces
+off the road. Even as the others gazed wonderingly, Bob beckoned them to
+follow and slipped silently into the brush that lined the road.
+
+On the other side stood a big tree, its trunk and branches sharply
+outlined against the clear sky. At the base of this tree, with his back
+toward them, stood a man. Now, the surprising part of it all, and that
+which had caused the boys to proceed so cautiously, was the fact that
+the man wore headphones and was evidently receiving a message of some
+kind. Fastened to the tree was a box, which evidently contained
+telephonic apparatus. At first the boys thought he must be listening at
+an ordinary telephone, but the fact that he had no transmitter indicated
+that he was listening in on a radio receiving set.
+
+The boys had hardly reached their place of concealment when the man
+turned sharply about, darting furtive glances here and there, evidently
+in search of possible intruders. The boys crouched lower behind the
+bushes and prayed fervently that Jimmy would not arrive before the man
+had gone. The fellow was of fair size, with a deeply tanned face, and
+wore a moustache. Fortunately, after they had been watching him a few
+minutes, he removed the earphones, placed them in the box, and, after
+locking it, started into the woods, following a dimly marked footpath.
+
+It was well that he left when he did, for not two minutes later Jimmy
+came puffing along, looking anxiously for the others. He stopped in
+amazement when he saw his friends emerge from the bushes, and was about
+to raise his voice in vehement questionings when Bob leaped at him and
+clapped a hand over his mouth.
+
+"Be quiet!" he hissed into his ear. "There's some funny work going on
+here, and we want to find out what it is."
+
+Thus admonished, Jimmy was released, and in low tones the others told
+him of what they had seen and showed him the box fastened to the tree.
+While they were about it, they made a hasty search for the antenna, and
+found it strung close to the trunk of the tree, extending from the top
+almost to the roots. After this discovery they hurried after the man
+with the moustache, fearful lest they should lose his trail.
+
+It was no easy matter to follow the dimly marked path, for it passed at
+times over stony ground and big boulders, where often it took much
+searching here and there before they picked up its continuation.
+
+"We may be taking all this trouble for nothing," said Bob, after one of
+these searches. "Maybe he's just a lumberman receiving instruction by
+wireless from his employers. Big business firms are using radio more and
+more for such purposes."
+
+"I didn't like the way he kept looking about him, as though he had
+something to conceal," objected Joe. "It can't do any harm to see where
+he goes, anyway. We may find out something important."
+
+"His hands weren't those of a lumberman," observed Herb. "Those hands
+never saw rough work nor, judging from the man's face and manner, honest
+work. Come on, fellows."
+
+Accordingly the boys followed the difficult trail with untiring
+patience, and at last their perseverance was rewarded. The path widened
+out into a little clearing, and at the further side of this was a rough
+log cabin. The little shack had two small windows, and with infinite
+caution the boys approached until they could see into the nearest one.
+
+The interior was rudely furnished with a heavy table and two crudely
+fashioned chairs, while in the corner furthest from them two bunks had
+been built, one above the other. In another corner was a compact radio
+transmitting set.
+
+At the table was seated the man with the moustache, intently studying a
+notebook propped up before him. From this he made notes on a sheet of
+paper, scowling at times like one engaged in a difficult task. At length
+he shoved back his chair, rose to his feet, and, striding across the
+little shack, carefully placed the notebook under a board on a shelf.
+Luckily he was so absorbed in what he was doing that he did not even
+glance toward the window where the radio boys were observing his every
+motion.
+
+But Bob now judged that they had seen enough, and he wished to run no
+unnecessary risk of detection. At a signal from him they made for the
+underbrush at the edge of the clearing, where they could command a view
+of the door, and waited to see if the mysterious stranger would emerge.
+
+In a few minutes the door opened and the man stepped out, stopping to
+fasten it securely behind him. Then, with a quick glance about the
+little clearing, he made for the path leading to the main road and in a
+short time the sound of his going died away.
+
+The boys waited a few minutes, thinking that possibly he might return
+for something forgotten, but no further sound came from the path. At
+length they ventured to approach the deserted cabin.
+
+The door had been fastened with a heavy padlock, but this was not
+sufficient to deter the radio boys. Searching through their pockets for
+some implement with which they could undo the lock, Jimmy discovered a
+stout fish-hook, and after they had ground off the barbs against a flat
+stone this made an ideal tool. With it Bob probed about in the interior
+of the padlock, and at length, with a sharp click, it sprung open.
+Ordinarily he would not have done this, but he had every reason to
+believe that he was dealing with a criminal and that he was justified in
+the interest of law and order in taking steps that would prevent any
+further depredations against society.
+
+"More ways than one of killing a cat," remarked Bob, as he pushed open
+the heavy door and entered the cabin. "We've got to know what's in that
+notebook before we leave this place. Let's have a look."
+
+The boys quickly brought the book from its place of concealment and
+carried it to the table, where they bent eagerly over it as Bob turned
+the pages.
+
+"It doesn't look like sense to me," complained Jimmy. "I never saw such
+a lot of fool words jumbled together."
+
+"Yes, but something tells me there's method in this madness," said Bob,
+his brows knit as he concentrated on the problem before him. "Say,
+fellows!" he exclaimed, as sudden excitement gripped him, "do you
+remember those nights we were listening to our big set and we heard the
+mysterious messages? They were just a lot of words, and we couldn't make
+anything out of them at the time."
+
+"You bet I remember!" exclaimed Joe. "I think I could even tell you most
+of the words. Why, there's some of them in that book, right now!"
+
+"Exactly," replied Bob, nodding. "I remember them, too, and this must be
+the key to the code. My stars, what luck! Let's see how close we can
+recall the words we caught, and then we'll see if we can make sense of
+them with the help of this key."
+
+"I'll tell you the words as I remember them, and you check me up,"
+suggested Joe, and this they accordingly did.
+
+Between them they managed to get it straight, just as they had heard it,
+"Corn-hay-six-paint-water-slow-sick-jelly."
+
+"I think that's right," said Bob. "Anyway, we'll see if it comes right
+with the key. You read the words, Joe, and I'll find them in this
+notebook and you can write them down. Shoot the first one."
+
+"Corn," said Joe.
+
+Bob hunted rapidly down the columns of code words and their equivalents,
+and soon found the one he was after.
+
+"Motor truck," he read out.
+
+"That sounds promising!" exclaimed Joe. "The next word I've got is
+'hay.' What's the answer to that?"
+
+"Silk," said Bob, after a shorter search this time.
+
+"Six," read Joe.
+
+"Castleton Road!" exclaimed Bob, his voice shaking with excitement as he
+traced down the columns of words. Herb and Jimmy were also excited;
+especially the former, as he realized better than the others how serious
+a loss the theft of his father's truckload of silk had been and now
+thought he saw some clue in this message that might throw light on the
+whereabouts of the stolen goods.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE ROBBERS' CODE
+
+
+"The next word is 'paint,'" said Joe. "What does that stand for, Bob?"
+
+"Just a minute, till I find it," replied his friend, and after turning
+over several pages found the word he sought.
+
+"It means 'to-night,'" he said. "Read what we've got so far."
+
+"Motor truck--silk--Castleton Road--to-night," read Joe. "That's clear
+enough so far. The next code word is water."
+
+"'No guards,'" said Bob. And so they went, until the completed message
+read as follows:
+
+"Motor truck--silk--Castleton Road--to-night--no guards--hold up--take
+everything to usual place--notify when job is done."
+
+"That's the message that caused the theft of my father's merchandise!"
+exclaimed Herb, jumping to his feet. "If we had only had the key then,
+when there was still time, we could have prevented the hold-up."
+
+"Very likely we could," agreed Bob soberly. "But we may be able to do
+the next best thing, Herb--get the stuff back again. If we make a copy
+of this key and then leave the book just where we found it, the thieves
+will never dream that anybody knows their secret, and they'll keep right
+on using the same code."
+
+"I see," said Herb slowly. "And then if we hear any more code messages
+we can translate them with this key, and likely get on the trail of the
+crooks."
+
+"Exactly!" replied Bob. "Now, I have a notebook here, and if one of you
+fellows will dictate that code, I'll copy it down and we'll get out of
+here while the getting's good. There's no telling what minute some of
+the gang will show up."
+
+"I'll dictate," volunteered Joe. "But while you and I are doing that,
+Bob, why can't Jimmy and Herb act as lookouts? Then if any of the gang
+comes along they can give us warning and we'll clear out."
+
+"That's good advice," agreed Bob, and Herb and Jimmy went outside and up
+the path a short distance, where they crouched, listening, with every
+muscle tense to warn their comrades if danger threatened.
+
+Meanwhile, in the cabin, Bob's pencil flew at furious speed as Joe
+dictated. The code was very complete, and consisted of over two hundred
+words, each word, in some cases, standing for a whole phrase. Bob wrote
+as he had never written before, but in spite of his utmost efforts it
+took over an hour to copy the entire list. He and Joe expected every
+minute to hear Herb or Jimmy give the alarm, but the woods remained calm
+and peaceful, and they finished their task without interruption.
+
+"There's the last word, Bob!" exclaimed Joe, with a sigh of relief.
+"Let's put that little book back on the shelf where we found it, and
+make a quick getaway."
+
+"Yes, we've got to make tracks," agreed Bob. "It will be away after dark
+now when we get back to the camp. If we don't hurry they will be
+organizing searching parties for us."
+
+With great care he placed the notebook back on the shelf, under the
+board, and then gazed searchingly around the cabin to make sure that no
+signs of their visit were left behind to warn the thieves. After
+assuring himself that everything was exactly as they had found it, he
+and Joe left the rude habitation, snapping the big padlock through the
+hasp.
+
+"That's a swell lock," observed Joe, grinning. "It looks strong enough
+to discourage anybody, but Jimmy's fish-hook licked it to a frazzle in
+no time."
+
+"That's the way with a lot of padlocks," said Bob, as the two started
+off in search of the others. "It would take dynamite to break them open,
+but they're easy enough to pick."
+
+"If you know how, that is," supplemented Joe, with a grin.
+
+"Oh, that's understood," replied Bob. "It's hard to do anything without
+the know-how."
+
+They soon picked up the two sentinels, who were greatly relieved to see
+them.
+
+"I thought you were going to spend the night there," grumbled Jimmy.
+"What happened? Did you both fall asleep in the middle of it?"
+
+"You're an ungrateful rascal, Doughnuts," answered Joe. "Here Bob and I
+have worked like slaves for the last hour, while all you had to do was
+loaf around in the nice fresh air. Then instead of thanking us, you
+growl because we took so long."
+
+"Well, don't get sore," protested Jimmy. "I suppose we should all be so
+happy over this discovery that we shouldn't mind anything. I'll bet your
+father will be tickled to death, Herb."
+
+"I guess he will," agreed Herb. "Although we're still a long way from
+getting back the stolen silk. There's no doubt that we've struck a
+mighty promising clue, that much is sure."
+
+Bob was about to make some remark when he checked himself and halted in
+a listening attitude.
+
+"I think some one is coming!" he exclaimed, in a low tone. "I'm sure I
+heard voices. Let's duck into the underbrush, quick!"
+
+They were not a moment too soon, for they had hardly reached a place of
+concealment behind a great fallen tree when two men appeared around a
+bend in the path. One was the same whom they had followed a few hours
+before, while the other was a stranger to them. This man was of a
+desperate and unprepossessing appearance, and a bulge under his coat
+suggested the possible presence of a weapon.
+
+The boys congratulated themselves that this formidable looking personage
+had not arrived half an hour sooner, for they were of course unarmed and
+would have been hard put to it had they been caught in the cabin.
+
+They lay snugly hidden in their retreat behind the fallen tree until the
+voices of the two men had died away in the direction of the lonely
+cabin. Then they returned cautiously to the path and hastened toward the
+main road. This they reached without meeting any one else, and set out
+for camp at a pace that caused Jimmy to cry for mercy. But the shadows
+lay long athwart the path, camp was still an indefinite distance away,
+and they hurried the unfortunate youth along at a great rate in spite of
+his piteous protests.
+
+"It will be the best thing in the world for you, Doughnuts," said Joe
+unfeelingly. "What you need is plenty of exercise to take that fat off
+you."
+
+"Besides, think of what a fine appetite you'll have when we reach camp,"
+laughed Bob.
+
+"I've got all the appetite now that I know how to have," groaned Jimmy.
+"You fellows haven't a heart between you. Where other people keep their
+hearts, you've all got chunks of Vermont granite."
+
+"Flash a little speed, and don't talk so much," advised Herb. "Be like
+the tramp that the fellow met going down the street one day with an
+expensive rug."
+
+"Who wants to be like a tramp?" objected Jimmy.
+
+"You do, when you want to loaf all the time," retorted Herb. "But now
+I'll tell you a good joke to make the way seem shorter. Jimmy got me
+started, and now I'll have to get it out of my system."
+
+"Is it about a tramp?" asked Jimmy suspiciously.
+
+"Yes. And it's a pippin," Herb assured him. "It seems this tramp was
+running down the street with an expensive rug over his shoulder, and
+somebody stopped him and began to ask questions.
+
+"'Where did you steal that rug from?' asked the suspicious citizen.
+
+"'I didn't steal it,' answered the tramp, trying to look insulted. 'A
+lady in that big house down the street handed it to me and told me to
+beat it, and I am.'"
+
+"Say, that's a pretty good joke, for you, Herb," said Bob, laughing with
+the others.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing. I've got others just as good," said Herb eagerly.
+"Now, here's one that I made up myself the other day, but I forgot to
+tell it to you. Why----"
+
+"Suffering tomcats!" exclaimed Joe. "Don't tell us anything that you
+made up yourself, Herb! Or, at least, wait until we get back and have
+supper, so that we'll be strong enough to stand it."
+
+"That's what I say," agreed Jimmy. "I'm so hungry that I can't think of
+anything but supper, anyway. I know your joke is as good as usual, Herb,
+but I wouldn't be able to appreciate it just now."
+
+"It's discouraging to a high-class humorist to have to throw away his
+choice offerings on a bunch like this," said Herb, in an injured voice.
+"Some day, when I am far away, you'll wish you had listened to those
+gems of humor."
+
+"I'd like to believe you, but that hardly seems possible," said Bob.
+"Can you imagine the day ever coming when we'd actually want to sit down
+and listen to Herb's line of humor?"
+
+"My imagination isn't up to anything like that," replied Joe. "But, of
+course, you don't really ever have to ask Herb to spill some of those
+jokes. The hard thing is to keep him from doing it."
+
+"Oh, all right," retorted Herb. "Only, remember that it is 'easier to
+criticize than to create.'"
+
+For some time after this they plodded along hoping to reach camp before
+it got entirely dark. Bob was the first to see a distant point of light
+through the trees, and he emitted a whoop that startled the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+ON THE TRAIL
+
+
+"I can see the lights from the camp!" Bob exclaimed. "Use your eyes,
+fellows. A little to the left of us, through the trees."
+
+"Well, it's about time," groaned Jimmy, as they all looked in the
+direction indicated. "I was just getting ready to lie down and die
+peacefully. I couldn't travel another mile if you paid me for it."
+
+"Oh, buck up, Doughnuts, and get a move on!" exclaimed Bob. "You never
+know what you can do until you try. Come on, let's take it on the
+double."
+
+He and Joe and Herbert broke into a lively trot, and rather than be left
+behind Jimmy overcame his reluctance for further effort, and with much
+puffing and blowing and fragmentary complaint managed to hold the pace
+until they arrived at the mess house.
+
+Luckily for them, supper had been delayed owing to the failure of some
+supplies to arrive on time, and the lumbermen had just started eating
+when the radio boys burst in through the door.
+
+The lumbermen stopped eating long enough to welcome their arrival, and
+they found their places set as usual.
+
+"Glory be!" exclaimed Jimmy, as he slid into his chair. "If there were a
+pie-eating contest on to-night, I could show you fellows some real
+class. I feel empty right down to my toes."
+
+"It's lucky we got a head start, Champ," remarked one of the men, with a
+grin. "Pass everything down this way, you amateurs. There's a
+professional here wants to show us some fancy eating."
+
+By this time Jimmy was too busily occupied to make any answer, and the
+other radio boys were also showing good appetites. The long trip and the
+excitement of their discovery of the secret code had sharpened their
+naturally keen appetites until for once they all felt on equal terms
+with the lumbermen. Jimmy surpassed himself, and great was the
+admiration expressed for his ability as a trencherman.
+
+After supper the boys sought out Mr. Fennington and told him of their
+discovery in the lonely cabin. Then Bob showed him the copy he had made
+of the code, and Mr. Fennington studied this a long time with knit
+brows.
+
+"There seems little doubt that you boys have unearthed an important
+clue, and one that may easily lead to the discovery of the crooks who
+stole my merchandise," he said, at length. "I suppose I should put this
+information in the hands of the police. And yet perhaps we had better
+say nothing until we learn something further. With your radio outfit you
+may be able to catch another code message that would give us more
+definite information, and then it would be time enough to call in the
+police."
+
+"I think that would be the best thing to do, Dad," agreed Herb. "As soon
+as we get back home we'll fix it so one of us will be at the set a good
+part of every afternoon and evening, and we'll be almost certain to
+catch some more messages like the last one."
+
+His father nodded, and was still considering the matter when there came
+a knock at the door. Herb crossed over and opened it, and he and his
+friends uttered exclamations of astonishment and delight as they
+recognized the visitor. He was none other than Frank Brandon, the
+government radio inspector.
+
+On his part, he was no less pleased to see them, and they all shook
+hands heartily, with many questions and explanations, after which the
+radio inspector was introduced to Mr. Fennington.
+
+"I suppose you're all wondering what I'm doing up here," he said, after
+the greetings were over.
+
+"Yes, in a way," admitted Bob. "Although we know that your position
+calls you all over, and we may expect to meet you almost any old place."
+
+"Yes, that's a fact," replied Brandon. "I'm up here on the same old
+business, too. Somewhere in this neighborhood there's an unauthorized
+sending station, but in these thick woods it may prove a rather
+difficult place to locate exactly. However, it will only be a matter of
+time when we nail it."
+
+The boys glanced at one another, and the same thought was in all their
+minds. They remembered the radio apparatus they had seen in the lonely
+cabin, and had little doubt that this would prove to be the unauthorized
+station of which the radio man was in search.
+
+He must have read something of this in their expression, for he looked
+searchingly from one to another.
+
+"Looks to me as though you fellows knew something," he remarked. "I
+might have known if there was anything going on in the radio line within
+fifty miles of where you are that you'd know something about it."
+
+"Well, I've got a hunch that we could lead you right to the place you're
+looking for," said Bob quietly.
+
+"What?" shouted Brandon, leaping excitedly to his feet. "Do you really
+mean that? Tell me all about it."
+
+For the second time that evening Bob recounted the happenings of their
+eventful excursion, while the radio inspector listened intently,
+throwing in a question here and there. When Bob had finished he made no
+comment for a few minutes.
+
+Then he took the copy of the code and examined it intently, jotting down
+phrases here and there in his own notebook.
+
+"Well," he said at length, "this looks to be a much bigger thing than I
+had supposed. Of course I heard of the robbery of the motor-truck, but I
+never for a moment connected that with this sending station we've been
+looking for. It seems fairly evident, though, that if we can lay our
+hands on the operators of the unauthorized sending outfit, we'll also
+have the perpetrators of that hold-up. This is a case where we'll have
+to think out every move before we act."
+
+"Just before you arrived I was considering the advisability of putting
+the matter into the hands of the police," said Mr. Fennington. "What
+would you do?"
+
+"Keep the whole thing to ourselves for the present," said Mr. Brandon
+decisively. "I'll send for a couple of good men to come up here and help
+me, and we'll keep a watch on that cabin for a few days. If this thing
+got into the papers, it would put the crooks on their guard, and
+probably spoil our chances of catching them and getting back the loot.
+I've got a small but extremely efficient receiving and sending set in my
+car, and if any more code messages are sent out we'll catch them."
+
+His confidence was contagious, and the boys felt almost as though the
+capture of the criminals had already been accomplished.
+
+"What puzzles me, though," remarked Mr. Fennington, "is how you knew
+that there was an unauthorized radio sending station in this
+neighborhood, Mr. Brandon. I should think it would be almost impossible
+to locate such a station, even approximately."
+
+"On the contrary," replied Frank Brandon, "it is little more than a
+matter of routine. Probably any of these radio fiends here could explain
+the method as well as I can, but I'll try to make it plain to you.
+
+"There is a certain type of aerial that has what we call 'directional'
+properties, that is, when it is shifted around, the incoming signals
+will be loudest when this loop aerial, as it is called, is directly in
+line with the sending station. The receiving antenna is wound on a
+square frame, and when the signals are received at their maximum
+strength, we know that the frame is in a practically straight line with
+the sending station we're after."
+
+"Yes, but that still leaves you in the dark as to whether the station is
+one mile away or a hundred miles," observed Mr. Fennington, as Brandon
+paused.
+
+"That's very true," answered the other. "And for that reason we can't
+stop at using just one loop aerial. What we actually do is to have three
+stations, each one equipped with a loop. These three stations are
+located a good many miles apart. Now, with these three loops, we have
+three lines of direction. We lay out these lines on a chart of the
+territory, and where they intersect, is the place where the unlicensed
+station is located. Is that clear?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Mr. Fennington. "But what looks like a point on the
+map may be a large space on the actual territory."
+
+"Oh, yes, our work isn't done by any means after we have got our first
+rough bearings," continued Brandon. "Having determined the approximate
+position, we take the loops and receivers to what we know is a place
+quite near the station we're after, and then we repeat the former
+process. This time it is much more accurate. Gradually we draw the net
+tighter until we find the antenna belonging to the offender, and
+then--well, we make him wish he hadn't tried to fool the government."
+
+"You certainly have it reduced to an exact science," acknowledged Mr.
+Fennington. "I don't wonder that everybody interested in radio gets to
+be a fanatic."
+
+"We'll make a 'bug' out of you before we get through, Dad," declared
+Herb, grinning.
+
+"If my load of silk is recovered through the agency of radio, I'll be
+enthusiastic enough over it to suit even you fellows," said his father.
+"It will mean the best set that money can buy for you if I get it back."
+
+"We'll hold you to that promise," threatened Herb. "Radio can do
+anything," he added, with the conviction of a devotee.
+
+"Well, pretty nearly everything," qualified Mr. Brandon. "A little while
+ago it was considered marvelous that we could transmit the voice by
+radio, and now the transmission of photographs by radio has been
+successfully accomplished."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Mr. Fennington incredulously. "Do you mean to say that
+an actual recognizable photograph has been sent through the air by
+radio? That seems almost too much to believe."
+
+"Nevertheless, it has been done," insisted Frank Brandon. "I saw the
+actual reproduction of one that had been sent from Italy to New York by
+the wireless route, and while I can't claim that it was perfect, still
+it was as plain as the average newspaper picture. And don't forget that
+this is a new phase of the game, and is not past the experimental stage
+yet."
+
+"Well, after that, I am inclined to agree with Herbert that 'radio can
+do anything,'" admitted Mr. Fennington.
+
+"I don't think we'll have much trouble making a convert of you," laughed
+the radio inspector. "No doubt the quickest way, though, will be to
+recover your stolen shipment, so we'll start working in that direction
+the first thing in the morning."
+
+And in this he was as good as his word. He was up betimes, getting in
+touch with headquarters by means of his compact portable outfit. He kept
+at work until he had received the promise of two trustworthy men, who
+were to report to him at the lumber camp as soon as they could get
+there. Then he routed out the radio boys, and after a hasty breakfast
+they all set out to locate the cabin where the boys had found the code
+key.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE GLIMPSE THROUGH THE WINDOW
+
+
+The sun was just climbing above the treetops when the radio boys and
+Frank Brandon set out over the forest road, to the accompaniment of a
+full chorus of lusty feathered singers. Robin and starling and thrush
+combined to make the dewy morning gladsome, and the boys whistled back
+at them and wished Larry Bartlett were there to learn some new notes.
+
+"This would be just his dish," commented Herb. "After he got warmed up,
+you wouldn't be able to tell him from the birds."
+
+"The only difference is, that he's better," declared Joe. "If he were
+here now, he'd be teaching the dicky birds a new song or two. That boy
+is certainly a wonder."
+
+"He's very clever," acknowledged Brandon. "He's getting along
+wonderfully well at the broadcasting station, and I understand he's had
+several good offers from the big vaudeville circuits."
+
+"Why doesn't he accept one?" questioned Joe.
+
+"He hasn't fully recovered from the effects of the accident yet. And,
+besides, he says he likes the radio work better. He can stay in one
+place, and cut out all the traveling. That seems to be a strong
+consideration with him."
+
+"I don't know that I can blame him," commented Bob. "I should think that
+continual jumping around from place to place would get on anybody's
+nerves."
+
+"Still, it gives one a fine chance to see the country," argued Frank
+Brandon. "If any of you fellows ever get into radio work in a commercial
+way, the chances are you won't be able to 'stay put' in one place very
+long."
+
+"There's one great advantage about traveling, anyway," said Jimmy.
+
+"What's that, Doughnuts?" queried Joe. "I should think that with your
+restful nature you'd rather stay in the same place and grow old and fat
+in perfect comfort."
+
+"Oh, that part of it is all right," admitted Jimmy. "But don't forget
+that different parts of the country have different kinds of cooking. In
+New York the specialty is shore dinners; go a little South, and you get
+fried chicken and corn pone cooked by guaranteed southern mammies; go up
+North, and you get venison steaks; in the West they'll feed you mutton
+chops as big as a plate. And so it goes."
+
+"You've even forgotten some places," laughed Bob. "How about a steaming
+dish of beans in Boston?"
+
+"Yes, or frijoles and chile con carne in New Mexico," suggested Herb.
+
+"Cease, cease!" groaned Jimmy. "Why talk about such things when we're
+such a long way from them? Every time you mention something new it makes
+me feel hungrier."
+
+"Hungrier!" exclaimed Mr. Brandon. "Why, it's hardly half an hour since
+we finished breakfast!"
+
+"What has breakfast got to do with it?" demanded the insatiable Jimmy.
+"That's past and done with. It's time to think of lunch, now."
+
+"You win," laughed Brandon. "Your capacity will make you famous some
+day."
+
+"It's made him famous already--at least, up here," Bob informed the
+radio inspector. "Didn't you know that he is the undisputed champion pie
+eater of the camp?"
+
+"No, I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me in the least to hear
+it," said Brandon, with a smile. "How did he gain his laurels?"
+
+Then Bob told him about the contest, and when he had finished Mr.
+Brandon laughingly congratulated Jimmy.
+
+"I always had a sneaking idea that you could do it," he admitted. "But
+after my experience with lumbermen's appetites, I realize that you must
+have been on your mettle all the way."
+
+"It was rather hard at the end," admitted Jimmy, "but take it all
+together it was a real pleasure. That cook sure does know how to make
+good pies," and an expression of blissful reminiscence spread over his
+round countenance.
+
+"He made a regular pig of himself, but we knew he would, and that's why
+we had such confidence in him," said Joe.
+
+"Nothing of the kind!" protested Jimmy. "You know you fellows got me
+into it in the first place. You fixed it all up, and I only went in as a
+favor to you. But I might know better than to expect gratitude from this
+bunch."
+
+"You'll find it in the dictionary," Joe informed him. "You ought to be
+grateful to us for providing you with a feed like that. It would have
+cost you a lot of money to buy all those pies back home."
+
+"I think he came well out of it, at any rate," interposed the radio man.
+"But we must now be getting somewhere near that cabin, and we'd better
+go as quietly as we can. We know that there are two of the gang hanging
+out in it, and there's no telling how many more there may be."
+
+"Not so very near the cabin yet," answered Bob. "Nearer that tree to
+which they had the receiving set attached."
+
+Nevertheless, they advanced as silently as possible, keeping a sharp
+lookout for any sign of the black-moustached stranger and his friend.
+The woods seemed devoid of human presence other than their own, however,
+and they saw nothing to arouse suspicion until at length they reached
+the tree to which the receiving set was fastened. Frank Brandon examined
+this with interest. The box was securely locked, but the radio man drew
+a big bunch of various-sized keys from his pocket.
+
+"I want to see what's in this box, but first I think we'd better post
+sentries," he said, in a low voice. "Suppose you go back a few hundred
+feet the way we came, Jimmy. You go the same distance in the other
+direction, Herb. And Joe can go a little way up the path that leads
+toward the cabin. You can stay here and help me get this box open, Bob.
+If any of you hear some one coming, imitate a robin's note three times,
+and then keep out of sight. We don't want the crooks to suspect yet that
+anybody is on their trail."
+
+The three radio boys scattered to their appointed posts, and Frank
+Brandon proceeded to try key after key in the lock. He had to try fully
+a dozen before at last the lock clicked and the door of the box swung
+open.
+
+Inside was a complete radio receiving set, with vacuum tube detector and
+batteries in perfect working order. Between the roots of the tree an
+iron pipe had been driven into the earth to act as a ground. The antenna
+was strung from top to bottom of the tree on the side away from the
+path, and there was nothing to differentiate the box from an ordinary
+wire telephone set, except that it was slightly larger. There were a
+number of regular wire telephones scattered throughout the woods, to aid
+in fighting forest fires, so that anybody traveling along the path would
+have been unlikely to give this outfit more than a passing glance, if
+they noticed it at all. Had the radio boys not chanced to see the
+black-moustached man listening, with wireless headphones over his ears,
+the fact that the box contained a wireless receiving outfit might never
+have been discovered.
+
+Brandon and Bob went carefully over every article of the equipment. They
+were on the lookout for another notebook such as the boys had found in
+the cabin, but there was nothing of the kind in the box. When they were
+satisfied of this, Mr. Brandon carefully replaced everything as he had
+found it, and snapped the lock shut.
+
+"So much for that!" he exclaimed. "Now, let's get hold of the others and
+we'll see what that mysterious cabin looks like."
+
+Joe and Herb and Jimmy were soon recalled from their sentry duty, and
+all set out along the path to the cabin. When they got close to the
+clearing the three sentries were again posted, while Bob and the
+inspector made a detour through the woods so as to approach the cabin on
+the side away from the path, where there was little likelihood of those
+inside keeping a lookout. Very cautiously they advanced from the
+concealment of the woods, Frank Brandon with his right hand on the butt
+of a deadly looking automatic pistol. They crept close to the wall of
+the cabin, and listened intently for some sign of life within.
+
+That there was at least one man in the cabin, and that he was still
+sleeping, soon became evident, for they heard the heavy breathing of one
+sound asleep. Mr. Brandon cautiously raised himself as high as the
+window, and peered within. From this position he could not see the
+sleeper, however, and he and Bob moved silently to the other side of the
+shack. From there they commanded a good view of the interior, and could
+plainly see the sleeping man, who was the same whom the boys had first
+encountered the day before.
+
+His black-moustached face was toward them, and Brandon gave a start of
+recognition, while his fingers tightened on his pistol. For a few
+moments he stood tense, evidently deciding what to do. Then he beckoned
+to Bob to follow, and made for the path where the others anxiously
+awaited them.
+
+"I know that man in there!" exclaimed Brandon excitedly. "He is known as
+'Black' Donegan, on account of his black hair and moustache. He's wanted
+by the police of New York and Chicago, and I guess other cities, too. We
+could easily get him now, but if we did, the chances are the rest of the
+gang would take alarm, and we'd miss the chance of bagging them and
+getting back Mr. Fennington's stolen property. It's hard to say what is
+the best thing to do."
+
+But on the instant a plan occurred to Bob, and he lost no time in
+communicating it to the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A NEFARIOUS PLOT
+
+
+"If this fellow in the cabin is such a bad man, we can't afford to risk
+losing sight of him," said Bob. "Suppose Joe and Jimmy and I stay here,
+while Herb goes back with you, Mr. Brandon. We can stay here until your
+two regulars show up, and Herb can then bring them here to relieve us.
+How does that strike you?"
+
+"It's a way out of the predicament," answered Frank Brandon, his frown
+vanishing. "You fellows are apt to have a long vigil, though. My men
+won't get to the camp until this afternoon, and after that it takes
+quite a while to reach this place."
+
+"I guess we can stand it," said Bob. "Can't we, fellows?" he asked,
+glancing at the others.
+
+Both Joe and Jimmy agreed, although the latter had secret misgivings as
+he thought regretfully of the dinner he would miss. However, such
+considerations were of little weight just then, and it was finally
+decided to adopt Bob's plan.
+
+"I'll leave my pistol with you," said Brandon, as he and Herb prepared
+to leave. "But whatever else you do, steer clear of this gang and don't
+use firearms unless as a last resort. Remember, that if they once find
+out their hiding place is discovered, our whole scheme will be ruined."
+
+The boys promised to exercise the greatest caution, and then Mr. Brandon
+and Herb started back toward camp.
+
+Bob, after a brief inspection, dropped the deadly automatic pistol into
+his pocket, and then the three friends considered how they might best
+keep watch on the cabin without being discovered. First of all, at Joe's
+suggestion, they armed themselves with serviceable clubs, that might
+come in handy in time of necessity. Then they slipped silently into the
+underbrush, and worked their way along until they had attained a
+position where they commanded a view of the cabin's only door.
+
+The spot they had chosen was surrounded by dense thickets, and one might
+have passed within ten feet without spying them. Bob carefully parted
+the bushes and broke off twigs here and there until they could see
+plainly enough, and yet were securely hidden from the cabin. This done,
+the boys made themselves as comfortable as possible under the
+circumstances, and prepared for a long vigil.
+
+They had been in their retreat less than half an hour when the door of
+the shack was flung open, and the black-moustached man appeared on the
+threshold. He gazed searchingly about the little clearing, then glanced
+up at the mounting sun and stretched prodigiously. At length, apparently
+satisfied that all was as it should be, he turned back into the cabin,
+and soon the aroma of bacon and coffee came floating down the wind to
+where the boys lay. Jimmy's nose twitched and his mouth watered, but he
+thought of the importance of the mission that had been intrusted to them
+by the radio inspector and stifled his longings.
+
+The man in the cabin ate a leisurely breakfast, and apparently was in no
+hurry. Indeed, from the way he loitered over the meal, the boys rather
+suspected that he was awaiting the arrival of some other members of the
+gang. Nor were they mistaken. After a time the lads could hear the sound
+of approaching voices, and soon three men entered the clearing and made
+for the cabin. At the first sound of their voices, the man inside had
+stepped swiftly to the door, one hand in the bulging pocket of his coat;
+but when he recognized the others an ugly grin spread over his face,
+while his hand dropped to his side.
+
+"So you have got here at last, eh?" he snarled. "I'm glad to find you
+didn't hurry yourselves any. I thought I sent you a wireless message to
+get here early."
+
+"So you did, chief," spoke up one of the newcomers. "But we couldn't get
+here no sooner."
+
+"You couldn't?" snapped the other. "Why couldn't you?"
+
+"We got word that one of the government radio inspectors was at the
+lumber camp, so we had to come here by the long way. We were afraid he
+might recognize one of us if we happened to bump into him."
+
+"Well, the cops have photoed all of you so often that I don't wonder
+you're shy," sneered the leader. "But come on inside. There's no use of
+standing chinning here."
+
+Two of the men muttered sullenly to themselves, but ceased abruptly as
+the leader's frowning gaze fell on them. They all shuffled into the
+cabin, and the black-moustached man shut the door with a bang.
+
+"Say," whispered Bob, "we've got to listen in on this pow-wow, fellows.
+I'm going to sneak up to the window and try to hear what they're saying.
+They must have some purpose in meeting here like this."
+
+"Well, be mighty careful, Bob," said Joe anxiously. "They're a tough
+crowd, and we've got to watch our step. If they discover you, head for
+here, and if we can't get away we'll put up a battle."
+
+"If I have any kind of luck, they won't discover me," Bob assured him.
+"Just sit tight, and I'll be back in a jiffy."
+
+Very cautiously he crept through the underbrush toward the cabin. In
+spite of all his care a branch snapped under him and the second time the
+door was flung wide and the ill-favored leader of the gang stepped out
+and peered about him.
+
+Bob flattened out as close to the ground as he could get and lay tense,
+while the outlaw gazed suspiciously at the bushes amid which he was
+concealed.
+
+"What's the matter, Blackie?" called one of the gang. "Did you think you
+heard somethin'?"
+
+"I know I did!" exclaimed the other. "But I suppose it was only some
+animal prowling around."
+
+"Bein' alone in this shack has got on your nerves, maybe," taunted one
+of the gang.
+
+"Nerves, my eye!" exclaimed the other. "I don't own such things! But
+I've got a notion to take a look through those bushes, anyway," and he
+started in Bob's direction.
+
+"Come on back, Blackie," urged another of the gang. "We can't be foolin'
+around here all day. Be yourself, can't you?"
+
+The others chimed in to the same effect, and their leader reluctantly
+abandoned his search and returned to the cabin. Had he gone another
+twenty feet he would inevitably have discovered Bob, who had been on the
+point of springing to his feet and giving battle. It was a narrow
+escape, and the radio boys heaved sighs of relief as the door of the
+cabin closed on the formidable figure of the leader. They knew that
+these men were desperate criminals, heavily armed, who would not
+hesitate at murder to avoid capture.
+
+Bob resumed his advance, an inch at a time, and at length reached the
+edge of the clearing. Before him lay a stretch of perhaps twenty feet of
+open ground, and should one of the desperados chance to open the door
+while he was crossing this space, discovery would be certain. However,
+this was a chance that Bob knew he must take, and without hesitation he
+sprang to his feet and ran swiftly but silently toward the cabin.
+
+Fortunately he reached it unobserved, and crouched close to the wall
+beneath one of the little windows. There were numerous cracks in the
+side of the rude structure, and he had no difficulty in hearing what was
+going on inside.
+
+The crooks were engaged in a heated debate, but soon the voice of their
+leader spoke out commandingly and the others fell silent.
+
+"I tell you we haven't had a chance to get rid of that last load of silk
+we got near Castleton," he said, in an angry voice. "I couldn't get the
+price I wanted for it, and, besides, it will be just as easy to get rid
+of two loads as one, and no more risk. Now, I'm going to send out a
+radio message in code to the rest of the gang, and we'll pull off the
+job to-night, just as I've already told you."
+
+There were no dissenting voices, and presently Bob heard the whirr of
+the sending set, followed by the voice of the leader.
+
+"HDEA' HDEA'," he called again and again, switching over to the
+receiving set to get an answer. At length he evidently reached the
+station he was after, for he listened intently for a few minutes. Then
+the generator hummed again, and Bob heard the black-moustached man
+speaking again.
+
+"Get this, and get it right," he commanded, and there followed a string
+of words that would have been mere gibberish to Bob had he not held the
+key to their meaning. He searched frantically in his pockets for a
+pencil, and scribbled the words down as the man spoke them. When he had
+finished, the leader of the gang shut down the generator, and turned to
+the others.
+
+"That's fixed," he said. "There won't be much to do for the rest of the
+day but look over your guns and make sure they're in good working order.
+Since we got that last truck they've been putting guards on them, and we
+want to be prepared to shoot before they do."
+
+There was a general pushing back of chairs, and Bob realized that at any
+moment the door might open. His mind worked quickly, and instead of
+going back to his friends the way he had come, he made a rush for the
+woods on the opposite side of the clearing. In this way the "blind," or
+windowless, end of the cabin was toward him, so that he would not be
+likely to be detected unless the robbers came out and walked around the
+house.
+
+Lucky it was for Bob that he acted as he did, because he had barely
+started when the door was flung open and those inside came streaming
+out. For a few moments they stood in a group in front of the door,
+talking, and then scattered, some walking about, while others threw
+themselves on the ground and smoked.
+
+But by this time Bob had reached the cover of the woods undiscovered,
+and set out to rejoin his friends. This necessitated a long detour, and
+it was a full hour later that he crept silently into their hiding place.
+So quietly did he come that Jimmy was on the point of uttering a
+startled exclamation, but checked himself just in time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+PREPARING AN AMBUSH
+
+
+"Say, you came as quietly as a shadow," whispered the plump youth. "How
+do you ever do it?"
+
+"You don't expect me to blow a whistle under the circumstances, do you?"
+asked Bob.
+
+"Never mind that, but tell us what you heard," said Joe impatiently.
+"What are they up to, Bob?"
+
+"I can't tell you until I compare what I copied down with the code key,"
+said Bob, as he fished in his pocket for the bit of paper on which he
+had noted down the robber's message. Having found this, he and Joe
+searched through the key and soon had the following message pieced
+together:
+
+"Truck--silk--Barberton Road--to-night. Meet me and others--Hicks
+Bridge--eight o'clock. Truck due--ten o'clock."
+
+Having deciphered the message, the boys gazed questioningly at one
+another.
+
+"That doesn't give us much time to act," said Joe. "If we wait here it
+may be close to eight o'clock before the others come to relieve us, and
+then it will be too late to prevent the robbery."
+
+"The answer is, that we won't wait here," said Bob decisively. "As long
+as we know their plans up until this evening, there's no need of
+watching this cabin any longer, anyway. We'd better start back right
+away, and tell Mr. Brandon what we've found out. He'll know the best
+thing to do then."
+
+"That sounds all right to me," said Joe, and as Jimmy saw a chance of
+getting back to camp in time for dinner, he put in no objections.
+
+"Now, for the love of butter, try to go quietly, Jimmy," warned Bob. "If
+those fellows hear a sound from this direction, they'll be right after
+us, because their suspicions are already aroused."
+
+"I'll do the best I can," promised his rotund friend. "But I'm heavier
+than you fellows, and I can't slide around so easily."
+
+"Well, go easy, anyway," said Bob. "Now, are we all ready?"
+
+With infinite caution the boys wormed their way through the brushwood,
+Bob leading. By luck rather than good management Jimmy managed to be as
+quiet as his friends, and after almost an hour of this slow progress Bob
+judged that they were far enough away from the cabin to risk a faster
+pace. The shack was out of sight among the trees when he sprang to his
+feet, followed by the others, and in a short time they had reached the
+path leading to the main road. Here it was still necessary to be
+extremely careful, for they never knew at what moment some turn in the
+path would bring them face to face with some of the robber band.
+Fortunately nothing of the kind happened, and soon they reached the main
+road and started at high speed for camp.
+
+"I wonder if we can't take some sort of a short cut," came from Joe as
+they raced along.
+
+"That's the talk," puffed poor Jimmy, who had great difficulty in
+keeping up with his chums. "The shorter the better."
+
+"We won't dare risk it," returned Bob. "Why we might get lost."
+
+"Who's afraid of getting lost?"
+
+"We are, for we might lose too much time and all our plans would go to
+smash. No, we've got to stick to the main road."
+
+"How much further have we to go?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"We've got to chase along until we reach camp," put in Joe. "Hustle now,
+every minute may be precious."
+
+"I can't hustle any more than I am hustling," panted poor Jimmy. "Do you
+want me to drop down of heart failure or something like that?"
+
+"Maybe we'd better go along and leave Jimmy behind," suggested Joe, with
+a wink at Bob.
+
+"Not much," cried the stout youth, and after that did his best to keep
+up with the others.
+
+Not a great while later they came in sight of camp, much to their
+relief.
+
+Mr. Brandon was astonished to see them back so soon, but as briefly as
+possible Bob told him of what they had learned and showed him the code
+message.
+
+"You fellows have done a clever bit of detective work, and with
+reasonable luck it ought to be possible to bag the whole gang to-night,"
+said Brandon. "I know where Hicks Bridge is. It's about five miles this
+side of Barberton, and an ideal place for an ambuscade. The road runs
+between high banks just before it gets to the bridge, and some of the
+gang posted on those banks could command the road from either direction.
+But I'll get in communication with the chief of police of Barberton, and
+we'll see if we can't catch the thieves in their own trap."
+
+"I suppose the two men you were expecting haven't arrived yet, have
+they?" inquired Bob.
+
+"No. And I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for them, either," said
+Brandon. "I could radio to the Barberton chief, but I'm afraid the
+message might be intercepted by the crooks, if one of them happened to
+be listening. I guess it will be better to go by way of my automobile,
+although I hate to lose the time that it will take."
+
+"Isn't there a telephone line from the camp?" suggested Joe.
+
+"No, unfortunately, one hasn't been installed yet," replied the
+inspector. "But we can do the trick with the car if we start right away.
+I suppose there's no need of asking if you fellows would like to come
+with me?"
+
+"None whatever," answered Bob, grinning. "Just give us a chance to go in
+and snatch a little grub off the table, and we'll eat it on the way."
+
+Frank Brandon nodded, and the three boys dashed into the mess hall and
+caught up anything in the way of eatables that came nearest to hand,
+Jimmy, of course, specializing on his favorite doughnuts. Then they
+hurried out, and found Mr. Brandon waiting for them, with the motor
+running. After a short search they found Herb fast asleep in his bunk,
+and roused him unceremoniously, hustling him out before he was fairly
+awake.
+
+"What's it all about?" he questioned, rubbing his eyes. "Has the camp
+caught fire, or do you just want to borrow some money from me?"
+
+"Never mind the funny business now, we'll tell you all about it while
+we're traveling," said Bob, as they reached the automobile. "In you go,
+Herb."
+
+Before they could find seats Mr. Brandon had let in the clutch, and the
+car started with a jerk that landed them in a heap on the cushions.
+Regardless of the rough road, he kept picking up speed, and soon it was
+all they could do to stay in the car at all. Barberton was about thirty
+miles from the camp, and to reach it they had to cross Hicks Bridge. All
+looked calm and peaceful just then, and it was hard to believe that in a
+few short hours a desperate fight might be raging between the high banks
+that flanked the road. The bridge was some two hundred feet long, and
+passed over a deep cut between two hills. In spite of its present
+peaceful appearance it was easy to see that the place would be an ideal
+one to perpetrate such a crime as the robbers contemplated, and after
+they had passed over the bridge Mr. Brandon opened the throttle wider in
+his impatience to reach Barberton.
+
+They slowed down to go through the streets of the town, and as they drew
+up in front of the police station, Brandon shut off his motor and leaped
+to the sidewalk.
+
+"Come on in, boys, and we'll tell the chief about the little party
+scheduled for this evening," he said, and the boys followed him into the
+police station.
+
+Fortunately the chief of police, Mr. Durand, was in, and he greeted Mr.
+Brandon with a heartiness that showed they were old friends.
+
+After they had shaken hands, Brandon introduced the radio boys, and then
+proceeded to acquaint the chief with the details of the plot they had
+discovered. As Mr. Durand listened a dark frown gathered between his
+bushy eyebrows, and his fingers drummed angrily on the table before him.
+When Mr. Brandon had finished, the chief jumped to his feet and strode
+fiercely up and down the room.
+
+"This won't be the first trouble we've had with those rascals!" he
+exclaimed wrathfully. "Members of the same gang have held up and robbed
+stores in this town, and we have two of them doing their bit in jail
+right now. And if we have any luck to-night we'll have the whole gang
+under lock and key before the morning. These young fellows must have
+been right on the job from start to finish, Frank."
+
+"Yes, I guess they were," replied Brandon. "If we land this gang, we'll
+have them to thank for it. But now what are your plans for capturing the
+crooks?"
+
+For answer the chief pressed a button, and a capable looking police
+lieutenant appeared.
+
+"Get together ten of our best men," he directed, "and put them into two
+automobiles. When they are ready to start, report to me."
+
+The lieutenant saluted, and left the room.
+
+"According to the code message, the robbers won't be at Hicks Bridge
+much before eight o'clock, which is after dark these days," said the
+chief. "We'll get there a lot earlier than that, and I'll conceal my men
+in the woods. Then I'll leave orders here to stop the motor truck as it
+comes through, and replace its crew with a few picked men from my force.
+When the robbers try to hold up that truck, they'll have a big surprise
+in store for them."
+
+"It might be a good plan," suggested Bob, "to mount a searchlight or two
+on the motor truck. At the right minute you could turn these on the
+crooks, and while it would confuse them, it would give your men in the
+woods a big advantage, as they'd be able to see the hold-up men plainly
+without being seen themselves."
+
+"Young man, that's a first-rate suggestion!" exclaimed the chief, eyeing
+him appraisingly, "and you can believe we'll take advantage of it. I'll
+commandeer a couple from the Electric Light Company in readiness to
+mount on the truck when it comes along. I wish we could persuade you and
+your friends to join the Barberton police force."
+
+"We'll be pretty nearly a part of it until those crooks are captured, if
+you'll let us," said Bob. "We all want to be in at the finish."
+
+"It will be a dangerous business, and bullets may fly thick," the chief
+warned him. "You fellows have done more than your full duty already, and
+we can hardly call on you to do any more."
+
+"Just the same, we'll come along if you don't mind," insisted Bob.
+
+"Oh, I'll be very glad to have you, as far as I'm concerned," said Mr.
+Durand. "I suppose you'll want to be in on it, too, Frank?"
+
+"You're dead right," Brandon assured him emphatically. "I've gone too
+far with this to want to drop out now."
+
+At this point the lieutenant appeared and reported that the men were in
+the automobiles, ready to start. Picking up the telephone, the chief
+ordered his own car. He invited Mr. Brandon and the radio boys to ride
+with him.
+
+"You can leave your car in the police garage, Frank," he said, and
+Brandon was not slow in availing himself of this offer. In a short time
+he returned, and the three automobiles started for the scene of the
+projected hold-up, the chief's car leading and the other two following
+close behind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+LYING IN WAIT
+
+
+"Doesn't look as though there's going to be much monotony in our young
+lives to-night," remarked Bob, as, tightly packed in the tonneau of the
+car, the boys rode on through the gathering darkness.
+
+"For that matter there hasn't been much for several days past," chuckled
+Joe, who sat at his right. "A fellow would have to be a glutton to want
+more adventure than we've had since we came to Braxton Woods. What with
+Buck Looker and Black Donegan, we ought to be pretty well satisfied."
+
+"I only hope Cassey will be in the gang that is rounded up to-night,"
+observed Herb. "It would be too bad if only the rest were captured and
+that all-around scoundrel slipped through the meshes."
+
+"I guess Cassey is the brains of the whole bunch," put in Jimmy.
+"Probably the others didn't know anything about radio until he put them
+on to it. He'll be there all right. And he's likely to put up a pretty
+stiff fight before he lets himself be captured, for he knows what it
+means to him to be sent back to prison. With a new sentence tacked on to
+the old one it'll probably mean that he'll be in for life."
+
+In a little while they reached the scene of the proposed robbery. They
+were well in advance of the time set by the plotters, and the chief took
+his time in carefully disposing his forces, availing himself of Frank
+Brandon's advice in doing this.
+
+The bridge stretched between two hills at the bottom of which was a
+small stream, about a hundred feet below. On each side, almost down to
+the bridge itself, extended trees and shrubbery that afforded excellent
+hiding places. The only trouble was that both the outlaws and the
+officers who were trying to apprehend them were likely to seek the same
+shelter and might in this way stumble across each other before the trap
+was ready to be sprung.
+
+This, however, was a contingency that had to be faced, and preparations
+were made accordingly. The men were placed at strategic points on both
+sides of the bridge. Whether the attempt at hold-up would be made at the
+entrance to the bridge or on the further side was a matter of
+speculation. The chief went on the theory, however, that it would
+probably take place at the entrance, and there he placed the majority of
+the men under him.
+
+The radio boys hinted that there was where they would like to be also,
+but in this the chief was adamant.
+
+"I've stretched a point in letting you young fire-eaters come along at
+all," he said. "As it is, I may have a hard time explaining to your
+parents. And I hate to think what my position would be if anything
+happened to you. So I am going to put you where I think you'll be
+comparatively out of danger. You're just to be lookers on at this
+shindig. And if the bullets begin to fly, you just lie flat on the
+ground behind the trees until they stop. It may not be so glorious, but
+it's likely to be a mighty sight more healthy."
+
+So, much against their will, the boys were compelled to obey orders and
+take the place assigned to them which was on the further side of the
+bridge.
+
+"Putting us up in the gallery when we ought to have seats in the
+orchestra," grumbled Joe, as the boys ensconced themselves in a thicket
+behind a big clump of trees.
+
+"Cheer up, you old gloom hound," chaffed Bob. "We may get in on this
+yet. At any rate, if we are in the gallery, we have a good view of the
+stage. Or at least we shall have, when the searchlight gets busy."
+
+The darkness deepened until the night became as black as Egypt. There
+was no moon, and even the stars were obscured by clouds that heavily
+veiled the sky. The night was chill, and the boys buttoned their coats
+tightly about them as they sat waiting for developments.
+
+They had perhaps an hour to wait, but it was not known but that some of
+the robbers would be on the ground at an earlier time than had been set,
+and every sense was on the alert as all strained their ears for the
+slightest sound and peered into the darkness on the chance that they
+might catch glimpses of shadowy forms. After the first few moments they
+had not ventured to talk for fear that they might be overheard. But this
+did not debar them from thinking, and they thrilled with excitement as
+they pictured each to himself the struggle that seemed about to take
+place on the road.
+
+The minutes dragged along interminably, and in the intense silence the
+lads could almost hear the beating of their hearts. Then at a little
+distance a twig cracked and sent the blood racing madly through their
+veins.
+
+Soon footsteps were heard approaching, and the lads crouched still lower
+in their hiding place. The sounds came nearer, and they could detect the
+tread of two men. They were approaching without any excessive degree of
+caution, as they had no reason to believe that their plans had been
+discovered. As they drew closer, the boys could hear them conversing in
+low tones.
+
+"I tell you it's all right," said a rough voice, which they recognized
+as that of Black Donegan. "All the fellows are tipped off and know just
+what they've got to do. Jake and Toppy will do the holding up, and then
+the rest of us will jump in if the driver cuts up rough. If he does,
+there'll be one more dead driver."
+
+The boys waited for the answer that seemed to be long in coming. What
+they heard finally was a whistle that made them jump. They had heard
+that whistle before!
+
+"Cassey!" whispered Bob to Joe. "Cassey, as sure as you're born!"
+
+The next instant his belief became a thrilling certainty.
+
+"It-t-t-t isn't the d-d-driver." The voice came out, with an explosive
+quality. "It's the g-g-guards he may have w-w-with him. The p-p-police
+are getting pretty l-l-leary about all the robberies t-t-t-that have
+been taking place around here lately, and they've g-g-g-," again came
+the whistle, "g-got to do something or lose their jobs. At any rate
+t-t-this is the last thing we're g-g-going to pull off around here----"
+
+"I guess he's right about that," Joe whispered to Bob.
+
+"----and j-j-just as soon as we're through with this, w-w-we'd better
+p-pull up stakes and try somewhere else."
+
+The voice was now so close at hand that if the boys had reached out of
+the thicket they would almost have touched the speaker. At this thought
+Jimmy and Herb, especially, felt a thrill of excitement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+AN EXCITING STRUGGLE
+
+
+"I think myself that we've hung round this neck o' the woods about long
+enough," agreed Donegan. "And I ain't any too well pleased to have that
+radio inspector snooping around the woods. He ain't up to any good if
+you ask me. But brace up, Cassey, for this last haul. You ain't
+generally chicken-hearted."
+
+"You'll f-f-find that I have my n-n-nerve with me when the pinch comes,"
+replied Cassey. "I'd rather be k-k-killed by a bullet than g-g-g-go back
+to prison."
+
+The voices receded as the men went on, and soon the sound of their
+footsteps ceased. It was evident they were searching for the most
+advantageous place for the crime that they contemplated.
+
+"I told you that I had a hunch that that villain would be here,"
+whispered Jimmy, when they felt that it would be safe to speak.
+
+"Good thing, too," said Bob grimly. "Cassey'll get to-night what's
+coming to him."
+
+Half an hour passed--an hour--an hour and a half. Then far in the
+distance the boys heard the hum of a motor engine and the rumble of a
+heavy truck.
+
+"There it comes!" ejaculated Joe, throwing caution to the winds in his
+excitement.
+
+The rumbling grew louder, and soon the boys knew that it must be close
+to the bridge. Then they saw the lamps of an auto truck sending out
+their beams of light a hundred feet in advance, and could just discern
+above them the massive body of the truck.
+
+It came on at a moderate rate of speed, slowing up somewhat as it struck
+the bridge.
+
+Suddenly shots rang out and the boys could see two dark figures standing
+on the bridge and waving their hands at the driver, as they bellowed out
+orders to stop. At the same time, as though the shots had been a signal,
+three other figures came rushing from other directions.
+
+It was impossible for the boys to keep still, and they too sprang to
+their feet and started for the scene of the hold-up, running at the top
+of their speed.
+
+Just as they left their covert there was a blinding flash that made the
+whole bridge as bright as day. A searchlight had been turned on from the
+top of the truck full in the faces of the robbers. They staggered as
+though they had been struck, and at the same instant there came a volley
+of shots and the police were upon the hold-up men.
+
+There was a wild mélée of struggling men, as they swayed back and
+forth in a desperate struggle. The robbers had been taken completely by
+surprise and were outnumbered two to one. There were shouts and the
+crack of revolvers, and the thud of pistol butts.
+
+But the battle, though fierce, was of short duration. In a few minutes
+the robbers had been subdued. One lay stunned on the bridge and another
+lay by him wounded. Two more were held in the grasp of officers.
+
+One, however, tore himself away from the officer who had grappled with
+him, and came rushing in the direction of the radio boys. In the glare
+from the searchlight they recognized Cassey.
+
+He saw them, too, and fired his revolver at them. The shot went wild. He
+pressed the trigger again but with no result. Then, realizing that his
+weapon was empty, he hurled it at Bob, who was nearest to him.
+
+Bob dodged, and the next instant grabbed at Cassey's legs. The
+expertness that had made him the star of his football team stood him in
+good stead. His arms closed round Cassey in a flying tackle, and they
+came heavily to the bridge together.
+
+Cassey struggled desperately to rise, but Bob held him in an unbreakable
+grip, and a second later his comrades had come to his assistance and the
+scoundrel was overpowered and delivered over to the police, who came
+rushing up.
+
+The robbers were securely bound and bundled into the auto truck that
+they had planned to rob. Then in high spirits the party drove back to
+Barberton. The chief was jubilant, and the praises he heaped upon the
+radio boys made their ears burn. They stayed long enough at his office
+to see the prisoners safely jailed and then, though the hour was late,
+rode back to their quarters in the woods with Mr. Brandon.
+
+They slept long and late after their exciting experience, and it was
+almost noon the next day when they awoke. Bob was somewhat surprised to
+find a letter waiting for him. It bore no stamp, and had evidently been
+brought there by one of the lumbermen.
+
+He opened it curiously and glanced at the signature. Then he gave a
+shout that brought his comrades quickly to his side.
+
+"What do you think of this, fellows?" he cried. "Buck Looker's writing
+to me."
+
+There was a chorus of wondering exclamations.
+
+The last paragraph caught Bob's eye and he read it aloud:
+
+"As for Bob Layton and those other chumps, all we've got to do is to
+stand pat. No one saw us put the stones in the snowballs, and if we just
+deny it, they can't pin anything on us. They'll have to pay for the
+window, and that'll even up things for what they did to us at Mountain
+Pass.
+
+                                                                "Yours,
+
+                                                                "Buck."
+
+Bob was utterly dumbfounded. Then he glanced at the heading of the
+letter and let out a whoop.
+
+"Oh, this is too rich!" he cried, almost choking with laughter. "This
+letter is directed to Carl Lutz. You know he went home two or three days
+ago. Buck has written two letters, one to Lutz and the other to
+me--probably a roast--and he's put them in the wrong envelopes. Oh, how
+he's given himself away!"
+
+Bob's comrades were fairly convulsed, and Jimmy grew so purple in the
+face that they had to slap him vigorously on the back. They had scarcely
+got him into a calmer frame, before he threatened to go off again, for
+he saw Buck Looker strolling along the road.
+
+"Probably's come along to see how you were bearing up under the roast,"
+chuckled Joe.
+
+Bob ran over toward Buck, followed by his comrades. Buck looked alarmed
+and put himself in a posture of defense.
+
+"Oh, we're not going to hurt you," said Bob. "I only wanted to tell you
+that I got your letter."
+
+"I hope it blistered your hide," growled Buck.
+
+"It made me nearly laugh myself to death," replied Bob. "But let me
+advise you, Buck, to make sure the next time that you get the right
+letter in the right envelope."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Buck, in apprehension.
+
+"Only that I got the letter you meant for Carl Lutz," replied Bob.
+"Maybe you've forgotten what you said, so I'll read the last paragraph,"
+and, dwelling on every word, he read it over deliberately.
+
+Before he had quite finished, Buck made a desperate grab at the letter,
+but Bob was too quick for him.
+
+"No, you don't!" he exclaimed, as he folded it and put it carefully into
+his pocket. "That letter's going to cost you about two hundred dollars,
+for that's what it will cost to pony up for the broken window. We've got
+you dead to rights, and you'd better pay up and pay up quick. So long,
+Buck. And do be more careful next time to get the right letter in the
+right envelope."
+
+With all his bluster knocked out of him, Buck slunk away. The boys were
+not surprised to learn in the next letter from home that the insurance
+company had been paid.
+
+"Some excitement we have had here," remarked Bob. "Wonder if we'll ever
+have such strenuous times again."
+
+"Sure," declared Joe promptly, and he was right, as we shall see in the
+next volume of this series, to be called, "The Radio Boys with the
+Forest Rangers." In that volume we shall see how they fought a fire that
+came close to ending tragically.
+
+After a good dinner, the boys lay sprawled out on the grass basking in
+the spring sunshine and utterly at peace with themselves and the world.
+
+"Well, it's been hard work, but we've had pretty good luck at trailing a
+voice," observed Bob.
+
+"Yes," agreed Joe with a grin, "and s-s-s-such a v-v-v-voice!"
+
+And Jimmy whistled.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+THE RADIO BOYS SERIES
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+By ALLEN CHAPMAN
+Author of the "Railroad Series," Etc.
+
+Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers For Each Story.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+A new series for boys giving full details of radio work, both in sending
+and receiving--telling how small and large amateur sets can be made and
+operated, and how some boys got a lot of fun and adventure out of what
+they did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly fascinating,
+so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure all lads will peruse
+them with great delight.
+
+Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known radio expert of
+the New York Tribune.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS;
+Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT;
+Or, The Message That Saved the Ship.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION;
+Or, Making Good in the Wireless Room.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS;
+Or, The Midnight Call for Assistance.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE;
+Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS;
+Or, The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG PATROL;
+Or, Making Safe the Ocean Lanes.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE TOM SWIFT SERIES
+By VICTOR APPLETON
+
+Uniform Style of Binding.
+Individual Colored Wrappers For Each Story.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a bright,
+ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most interesting
+kind of reading.
+
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
+TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
+TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
+TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
+TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
+TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
+TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES
+By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN
+
+The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a
+small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are
+greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have
+motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go
+everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give
+full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals
+and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim,
+etc.
+Full of the spirit of outdoor life.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS
+Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE
+Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST
+Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF
+Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME
+Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT
+Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS
+Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT
+Or The Golden Cup Mystery.
+
+12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH SERIES
+By GRAHAM B. FORBES
+
+Never was there a cleaner, brighter, more manly boy than Frank Allen, the
+hero of this series of boys' tales, and never was there a better crowd of
+lads to associate with than the students of the School. All boys will read
+these stories with deep interest. The rivalry between the towns along the
+river was of the keenest, and plots and counterplots to win the champions,
+at baseball, at football, at boat racing, at track athletics, and at ice
+hockey, were without number. Any lad reading one volume of this series
+will surely want the others.
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH
+Or The All Around Rivals of the School
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE DIAMOND
+Or Winning Out by Pluck
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE RIVER
+Or The Boat Race Plot that Failed
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE GRIDIRON
+Or The Struggle for the Silver Cup
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE ICE
+Or Out for the Hockey Championship
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH IN TRACK ATHLETICS
+Or A Long Run that Won
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH IN WINTER SPORTS
+Or Stirring Doings on Skates and Iceboats
+
+12mo. Illustrated.
+Handsomely bound in cloth, with cover design and wrappers in colors.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS SERIES
+BY VICTOR APPLETON
+
+UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.
+
+Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this
+line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films are
+made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures to
+satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in the
+Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along the
+seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts,
+and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes.
+The volumes teem with adventures and will be found interesting from first
+chapter to last.
+
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE WAR FRONT
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON FRENCH BATTLEFIELDS
+MOVING PICTURE BOYS' FIRST SHOWHOUSE
+MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT SEASIDE PARK
+MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON BROADWAY
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS' OUTDOOR EXHIBITION
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS' NEW IDEA
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES
+BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
+(Edward Stratemeyer)
+
+OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES
+Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
+THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
+THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
+THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
+THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
+THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
+THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
+THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
+THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
+THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR
+THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
+THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
+THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
+THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
+THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE
+THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE PUTNAM HALL STORIES
+
+Companion Stories to the Famous Rover Boys Series
+
+By ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
+(Edward Stratemeyer)
+
+UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.
+
+Being the adventures of lively young fellows at a Military Academy. Open
+air sports have always been popular with boys and these stories that
+mingle adventure with fact will appeal to every manly boy.
+
+THE MYSTERY OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or The School Chums' Strange Discovery
+
+The particulars of the mystery and the solution of it are very interesting
+reading.
+
+CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
+  Or The Secret of the Old Mill
+
+A story full of vim and vigor, telling what the cadets did during the
+summer encampment, including a visit to a mysterious old mill, said to be
+haunted. The book has a wealth of fun in it.
+
+THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL
+  Or The Rival Runaways
+
+The boys had good reasons for running away during Captain Putnam's
+absence. They had plenty of fun and several queer adventures.
+
+THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or Bound to Win Out
+
+In this volume the Cadets of Putnam Hall show what they can do in various
+keen rivalries on the athletic field and elsewhere. There is one victory
+which leads to a most unlooked-for discovery.
+
+THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or Good Times in School and Out
+
+The cadets are lively, flesh-and-blood fellows, bound to make friends from
+the start. There are some keen rivalries, in school and out, and something
+is told of a remarkable midnight feast and a hazing with an unexpected
+ending.
+
+THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or Fun and Sport Afloat and Ashore
+
+It is a lively, rattling, breezy story of school life in this country,
+written by one who knows all about its pleasures and its perplexities, its
+glorious excitements, and its chilling disappointments.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE RAILROAD SERIES
+By ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+Author of the Radio Boys, Etc.
+
+Illustrated. Handsomely Bound in Cloth.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+In this line of books there is revealed the whole workings of a great
+American railroad system. There are adventures in abundance--railroad
+wrecks, dashes through forest fires, the pursuit of a "wildcat"
+locomotive, the disappearance of a pay car with a large sum of money on
+board--but there is much more than this--the intense rivalry among
+railroads and railroad men, the working out of running schedules, the
+getting through "on time" in spite of all obstacles, and the manipulation
+of railroad securities by evil men who wish to rule or ruin.
+
+RALPH OF THE ROUND HOUSE;
+  Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man.
+
+RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER;
+  Or, Clearing the Track.
+
+RALPH ON THE ENGINE;
+  Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail.
+
+RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS;
+  Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer.
+
+RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER;
+  Or, The Mystery of the Pay Car.
+
+RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN;
+  Or, The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit.
+
+RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER;
+  Or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley.
+
+RALPH AND THE MISSING MAIL POUCH;
+  Or, The Stolen Government Bonds.
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 25858-8.txt or 25858-8.zip *******
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice, by Allen
+Chapman</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice</p>
+<p>       or, Solving a Wireless Mystery</p>
+<p>Author: Allen Chapman</p>
+<p>Release Date: June 20, 2008  [eBook #25858]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="pg" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>A VOICE</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='text-align:center;'>
+THE MAN WAS EVIDENTLY RECEIVING A MESSAGE.<br />
+<i>The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice. Page</i> 153
+<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-top:1em;'><i>THE RADIO BOYS SERIES</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:3em;'>(Trademark Registered)</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em;'>THE RADIO BOYS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-bottom:.5em;'>TRAILING A VOICE</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8; margin-bottom:1em;'>OR</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em; margin-bottom:2em;'>SOLVING A WIRELESS MYSTERY</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em;'>BY</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-bottom:2em;'>ALLEN CHAPMAN</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>AUTHOR OF</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>THE RADIO BOYS&#8217; FIRST WIRELESS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:3em;'>RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN, ETC.</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>WITH FOREWORD BY</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-bottom:2em;'>JACK BINNS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em;'><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>NEW YORK</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em;'>GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:0.5em;'>PUBLISHERS</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>Made in the United States of America</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<table summary='books for boys' style='margin:auto; border: 1px solid black; padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;'>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center; font-size:1em;'>BOOKS FOR BOYS</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-variant:small-caps;'>By Allen Chapman</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'><hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:30%' /></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'><hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:30%' /></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center; font-weight:bold;'>THE RADIO BOYS SERIES</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center; font-size:0.8em;'>(Trademark Registered)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>THE RADIO BOYS&#8217; FIRST WIRELESS<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or Winning the Ferberton Prize</td></tr>
+<tr><td>THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or The Message that Saved the Ship</td></tr>
+<tr><td>THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or Making Good in the Wireless Room</td></tr>
+<tr><td>THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or The Midnight Call for Assistance</td></tr>
+<tr><td>THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or Solving a Wireless Mystery</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'><hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:30%' /></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'><b>THE RAILROAD SERIES</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td>RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or Bound to Become a Railroad Man</td></tr>
+<tr><td>RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or Clearing the Track</td></tr>
+<tr><td>RALPH ON THE ENGINE<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail</td></tr>
+<tr><td>RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer</td></tr>
+<tr><td>RALPH THE TRAIN DESPATCHER<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or The Mystery of the Pay Car</td></tr>
+<tr><td>RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or The Young Railroader&#8217;s Most Daring Exploit</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'><hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:30%' /></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan='2' style='text-align:center'>GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP, Publishers, New York</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p style='font-size:0.8em;text-align:center'>COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY<br />
+GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP</p>
+<hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:30%' />
+<p style='font-size:0.8em;text-align:center'>The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice</p>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em;'>FOREWORD</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>BY JACK BINNS</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Within a comparatively short time after this
+volume is published the human voice will be
+thrown across the Atlantic Ocean under conditions
+that will lead immediately to the establishment
+of permanent telephone communication with
+Europe by means of radio.
+</p>
+<p>Under the circumstances therefore the various
+uses of radio which are so aptly outlined in it
+will give the reader an idea of the tremendous
+strides that have been made in the art of communicating
+without wires during the past few
+months.
+</p>
+<p>Of these one of the most important, which by
+the way is dealt with to a large extent in the
+present volume, is that of running down crooks.
+It must not be forgotten that criminals, and those
+criminally intent are not slow to utilize the latest
+developments of the genius of man, and radio
+is useful to them also. However, the forces of
+law and order inevitably prevail, and radio therefore
+is going to be increasingly useful in our
+general police work.
+</p>
+<p>Another important use, as outlined in this
+volume, is in the detection of forest fires, and in
+fact generally protecting forest areas in conjunction
+with aircraft. With these two means hundreds
+of thousands of acres can now be patrolled
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+in a single day more efficiently than a few acres
+were previously covered.
+</p>
+<p>Radio is an ideal boy&#8217;s hobby, but it is not
+limited to youth. Nevertheless it offers a wonderful
+scope for the unquenchable enthusiasm
+that always accompanies the application of youthful
+endeavor, and it is a fact that the majority
+of the wonderful inventions and improvements
+that have been made in radio have been produced
+by young men.
+</p>
+<p>Since this book was written there has been
+produced in this country the most powerful
+vacuum tube in the world. In size it is small,
+but in output it is capable of producing 100 kilowatts
+of electrical power. Three such tubes will
+cast the human voice across the Atlantic Ocean
+under any conditions, and transmit across the
+same vast space the world&#8217;s grandest music.
+Ten of these tubes joined in parallel at any
+of the giant transmitting wireless telegraph stations
+would send telegraph code messages practically
+around the world.
+</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-sig.png' alt='' title='' /><br />
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>CONTENTS</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='400' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Splintering Glass</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#I_SPLINTERING_GLASS'>9</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>In a Dilemma</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#II_IN_A_DILEMMA'>20</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Stuttering Voice</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#III_THE_STUTTERING_VOICE'>31</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Puzzling Mystery</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IV_A_PUZZLING_MYSTERY'>43</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Marvels of Wireless</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#V_MARVELS_OF_WIRELESS'>51</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Forest Ranger</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VI_THE_FOREST_RANGER'>61</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Radio and the Fire Fiend</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VII_RADIO_AND_THE_FIRE_FIEND'>70</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Near Disaster</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VIII_NEAR_DISASTER'>77</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Happy Inspiration</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IX_A_HAPPY_INSPIRATION'>83</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>X.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Escaped Convict</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#X_THE_ESCAPED_CONVICT'>91</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Down the Trap Door</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XI_DOWN_THE_TRAP_DOOR'>99</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Groping in Darkness</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XII_GROPING_IN_DARKNESS'>106</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Cunning Scoundrels</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIII_CUNNING_SCOUNDRELS'>112</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Daring Holdup</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIV_A_DARING_HOLDUP'>119</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Off to the Woods</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XV_OFF_TO_THE_WOODS'>127</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Put to the Test</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVI_PUT_TO_THE_TEST'>136</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Bully Gets a Ducking</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVII_THE_BULLY_GETS_A_DUCKING'>143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Startling Discovery</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVIII_A_STARTLING_DISCOVERY'>151</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Robbers&#8217; Code</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIX_THE_ROBBERS__CODE'>160</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>On the Trail</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XX_ON_THE_TRAIL'>168</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Glimpse Through the Window</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXI_THE_GLIMPSE_THROUGH_THE_WINDOW'>177</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Nefarious Plot</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXII_A_NEFARIOUS_PLOT'>185</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Preparing an Ambush</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIII_PREPARING_AN_AMBUSH'>193</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lying in Wait</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIV_LYING_IN_WAIT'>202</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>XXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>An Exciting Struggle</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXV_AN_EXCITING_STRUGGLE'>208</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>A VOICE</p>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='I_SPLINTERING_GLASS' id='I_SPLINTERING_GLASS'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>SPLINTERING GLASS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;You fellows want to be sure to come round to
+my house to-night and listen in on the radio concert,&#8221;
+said Bob Layton to a group of his chums,
+as they were walking along the main street of
+Clintonia one day in the early spring.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll be there with bells on,&#8221; replied Joe Atwood,
+as he kicked a piece of ice from his path.
+&#8220;Trust me not to overlook anything when it
+comes to radio. I&#8217;m getting to be more and
+more of a fan with every day that passes.
+Mother insists that I talk of it in my sleep, but I
+guess she&#8217;s only fooling.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Count on yours truly too,&#8221; chimed in Herb
+Fennington. &#8220;I got stirred up about radio a
+little later than the rest of you fellows, but now
+I&#8217;m making up for lost time. Slow but sure is
+my motto.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Slow is right,&#8221; chaffed Jimmy Plummer.
+&#8220;But what on earth are you sure of?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; replied Herb, as he deftly slipped
+a bit of ice down Jimmy&#8217;s back, &#8220;that in a minute
+you&#8217;ll be dancing about like a howling dervish.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His prophecy was correct, for Jimmy both
+howled and danced as he tried vainly to extricate
+the icy fragment that was sliding down his spine.
+His contortions were so ludicrous that the boys
+broke into roars of laughter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Great joke, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; snorted Jimmy, as he
+bent nearly double. &#8220;If you had a heart you&#8217;d
+lend a hand and get this out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s stand him on his head,&#8221; suggested Joe.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s the only thing I can think of. Then it&#8217;ll
+slide out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Hands were outstretched in ready compliance,
+but Jimmy concluded that the remedy was worse
+than the presence of the ice and managed to keep
+out of reach.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, Jimmy,&#8221; said Bob consolingly.
+&#8220;It&#8217;ll melt pretty soon, anyhow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and it&#8217;ll be a good thing for Jimmy to
+grin and bear it,&#8221; added Herb brightly. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+things like that that develop one&#8217;s character.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It&#8217;s easy enough to be pleasant, when life
+moves along like a song, but the man that&#8217;s worth
+while, is the man who can smile when everything&#8217;s
+going dead wrong,&#8217;&#8221; quoted Joe.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy, not at all comforted by these noble
+maxims, glared at his tormentors, and at last
+Bob came to his relief, and, putting his hand inside
+his collar, reached down his back and brought
+up the piece of ice, now greatly reduced in size.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s have it,&#8221; demanded Jimmy, as Bob was
+about to throw it away.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want it for?&#8221; asked Bob. &#8220;I
+should think you&#8217;d seen enough of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the same principle that a man likes to look
+at his aching tooth after the dentist has pulled it
+out,&#8221; grinned Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t give it to him!&#8221; exclaimed Herb, edging
+away out of reach, justly fearing that he
+might feel the vengeance of the outraged Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You gave it to him first, so it&#8217;s his,&#8221; decided
+Bob, with the wisdom of a Solomon, as he handed
+it over to the victim.
+</p>
+<p>Jimmy took it and started for Herb, but just
+then Mr. Preston, the principal of the high school,
+came along and Jimmy felt compelled to defer
+his revenge.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How are you, boys?&#8221; said Mr. Preston, with
+a smile. &#8220;You seem to be having a good time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy is,&#8221; returned Herb, and Jimmy covertly
+shook his fist at him. &#8220;We&#8217;re making the
+most of the snow and ice while it lasts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t think it will last much longer,&#8221;
+surmised Mr. Preston, as he walked along with
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+them. &#8220;As a matter of fact, winter is &#8216;lingering
+in the lap of spring&#8217; a good deal longer than usual
+this year.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you had a pleasant time in Washington?&#8221;
+remarked Joe inquiringly, referring to
+a trip from which the principal had returned only
+a few days before.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did, indeed,&#8221; was the reply. &#8220;To my mind
+it&#8217;s the most interesting city in the country. I&#8217;ve
+been there a number of times, and yet I always
+leave there with regret. There&#8217;s the Capitol, the
+noblest building on this continent and to my mind
+the finest in the world. Then there&#8217;s the Congressional
+Library, only second to it in beauty,
+and the Washington Monument soaring into the
+air to a height of five hundred and fifty-five feet,
+and the superb Lincoln Memorial, and a host of
+other things scarcely less wonderful.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the pleasantest recollection I have of the
+trip,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;was the speech I heard the
+President make just before I came away. It was
+simply magnificent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It sure was,&#8221; replied Bob enthusiastically.
+&#8220;Every word of it was worth remembering. He
+certainly knows how to put things.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you read it in the newspaper the
+next day,&#8221; said Mr. Preston, glancing at him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better than that,&#8221; responded Bob, with a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span>
+smile. &#8220;We all heard it over the radio while he
+was making it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed!&#8221; replied the principal. &#8220;Then you
+boys heard it even before I did.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; asked Joe, in some bewilderment.
+&#8220;I understood that you were in the
+crowd that listened to him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So I was,&#8221; Mr. Preston answered, in evident
+enjoyment of their mystification. &#8220;I sat right
+before him while he was speaking, not more than
+a hundred feet away, saw the motion of his lips
+as the words fell from them and noted the changing
+expression of his features. And yet I say
+again that you boys heard him before I did.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t quite see,&#8221; said Herb, in great perplexity.
+&#8220;You were only a hundred feet away and
+we were hundreds of miles away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And if you had been thousands of miles away,
+what I said would still be true,&#8221; affirmed Mr.
+Preston. &#8220;No doubt there were farmers out on
+the Western plains who heard him before I did.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see it&#8217;s like this,&#8221; the schoolmaster went
+on to explain. &#8220;Sound travels through the air
+to a distance of a little over a hundred feet in the
+tenth part of a second. But in that same tenth
+of a second that it took the President&#8217;s voice to
+reach me in the open air radio could have carried
+it eighteen thousand six hundred miles.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Whew!&#8221; exclaimed Jimmy. &#8220;Eighteen thousand
+six hundred miles! Not feet, fellows, but
+miles!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; said Bob thoughtfully.
+&#8220;Though I never thought of it in just that way
+before. But it&#8217;s a fact that radio travels at the
+rate of one hundred and eighty-six thousand
+miles a second.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Equal to about seven and a half times around
+the earth,&#8221; observed the principal, smiling. &#8220;In
+other words, the people who were actually sitting
+in the presence of the President were the very
+last to hear what he said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Put it in still another way. Suppose the President
+were speaking through a megaphone in addition
+to the radio and by the use of the megaphone
+the voice was carried to people in the audience
+a third of a mile away. By the time those
+persons heard it, the man in the moon could have
+heard it too&mdash;that is,&#8221; he added, with a laugh,
+&#8220;supposing there really were a man in the moon
+and that he had a radio receiving set.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It surely sounds like fairyland,&#8221; murmured
+Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Radio is the fairyland of science,&#8221; replied Mr.
+Preston, with enthusiasm, &#8220;in the sense that it is
+full of wonder and romance. But there the similarity
+ceases. Fairyland is a creation of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+fancy or the imagination. Radio is based upon
+the solid rock of scientific truth. Its principles
+are as certain as those of mathematics. Its problems
+can be demonstrated as exactly as that two
+and two make four. But it&#8217;s full of what seem
+to be miracles until they are shown to be facts.
+And there&#8217;s scarcely a day that passes without a
+new one of these &#8216;miracles&#8217; coming to light.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He had reached his corner by this time, and
+with a pleasant wave of his hand he left them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He sure is a thirty-third degree radio fan,&#8221;
+mused Joe, as they watched his retreating figure.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just as most all bright men are becoming,&#8221;
+declared Bob. &#8220;The time is coming when a man
+who doesn&#8217;t know about radio or isn&#8217;t interested
+in it will be looked on as a man without intelligence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here!&#8221; exclaimed Jimmy suddenly.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s become of my piece of ice?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He opened his hand, which was red and wet
+and dripping.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s one on you, Jimmy, old boy,&#8221; chuckled
+Joe. &#8220;It melted away while you were listening
+to the prof.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an ill wind that blows nobody good,&#8221; said
+Herb complacently. &#8220;Jimmy meant to put that
+down my back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, there are plenty of other pieces,&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+Jimmy, as he picked one up and started for Herb.
+</p>
+<p>Herb started to run, but slipped and fell on the
+icy sidewalk.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know what the Good Book says,&#8221; chaffed
+Joe. &#8220;The wicked stand on slippery places.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I see they do,&#8221; replied Herb, as quick
+as a flash, looking up at him. &#8220;But I can&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The laugh was on Joe, and Herb felt so good
+over the retort that he did not mind the fall,
+though it had jarred him considerably. He
+scrambled to his feet and brushed off his clothes,
+while Jimmy, feeling that his comrade had been
+punished enough, magnanimously threw away the
+piece of ice that was to have been the instrument
+of his vengeance.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The reason why I wanted you fellows to be
+sure to be on hand to-night,&#8221; resumed Bob, as
+they walked along, &#8220;was that I saw in the program
+of the Newark station in the newspaper this
+morning that Larry Bartlett was down for an
+entirely new stunt. You know what a hit he
+made with his imitations of birds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He sure did,&#8221; agreed Joe. &#8220;To my mind he
+had it all over the birds themselves. I never got
+tired listening to him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He certainly was a dabster at it,&#8221; chimed in
+Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now he&#8217;s going in to imitate animals,&#8221; explained
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+Bob. &#8220;I understand that he&#8217;s been haunting
+the Zoo for weeks in every minute of his
+spare time studying the bears and lions and tigers
+and elephants and snakes, and getting their roars
+and growls and trumpeting and hisses down to
+a fine point. I bet he&#8217;ll be a riot when he gives
+them to us over the radio.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He sure will,&#8221; assented Herb. &#8220;He&#8217;s got the
+natural gift in the first place, and then he practices
+and practices until he&#8217;s got everything down to
+perfection.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a natural entertainer,&#8221; affirmed Bob.
+&#8220;I tell you, fellows, we never did a better day&#8217;s
+work than when we got Larry that job at the
+sending station. Not only was it a good thing
+for Larry himself when he was down and out,
+but think of the pleasure he&#8217;s been able to give
+to hundreds of thousands of people. I&#8217;ll bet
+there&#8217;s no feature on the program that is waited
+for more eagerly than his.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>By this time the boys had reached the business
+portion of the town and the short spring day
+was drawing to a close. Already lights were
+beginning to twinkle in the stores that lined both
+sides of the street.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Getting near supper time,&#8221; remarked Bob.
+&#8220;Guess we&#8217;d better be getting along home. Don&#8217;t
+forget to come&mdash;Gee whiz!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></p>
+<p>The ejaculation was wrung from him by a
+snowball that hit him squarely in the breast, staggering
+him for a moment.
+</p>
+<p>Bang! and another snowball found a target
+in Joe. It struck his shoulder and spattered all
+over his face and neck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That felt as though it came from a gun!&#8221; he
+exclaimed. &#8220;It&#8217;s the hardest slam I ever got.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who did it?&#8221; demanded Bob, peering about
+him in the gathering darkness.
+</p>
+<p>Halfway up the block they saw a group of dark
+figures darting into an alleyway.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Buck Looker and his crowd!&#8221; cried
+Jimmy. &#8220;I saw them when they ran under that
+arc light.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just like that crowd to take us unawares,&#8221;
+said Bob. &#8220;But if they&#8217;re looking for a tussle
+we can accommodate them. Get busy, fellows,
+and let them have something in return for these
+two sockdolagers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They hastily gathered up several snowballs
+apiece, which were easily made because the snow
+was soft and packed readily, and ran toward the
+alleyway just in time to see Buck and his crowd
+emerging from their hiding place.
+</p>
+<p>There was a spirited battle for a few minutes,
+each side making and receiving some smashing
+hits. Buck&#8217;s gang had the advantage in that
+they had a large number of missiles already prepared,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+and even in the excitement of the fight the
+radio boys noticed how unusually hard they were.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Must have been soaking them in water until
+they froze,&#8221; grunted Jimmy, as one of them
+caught him close to the neck and made him
+wince.
+</p>
+<p>As soon as their extra ammunition was exhausted
+and the contending forces in this respect
+were placed more on a footing of equality, Buck
+and his cronies began to give ground before the
+better aim and greater determination of Bob and
+his comrades.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give it to them, fellows!&#8221; shouted Bob, as
+the retreat of their opponents was rapidly becoming
+a rout.
+</p>
+<p>At the moment he called out, the progress of
+the fight had brought the radio boys directly in
+front of the windows of one of the largest drygoods
+stores in the town.
+</p>
+<p>In the light that came from the windows Bob
+saw a snowball coming directly for his head. He
+dodged, and&mdash;&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>Crash! There was the sound of splintering
+glass, and the snowy missile whizzed through the
+plate glass window!
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='II_IN_A_DILEMMA' id='II_IN_A_DILEMMA'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>IN A DILEMMA</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There was a moment of stupor and paralysis
+as the meaning of the crash dawned upon the
+radio boys.
+</p>
+<p>Buck and his crowd had vanished and were
+footing it up the fast-darkening street at the top
+of their speed.
+</p>
+<p>The first impulse of the radio boys was to follow
+their example. They knew that none of them
+was responsible for the disaster, and they were
+of no mind to be sacrificed on behalf of the gang
+that had attacked them. And they knew that
+in affairs of that kind the ones on the ground
+were apt to suffer the more severely.
+</p>
+<p>They actually started to run away, but had
+got only a few feet from the scene of the smash
+when Bob, who had been thinking quickly, called
+a halt.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;None of this stuff for us, fellows,&#8221; he declared.
+&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to face the music. I&#8217;m not
+going to have a hunted feeling, even if we succeeded
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
+in getting away. We know we didn&#8217;t do
+it and we&#8217;ll tell the plain truth. If that doesn&#8217;t
+serve, why so much the worse for us. But at
+any rate we won&#8217;t be despising ourselves as
+cowards.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As usual, his comrades accorded him the leadership
+and fell in with his plan, although it was
+not without many misgivings that they awaited
+the coming of the angry proprietor of the place,
+who had already started in pursuit of them, accompanied
+by many others who had been attracted
+by the crash and whose numbers were
+being rapidly augmented.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here are the fellows that smashed my window!&#8221;
+cried Mr. Larsen, the proprietor of the
+drygoods store, rushing up to them and shaking
+his fist in their faces. &#8220;Where are the police?&#8221;
+he shouted, looking around him. &#8220;I&#8217;ll have them
+arrested for malicious damage.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And while he faced them, gesticulating wildly,
+his face purple with anger and excitement, it may
+be well for the benefit of those who have not
+read the preceding volumes of this series to tell
+briefly who the radio boys are and what had been
+their adventures before the time this story opens.
+</p>
+<p>The acknowledged leader of the boys was Bob
+Layton, son of a prosperous chemist of Clintonia,
+in which town Bob had been born and brought
+up. Mr. Layton was a respected citizen of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+town and foremost in its civic activities. Clintonia
+was a thriving little city of about ten thousand
+population, situated on the Shagary River,
+about seventy-five miles from the city of New
+York.
+</p>
+<p>Bob at the beginning of this story was about
+sixteen years old, tall and stalwart and a clean-cut
+specimen of upstanding American youth. He
+was of rather dark complexion and had a pair
+of eyes that looked straight at one. Those eyes
+were usually merry, but could flash with indignation
+when circumstances required it. He was
+never on the lookout for trouble, but was always
+ready to meet it half way, and his courageous
+character together with his vigorous physique had
+made him prominent in the sports of the boys
+of his own age. He was a crack baseball player
+and one of the chief factors of the high school
+football eleven. No one in Clintonia was held in
+better liking.
+</p>
+<p>Bob&#8217;s special chum was Joe Atwood, son of
+the leading physician of the town. Joe was fair
+in complexion and sturdy in makeup. He and
+Bob had been for many years almost inseparable
+companions, Bob usually acting as captain in anything
+in which they might be engaged, while Joe
+served as first mate. The latter had a hot temper,
+and his impulsiveness sometimes got him into
+trouble and would have involved him in scrapes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+oftener if it had not been for the cooler head and
+steadying influence of Bob.
+</p>
+<p>Two other friends of the boys who were almost
+always in their company were Herb Fennington,
+whose father kept a large general store
+in the town, and Jimmy Plummer, son of a respected
+carpenter and contractor. Herb was of
+a rather indolent disposition, but was jolly and
+good-natured and always full of jokes, some of
+them good, others poor, which he frequently
+sought to spring on his companions.
+</p>
+<p>Jimmy was a trifle younger than his mates,
+fat and round and excessively fond of the good
+things of life. His liking for that special dainty
+had gained him the nickname of &#8220;Doughnuts,&#8221;
+and few of such nicknames were ever more fittingly
+bestowed.
+</p>
+<p>Apart from the liking that drew them together,
+the boys had another link in their common interest
+in radio. From the time that this wonderful
+new science had begun to spread over the country
+with such amazing rapidity, they had been among
+the most ardent &#8220;fans.&#8221; Everything that they
+could read or learn on the subject was devoured
+with avidity, and they were almost constantly at
+the home of one or the other, listening in on their
+radio sets and, lately, sending messages, in the
+latter of which they had now attained an unusual
+degree of proficiency.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></p>
+<p>In decided contrast to Bob and his friends was
+another group of Clintonia youth, between whom
+and the radio boys there was a pronounced antipathy.
+The leader of this group was Buck Looker,
+a big overgrown, hulking boy, dull in his studies
+and a bully in character. His two special cronies
+were Carl Lutz, a boy of about his own age, and
+Terry Mooney, both of them noted for their
+mean and sneaking dispositions. Buck lorded it
+over them, and as his father was one of the richest
+men in the town they cringed before him and
+were always ready to back him up in any piece
+of meanness and mischief.
+</p>
+<p>The enthusiasm of Bob and his friends for
+radio was fostered by the help and advice of the
+Reverend Doctor Dale, the clergyman in charge
+of the Old First Church of Clintonia, who, in
+addition to being an eloquent preacher, was keenly
+interested in all latter-day developments of science,
+especially radio. Whenever the boys got
+into trouble with their sets they knew that all
+they had to do was to go to the genial doctor
+and be helped out of their perplexities.
+</p>
+<p>An incident that gave a great impetus to their
+interest in the subject was the offering of prizes
+by Mr. Ferberton, the member of Congress for
+their district, for the best radio sets turned out by
+the boys of his congressional district by their
+own endeavors. Bob, Joe, and Jimmy entered
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+into this competition with great zest. Herb with
+his habitual indolence kept out of it.
+</p>
+<p>While the boys were engrossed with their radio
+experiments an incident happened in town that
+led them into many unexpected adventures. An
+automobile run by a visitor in town, a Miss Nellie
+Berwick, got out of her control and dashed
+through the window of a store. Bob and Joe,
+who happened to be at hand, rescued the girl from
+imminent peril, while Herb and Jimmy did good
+work in curbing the fire that followed the accident.
+</p>
+<p>How the boys learned of the orphan girl&#8217;s
+story, got on the track of the rascal who had tried
+to swindle her and forced him to make restitution;
+what part the radio played in bringing the
+fellow to terms; how they detected and thwarted
+the plans of Buck Looker and his cronies to
+wreck their sets; are told in the first volume of
+this series entitled: &#8220;The Radio Boys&#8217; First
+Wireless; Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>That summer the chums went to Ocean Point
+on the seashore, where many of the Clintonia
+folks had established a little bungalow colony of
+their own. What adventures they met with
+there; what strides they made in the practical
+work of radio; how they were enabled by their
+knowledge and quick application of it to save
+a storm-tossed ship on which members of their
+own families were voyaging; how they ran down
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+and captured the scoundrel Cassey who had
+knocked out with a blackjack the operator at the
+sending station and looted his safe&mdash;these and
+many more incidents are narrated in the second
+volume of this series entitled: &#8220;The Radio Boys
+at Ocean Point; Or, The Message That Saved
+the Ship.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>While the summer season was yet at its height,
+the boys had occasion to rescue the occupants of
+a rowboat that had been run down by men in a
+stolen motor boat. The two rescued youths
+proved to be vaudeville actors, and the boys grew
+very friendly with them. The injury that crippled
+one of them, Larry Bartlett; the false accusation
+brought against him by Buck Looker; the
+way in which the boys succeeded in getting work
+for Larry at the sending station, where his remarkable
+gift of mimicry received recognition;
+how they themselves were placed on the broadcasting
+program, and the clever way in which
+they trapped the motor-boat thieves; are told in
+the third volume of the series, entitled: &#8220;The
+Radio Boys at the Sending Station; Or, Making
+Good in the Wireless Room.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The coming of fall brought the boys back to
+Clintonia, where, however, the usual course of
+their studies was interrupted by an epidemic that
+made necessary for a time the closing of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+schools. This gave the radio boys an opportunity
+to make a trip to Mountain Pass, a popular
+resort in the hills. Here they came in contact
+with a group of plotters who were trying to put
+through a nefarious deal and were able to thwart
+the rascals through the use of radio. By that
+same beneficent science too they were able to save
+a life when other means of communication were
+blocked. And not the least satisfactory feature
+was the utter discomfiture they were able to visit
+upon Buck Looker and his gang. These and
+many other adventures are told in the fourth
+volume of the series, entitled: &#8220;The Radio Boys
+at Mountain Pass; Or, The Midnight Call for
+Assistance.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And now to return to the radio boys as they
+stood facing the angry storekeeper amid a constantly
+growing throng of curious onlookers.
+They had been in many tighter fixes in their
+life but none that was more embarrassing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have them arrested!&#8221; the storekeeper repeated,
+his voice rising to a shrill treble.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now look here,&#8221; replied Bob. &#8220;Suppose you
+cut out this talk of having us arrested. In the
+first place, we didn&#8217;t break your window. In the
+second place, if we had it wouldn&#8217;t be a matter
+of arrest but of making good the damage.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right then,&#8221; said Mr. Larsen eagerly,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+catching at the last word. &#8220;Make good the damage.
+It will cost at least two hundred dollars to
+replace that window.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you&#8217;re a little high,&#8221; returned Bob.
+&#8220;But that doesn&#8217;t matter. I didn&#8217;t say that we&#8217;d
+make the damage good. I said that if we&#8217;d
+broken it, it would be a matter of making good.
+But we didn&#8217;t break it, and that lets us out I&#8217;ll
+say.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s easy to say that,&#8221; sneered the merchant.
+&#8220;How do I know that you didn&#8217;t break it? It
+would of course be natural for you to try to lie
+out of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wouldn&#8217;t be natural for us to lie out of
+it,&#8221; replied Bob, controlling his temper with difficulty.
+&#8220;That isn&#8217;t our way of doing things.
+Why do you suppose we stayed here when it
+would have been perfectly easy for us to get
+away? It wasn&#8217;t a snowball we threw that broke
+your window. It was one thrown by the fellows
+we were fighting with.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Always the other fellow that does it!&#8221; replied
+the storekeeper angrily. &#8220;Who was that other
+fellow or fellows then? Tell me that. Come on
+now, tell me that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob kept silent. He had no love for Buck
+Looker and his gang, who had always tried to injure
+him, but he was not going to inform.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;See,&#8221; said Mr. Larsen, misunderstanding his
+silence. &#8220;When I ask you, you can&#8217;t tell me.
+You&#8217;re the fellows that did it, all right, and you&#8217;ll
+pay me for it or I&#8217;ll have you put in jail, that&#8217;s
+what I&#8217;ll do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I saw the fellows who were firing snowballs
+in this direction,&#8221; spoke up Mr. Talley, a caterer,
+pushing his way through the throng. &#8220;I nearly
+bumped into them as they were running away.
+Buck Looker was one of them. I saw his face
+plainly and can&#8217;t be mistaken. The others I&#8217;m
+not so sure of, but I think they were Carl Lutz
+and Terry Mooney.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For my part, Mr. Larsen,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t see how a snowball could break that heavy
+plate-glass window, anyway. My windows are
+no heavier, and they&#8217;ve often had snowballs come
+against them without doing any harm. Are you
+sure it wasn&#8217;t something else that smashed the
+glass?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dead sure,&#8221; replied Larsen. &#8220;Come inside
+and see for yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He led the way into his store, and Mr. Talley,
+the boys, and a number of others crowded in
+after him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look,&#8221; said Larsen, pointing to a piece of
+dress goods that had been hanging in the window.
+&#8220;See where the snow has splashed against it?
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+There&#8217;s no question that a snowball did it. You
+can see the bits of snow around here yet if you&#8217;ll
+only look.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was true and the evidence seemed conclusive.
+But just then Bob&#8217;s keen eyes detected
+something else. He stooped down and brought
+up quite a large sharp-edged stone which still had
+some fragments of snow adhering to it and held
+it up for all to see.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s the answer,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This stone
+was packed in the snowball, and that is why it
+smashed the window!&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='III_THE_STUTTERING_VOICE' id='III_THE_STUTTERING_VOICE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>THE STUTTERING VOICE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>There was a stir of interest and exclamations
+of surprise as those in the store crowded closer
+to get a better view.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That explains it,&#8221; said Mr. Talley, as he examined
+the missile. &#8220;I was sure that no mere
+ball of snow could break that heavy window.
+To put such a stone in a snowball was little less
+than criminal,&#8221; he went on gravely. &#8220;If that had
+hit any one on the temple it would almost certainly
+have killed him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was coming straight for my head when I
+dodged,&#8221; said Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s another proof that it wasn&#8217;t any ball
+we threw that broke the window,&#8221; put in Joe.
+&#8220;Each one of us is willing to swear that there
+was no stone in any ball that we threw.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not only then but at any time,&#8221; put in Herb.
+&#8220;Only a mean coward would do a thing like that.
+None of us has done it any time in his life.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe that,&#8221; replied Mr. Talley. &#8220;I&#8217;ve
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+known all you boys ever since you were little kids
+and I know you wouldn&#8217;t be capable of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all very well,&#8221; said Mr. Larsen. &#8220;But
+that doesn&#8217;t pay for my window. Whether any
+of you boys threw the ball or not you can&#8217;t deny
+that you were engaged in a snowball fight right
+in front of my windows. If the fight hadn&#8217;t been
+going on the window wouldn&#8217;t have been
+smashed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a certain amount of justice in this,
+and the boys were fair enough to acknowledge it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you are right there, Mr. Larsen,&#8221;
+said Bob regretfully. &#8220;We ought to have kept
+out of range of the windows, but in the excitement
+we forgot all about that. Then, too, we
+never would have supposed that any ordinary
+snowball would have broken the window. Perhaps
+that was in the back of our minds, if we
+thought of it at all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is the window insured?&#8221; queried Mr. Talley.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is,&#8221; answered the storekeeper.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, that lets you out,&#8221; remarked Mr.
+Talley, with a note of relief in his voice. &#8220;That
+puts the matter up to the insurance company. If
+they want to take any legal steps they can; and
+of course they ought to be compensated by the
+parents of the boy who may be found guilty of
+having thrown the ball with a stone in it. For
+my part, I doubt very much that it can ever be
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+proved, unless the boy himself owns up to it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Think of Buck Looker ever owning up to
+anything!&#8221; muttered Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As for these boys,&#8221; continued Mr. Talley,
+&#8220;I am perfectly sure in my own mind that they are
+telling the truth. You&#8217;ll have to look for the
+culprit in the other crowd, and I&#8217;ve already told
+you who they are, or who one of them is, at
+least.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said the storekeeper, who by this time
+had cooled down considerably, &#8220;that, I suppose,
+will be something for the insurance company to
+settle. But by the terms of my contract with
+them I&#8217;ll have to help them all I can to find out
+the responsible party, and I&#8217;ll have to give them
+the names of all the boys concerned in the fight.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all right,&#8221; responded Bob. &#8220;You
+know our folks and you know that they&#8217;re good
+for any judgment that may be found against
+them. But I&#8217;m sure it will be somebody else that
+will have to pay the bill.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was nothing more to be done for the
+present, and the boys filed out of the store, after
+having expressed their thanks to Mr. Talley for
+the way he had championed their cause.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee!&#8221; murmured Joe, as they went up the
+street toward their homes, &#8220;I know how a fellow
+feels now after he&#8217;s been put through the third
+degree.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It was rather a hot session,&#8221; agreed Bob.
+&#8220;But I&#8217;m glad we had it out with him instead of
+running away. It&#8217;s always best to take the bull
+by the horns. And you can&#8217;t blame Mr. Larsen
+for feeling sore about it. Any one of us would
+probably have felt the same way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sure thing,&#8221; admitted Herb. &#8220;But think of
+that dirty trick of Buck Looker in putting stones
+in snowballs! It wasn&#8217;t only that one that went
+through the window. Every time I got hit it
+made me jump.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Same here,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;I was thinking
+all the time that they were the hardest snowballs
+I ever felt, but it never came into my mind that
+there were stones in them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Trust Buck to be up to every mean trick that
+any one ever thought of,&#8221; returned Bob. &#8220;He
+hasn&#8217;t got over the way we showed him up at
+Mountain Pass. He thought he had us dead
+to rights in the matter of that burned cottage, and
+it made him wild to see the way we came out on
+top. He and his gang would do anything to get
+even.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be interesting to see what he&#8217;ll say when
+this matter of the window is put up to him and
+his pals,&#8221; remarked Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a doubt in the world what he&#8217;ll say,&#8221; replied
+Joe. &#8220;He&#8217;ll swear till he&#8217;s blue in the face
+that he never dreamed of using a stone in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+snowballs. Do you remember how he told us
+that he&#8217;d lie in court to keep us from putting anything
+over on him? Any one that expects to get
+the truth out of Buck is barking up the wrong
+tree. I guess the insurance company would better
+kiss their money good-by.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid so,&#8221; returned Bob. &#8220;It was dark
+and there probably weren&#8217;t any witnesses who
+saw them put the stones in, and it is likely that the
+company will have to let the matter drop.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lads had reached Bob&#8217;s gate by this time,
+and they separated with a promise to come over
+and listen in on the radio later on.
+</p>
+<p>Bob told the whole story to his parents at the
+supper table that night, and his father and mother
+listened with great interest and some concern.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry you were mixed up in the thing at
+all, Bob,&#8221; his father remarked thoughtfully.
+&#8220;Being in it, however, you acted just as you
+should have done. Just how far you and your
+friends may be held responsible, in case they can&#8217;t
+find the one who actually threw the ball that broke
+the window, I&#8217;m not lawyer enough to say. It&#8217;s
+barely possible that there may be some ground
+for action on the score of culpable carelessness in
+taking part in a snowball fight in front of store
+windows, and of course you were wrong in doing
+that. But the total amount involved is not very
+great after all, and it would be divided up among
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+the parents of the four of you, so there&#8217;s nothing
+much to worry about. It would gall me though to
+have to pay for damages that were really caused
+by that cub of Looker&#8217;s.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, Dad,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;I&#8217;m hoping yet
+that something may develop that will put the
+thing up to Buck, or whoever it was of his gang
+that actually threw the ball.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s hope so,&#8221; returned Mr. Layton, though
+without much conviction in his voice, and dismissed
+the subject.
+</p>
+<p>A little while afterward the other three boys
+came over to Bob&#8217;s house to listen in on the radio
+concert. So much time, however, had been taken
+up in discussing the afternoon&#8217;s adventure that
+they missed Larry&#8217;s offering, which was among
+the first on the program. This was a keen disappointment,
+which was tempered, however, by the
+probability that they could hear him some evening
+later in the week.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sorry,&#8221; remarked Joe. &#8220;But it only means
+that we still have a treat in store when the old
+boy begins to roar and growl and hiss so as to
+make us think that a whole menagerie has broken
+loose and is chasing us. In the meantime we can
+fix up that aerial so as to get a little better results.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Funny thing I noticed the other day,&#8221; remarked
+Bob, as they embarked upon some experiments.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;All sorts of funny things in the radio game,&#8221;
+observed Joe. &#8220;Something new turns up every
+day. Things in your set that you think you can&#8217;t
+do without you find you can do without and get
+results just about as usual.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just what I was going to tell you,&#8221; returned
+Bob. &#8220;You must be something of a prophet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I wouldn&#8217;t go quite so far as to say that,&#8221;
+replied Joe, with mock modesty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t he the shrinking violet?&#8221; chaffed Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop your kidding, you boobs, and let a regular
+fellow talk,&#8221; chided Bob. &#8220;What I was going
+to say was that while I was tinkering with the
+set I disconnected the ground wire. Of course
+I thought that would put the receiver out of business
+for the time, and I was almost knocked silly
+when I found that I could hear the concert that
+was going on just about as well as though the
+wire had been connected. How do you account
+for that?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t account for it at all,&#8221; replied Herb.
+&#8220;Probably just a freak, and might not happen
+again in a thousand times. Likely it was one of
+the unexplainable things that happen once in a
+while. Maybe there was a ground connection
+of some kind, if not by the wire. I wouldn&#8217;t
+bank on it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s queer, too, how many kinds of things can
+be used as aerials,&#8221; put in Joe. &#8220;I heard the other
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+day of a man in an apartment house where the
+owner objected to aerials, who used the clothesline
+for that purpose. The wire ran through the
+rope, which covered it so that it couldn&#8217;t be seen.
+It didn&#8217;t prevent its use as a clothesline either, for
+he could hear perfectly when the wash was hanging
+on it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, almost anything will do as an aerial,&#8221;
+chimed in Jimmy. &#8220;The rib of an umbrella, the
+rainspout at the side of the house, the springs of a
+bed give good results. And that&#8217;s one of the
+mighty good things about radio. People that have
+to count the pennies don&#8217;t have to buy a lot of
+expensive materials. They can put a set together
+with almost any old thing that happens to be
+knocking around the house.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob had been working steadily, and, as the
+room was warm, his hands were moist with perspiration.
+He had unhooked an insulated copper
+wire that led to his outside aerial. His head
+phones were on, as he had been listening to the
+radio concert while he worked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have to miss the rest of that selection, I
+guess,&#8221; he remarked regretfully, as he unhooked
+the wire. &#8220;It&#8217;s a pity, too, for that&#8217;s one of the
+finest violin solos I ever heard. Great Scott!
+What does that mean?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The ejaculation was wrenched from him by
+the fact that although he had disconnected the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+wire he still heard the music&mdash;a little fainter than
+before but still with every note distinct.
+</p>
+<p>He could scarcely believe his ears and looked
+at his friends in great bewilderment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; asked Joe, jumping to
+his feet. &#8220;Get a shock?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not in the sense you mean, but in another
+way, yes,&#8221; replied Bob, still holding the exposed
+end of the copper wire in his fingers. &#8220;What do
+you think of that, fellows? I&#8217;m an aerial!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come out of your trance,&#8221; adjured Herb
+unbelievingly. &#8220;They talk that way in the insane
+asylums.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clap on your headphones,&#8221; cried Bob, too intent
+on his discovery to pay any attention to the
+gibe.
+</p>
+<p>They did so, and were amazed at hearing the
+selection as plainly as did Bob himself.
+</p>
+<p>The latter had been holding the disconnected
+wire so that his fingers just touched the uncovered
+copper portion at the end. Now he hastily scraped
+off several inches of the insulation and grasped
+the copper wire with his hand. Instantly the
+volume of sound grew perceptibly greater.
+</p>
+<p>Hardly knowing what to make of it, he scraped
+off still more of the insulation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, you fellows,&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;Each of
+you take hold of this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Joe was the first to respond, and the sound became
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+louder. Then Herb and Jimmy followed
+suit, and it was evident that they served as amplifiers,
+for with each additional hand the music
+swelled to greater volume.
+</p>
+<p>The boys looked at each other as if asking
+whether this was all real or if they had suddenly
+been transferred to some realm of fancy. They
+would not have been greatly surprised to wake
+up suddenly and find that they had been dreaming.
+</p>
+<p>But there was no delusion about it and they listened
+without saying another word until, in a
+glorious strain of melody, the selection came to
+an end. Nor did they break the silence until a
+band orchestra was announced and crashed into a
+brilliant overture.
+</p>
+<p>While it was still in full swing, Bob had an inspiration.
+He took off his headphones and
+clamped them on to the phonograph that stood
+on a table near by. Instantly the music became
+intensified and filled the room. When all their
+hands were on the wire, it became so loud that
+they had to close the doors of the phonograph.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; gasped Bob, when the last strain had
+died away and the demonstration was complete,
+&#8220;that&#8217;s something new on me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never dreamed of anything like it,&#8221; said Joe,
+sinking back in his chair. &#8220;Of course we know
+that the human body has electrical capacity and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+that operators sometimes have to use metal shields
+to protect the tube from the influence of the
+hand. And in our loop aerial at Ocean Point you
+noticed that the receptivity of the tube was modified
+when we touched it with our fingers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, in theory,&#8221; observed Bob thoughtfully,
+&#8220;the human body possesses inductance as
+well as capacity, and so might serve as an antenna.
+But I never thought of demonstrating it in practice.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So Bob is an aerial,&#8221; grinned Herb. &#8220;I always
+knew he was a &#8216;live wire,&#8217; but I never figured
+him out as an antenna.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And don&#8217;t forget that if Bob is an aerial we&#8217;re
+amplifiers,&#8221; put in Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s glory enough for all,&#8221; laughed Joe.
+&#8220;We&#8217;ll have to tell Doctor Dale and Frank Brandon
+about this. We&#8217;ve got so many tips from
+them that it&#8217;s about time we made it the other
+way around.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They were so excited about this new development
+which they had stumbled upon purely
+through accident that they sat talking about it for
+a long time until Bob chanced to look at his watch.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just have time for the last selection,&#8221; he remarked,
+as he reconnected the aerial. &#8220;We&#8217;ll
+wind up in the regular way this time. It&#8217;s an aria
+from Lucia and I don&#8217;t want to miss it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></p>
+<p>He had some difficulty in making his adjustment,
+as there was a lot of interference at the
+moment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Raft of amateurs horning in,&#8221; he muttered.
+&#8220;All of them seem to have chosen just this time
+to do it. I wonder&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He stopped as though he had been shot, and
+listened intently. Then he beckoned to the others
+to adjust their headphones.
+</p>
+<p>Into the receiver was coming a succession of
+stuttering sounds that eventually succeeded in
+framing intelligible words. Ordinarily this might
+have provoked laughter, but not now. They had
+heard that voice before.
+</p>
+<p>It was the voice of Dan Cassey!
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IV_A_PUZZLING_MYSTERY' id='IV_A_PUZZLING_MYSTERY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3>A PUZZLING MYSTERY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>For the second time that evening the radio boys
+thought they must be dreaming.
+</p>
+<p>Cassey! Cassey the swindler, whom they had
+compelled to make restitution to the victim he
+had wronged. Cassey the thug, whom they had
+captured in that wild chase after he had looted the
+safe and nearly killed the operator in the sending
+station. Cassey the convict, who, to their certain
+knowledge, had been sentenced to a long term in
+prison.
+</p>
+<p>What was Cassey doing over the radio? That
+it was that scoundrel they had no doubt. The
+stuttering, the tones of the voice, the occasional
+whistle which he indulged in in order to go on&mdash;all
+these things they recognized perfectly. It was
+the wildest kind of improbability that he had a
+double anywhere who could reproduce him so
+perfectly.
+</p>
+<p>Gone now was any thought of the aria from
+Lucia. Bob motioned frantically to Jimmy to
+hand him a pencil and a sheet of paper. Then he
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+jotted down the words, as after great efforts they
+fell one by one from the stutterer&#8217;s lips. As
+Bob did this he bent over the paper in frowning
+perplexity. The words themselves were intelligible,
+but they did not seem to make sense, nor
+was there anywhere a connected sentence.
+</p>
+<p>Finally the stammering voice ceased, and after
+they had waited several minutes longer to make
+sure that it would not resume, the boys took off
+their headphones and gazed at each other in utter
+bewilderment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll be blessed!&#8221; exclaimed Joe. &#8220;That
+villain Cassey, of all men on the face of the earth!
+What do you make of it, Bob?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what to make of it,&#8221; confessed
+Bob. &#8220;It has simply knocked me endways. I
+never thought to hear of that rascal again for the
+rest of my life. Yet here he is, less than a year
+after he&#8217;s been sentenced, talking over the radio.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps he&#8217;s received a pardon,&#8221; hazarded
+Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not at all likely,&#8221; answered Bob. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t as
+though he were a first offender. He&#8217;s old in
+crime. You remember the raking over the judge
+gave him when he sentenced him. Told him if
+he had it in his power he&#8217;d give him more than
+he actually did. No, I think we can dismiss that
+idea.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t it possible,&#8221; suggested Herb, &#8220;that he&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+employed as radio operator in the prison? He
+understands sending and receiving all right.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That doesn&#8217;t strike me hard either,&#8221; Bob objected.
+&#8220;Likely enough the prison is equipped
+with a wireless set, but it isn&#8217;t probable that they&#8217;d
+let a prisoner operate it. It would give him too
+good a chance to get in touch with confederates
+outside the jail. Then, too, his stuttering would
+make him a laughing stock.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The only explanation that I can see,&#8221; he went
+on, &#8220;is that he&#8217;s escaped, and he&#8217;s sending this
+message on his own hook. Though what the message
+is about is beyond me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just what did you get down?&#8221; asked Jimmy
+curiously. &#8220;I caught a few words, but I don&#8217;t remember
+them all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a regular hodgepodge,&#8221; replied Bob,
+spreading out the sheet of paper, while they all
+crowded around to read.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Corn&mdash;hay&mdash;six&mdash;paint&mdash;water&mdash;slow&mdash;sick&mdash;jelly,&#8221;
+read Joe aloud. &#8220;Sounds to me like the
+ravings of a delirium patient.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And yet I&#8217;m sure that I got all the words
+down right,&#8221; said Bob perplexedly. &#8220;It must be
+a code of some kind. We can&#8217;t understand it, and
+Cassey didn&#8217;t mean that any one should except
+some one person whose ear was glued to a radiophone.
+But you can bet that that person understood
+it all right.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if we couldn&#8217;t make it out,&#8221; suggested
+Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No harm in trying,&#8221; said Joe, &#8220;though compared
+to this a Chinese puzzle is as simple as
+A B C. Let&#8217;s take a hack at it, anyhow. We&#8217;ll
+each take a separate sheet of paper and try to get
+something out of it that makes sense.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For nearly an hour the boys did their best.
+They put the words in different orders, read them
+forward and backward. But the ideas conveyed
+by the separate words were so utterly dissimilar
+that they could frame nothing that had the
+slightest glimmering of sense and they were finally
+compelled to give it up.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If time were money, we&#8217;d spend enough on
+this stuff to make us bankrupt,&#8221; Joe remarked, in
+vast disgust, as he rose to get his cap. &#8220;Dan
+Cassey was foxy when he made this up. We&#8217;ll
+have to give the rascal credit for that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; admitted Herb, &#8220;it&#8217;s the best kind of a
+code. Any one of those words might mean any
+one of a hundred thousand things. A man might
+spend a lifetime on it and be no nearer success at
+the end than he was when he started. The only
+way it can be unraveled is by finding the key that
+tells what the words stand for. And even that
+may not exist in written form. The fellows may
+simply have committed them to memory.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you what I&#8217;ll do!&#8221; Bob exclaimed.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll get the prison to-morrow on the long distance
+&#8217;phone and ask them about Cassey. I&#8217;ll tell them
+all about this radio message, and it may be a valuable
+tip to them. They may be able to locate the
+station from which the messages come, if there
+are any more of them. You remember how Mr.
+Brandon located Cassey&#8217;s sending station the first
+time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob was as good as his word, and got in communication
+with the prison just before school
+time. The warden was gruff and inclined to be
+uncommunicative at first, but his manner changed
+remarkably after he heard of the radio message
+and he inquired eagerly for the slightest details.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Cassey has escaped,&#8221; he told Bob. &#8220;He
+got away about two months ago. He had behaved
+himself well for the first six months of his imprisonment,
+and we made him a trusty. In that
+capacity he had access to various parts of the
+prison and occasionally to my own quarters,
+which are in a wing connected with the prison.
+In some way that hasn&#8217;t yet been discovered he
+got possession of clothes to cover his prison uniform
+and got away one day from the yard in
+which he was working. Probably with his help,
+two others got away at the same time. Their
+names are Jake Raff and Toppy Gillen, both of
+them desperate criminals and in for long terms.
+Likely enough the three of them are operating together
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+somewhere. We made a careful search for
+them and have sent out descriptions of them to the
+police of all the important cities in the United
+States. But this clue of yours is the only one we
+have, and it may prove a most important one.
+I&#8217;ll see that the Federal radio authorities are notified
+at once. Keep in touch with me and let me
+know if you come across anything else that seems
+to point to Cassey. His escape is a sore point
+with me, and I&#8217;d be glad to have him once more
+behind the bars. You can be sure he&#8217;ll never get
+away again until he&#8217;s served out the last day of
+his sentence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With a warm expression of thanks the warden
+hung up his telephone receiver, and Bob hurried
+off to school to tell his comrades of what he had
+learned.
+</p>
+<p>There was no chance for this, however, before
+recess, as he had been kept so long at the telephone
+that he was barely able to reach the school before
+the bell rang.
+</p>
+<p>When at last he told them of his talk with the
+warden, they listened with spellbound interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So the villain managed to escape, did he?&#8221;
+ruminated Joe. &#8220;That&#8217;s a black mark against the
+warden, and it&#8217;s no wonder he&#8217;s anxious to get
+him back. I&#8217;d hate to be in Cassey&#8217;s shoes if the
+prison gates ever close on him again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d think it would be a comparatively easy
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+matter to capture him,&#8221; suggested Herb. &#8220;The
+fact that he stutters so badly makes him a marked
+man.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can bet that he doesn&#8217;t do any more talking
+than he can help,&#8221; replied Joe. &#8220;And, for that
+matter, I suppose there are a good many thousand
+stutterers in the United States. Almost every
+town has one or more. Of course it&#8217;s against
+him, but it doesn&#8217;t by any means make it a sure
+thing that he&#8217;ll be nabbed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Buck Looker and his cronies happened to pass
+them in the yard just at that moment and caught
+the last word. Buck whispered something to Carl
+Lutz, and the latter broke out into uproarious
+laughter.
+</p>
+<p>It was so obviously directed against Joe that his
+impulsive temper took fire at once. He stepped
+up to the trio, despite Bob&#8217;s outstretched hand
+that tried to restrain him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Were you fellows laughing at me?&#8221; he asked
+of the three, though his eyes were fastened directly
+on Buck&#8217;s.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not especially at you,&#8221; returned Buck insolently.
+&#8220;But at something you said.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what was that?&#8221; asked Joe, coming a
+step nearer, at which Buck stepped back a trifle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;About getting nabbed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It made
+me think of some fellows I know that were
+nabbed last night for breaking windows.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that was it!&#8221; remarked Joe, with dangerous
+calmness while his fist clenched. &#8220;Now let
+me tell you what it reminds me of. It makes me
+think of three cowards who smashed a window
+last night with a stone packed in a snowball and
+then ran away as fast as their legs could carry
+them. Perhaps you&#8217;d like me to tell you their
+names?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re talking about,&#8221; retorted
+Buck, changing color.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, you do,&#8221; replied Joe. &#8220;And while
+I&#8217;m about it, I&#8217;ll add that the fellows who smashed
+the window were not only cowards, but worse.
+And their names are Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and
+Terry Mooney.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221; cried Buck, bristling up, while
+an angry growl arose from his cronies.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You heard me the first time,&#8221; replied Joe;
+&#8220;but to get it into your thick heads I&#8217;ll say it
+again. The cowards, and worse, I referred to
+are named Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry
+Mooney.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='V_MARVELS_OF_WIRELESS' id='V_MARVELS_OF_WIRELESS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3>MARVELS OF WIRELESS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s fighting talk,&#8221; blustered Buck, as he
+made a pretense of getting ready to throw off
+his coat.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s precisely what I want it to be,&#8221; declared
+Joe, as he tore off his coat and threw it to the
+ground.
+</p>
+<p>By this time most of the boys in the school
+yard had sensed the tenseness of the situation and
+had gathered around Joe and Buck, forming a
+ring many lines deep.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A fight!&#8221; was the cry.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go in, Joe!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Soak him, Buck!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Before Joe&#8217;s determined attitude and flashing
+eyes, Buck wavered. He fingered his coat uncertainly
+and glanced toward the school windows.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s one of the teachers looking out,&#8221; he
+declared. &#8220;And it&#8217;s against the rules to fight on
+the school grounds. If it wasn&#8217;t for that I&#8217;d
+beat you up.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></p>
+<p>There was a general snicker from the boys at
+Buck Looker&#8217;s sudden regard for the rules of the
+school.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Any other place you can think of where you&#8217;d
+like to beat me up?&#8221; said Joe sarcastically. &#8220;How
+about this afternoon after school down by the
+river?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;&mdash;I&#8217;ve got to go out of town this afternoon,&#8221;
+Buck stammered. &#8220;But don&#8217;t you worry. I&#8217;ll
+give you all the fight you&#8217;re looking for the first
+chance I get.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Murmurs of derision arose from the crowd,
+and the flush on the bully&#8217;s sour face grew much
+deeper.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re just a yellow dog, Buck!&#8221; exclaimed
+Joe, in disgust. &#8220;Have I got to pull your nose to
+make you stand up to me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He advanced toward him, and Buck retreated.
+What would have happened next will never be
+known, for just at that moment one of the teachers
+emerged from the school and came toward
+the ring. Hostilities at the moment were out of
+the question, and the boys began to scatter. Buck
+heaved a sigh of evident relief, and now that he
+felt himself safe, all his old bluster came back to
+him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s mighty lucky for you that Bixby came out
+just then,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I was just getting ready
+to thrash you within an inch of your life.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></p>
+<p>Joe laughed sarcastically.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trouble with you, Buck, is that you spend
+so much time getting ready that you never have
+any time for real fighting,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;It
+took you an awfully long time to get your coat
+unbuttoned.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They laugh best who laugh last,&#8221; growled
+Buck. &#8220;And don&#8217;t forget that you fellows have
+got to pay for that glass you broke.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got another guess coming,&#8221; replied
+Joe. &#8220;You or one of your gang broke that glass
+and we can prove it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t downtown that night at all,&#8221; said
+Buck glibly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t add any more lies to your score,&#8221; said
+Joe scornfully. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got you! You and your
+gang are the only fellows in town who would put
+stones in snowballs, anyway.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If that&#8217;s all the evidence you&#8217;ve got, it
+wouldn&#8217;t go far in a court of law,&#8221; sneered Buck.
+&#8220;Any judge would see that you were trying to
+back out of it by putting it up to somebody else.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps you don&#8217;t know that Mr. Talley
+bumped into you while you were running away,&#8221;
+remarked Joe.
+</p>
+<p>This shot told, for Buck had banked on the
+darkness and had forgotten all about his encounter
+with Mr. Talley. He had been nursing the
+comfortable assurance that all he had to do was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+to deny. Now his house of cards had come tumbling
+about his ears. Mr. Talley was a respected
+citizen, and his word would be accepted by everybody.
+</p>
+<p>Joe saw the effect of his remark and smiled
+drily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Want to revise that statement of yours that
+you weren&#8217;t downtown at all last night?&#8221; he
+asked, with affected politeness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&mdash;he was mistaken,&#8221; stammered Buck
+weakly, as he walked away, followed by his discomfited
+cronies.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess that will hold him for a while,&#8221;
+chuckled Jimmy, as the radio boys watched his
+retreating figure.
+</p>
+<p>Two or three days passed without special developments.
+The broken pane of glass had been
+restored and the parents of the boys had been
+formally notified by the insurance company that
+they would be held responsible jointly for the
+damages. A similar notice had been sent to the
+fathers of Buck and his mates.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Looker replied, denying that his son was
+at all implicated in the matter and refusing to
+pay. Mr. Layton admitted that his son had been
+throwing snowballs in front of the store on the
+night in question, but he stated that he had not
+thrown the ball with a stone in it that broke the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+window. He added that any further communication
+regarding the matter could be sent to his
+lawyer.
+</p>
+<p>Of the others involved, some had taken similar
+positions and others had ignored the matter altogether,
+leaving it to the insurance company to
+make the next move. And there for the time the
+matter rested.
+</p>
+<p>The radio boys had missed Larry&#8217;s performance
+on the night that he had opened with his new
+repertoire, but they were bound not to be cheated
+of the second, which took place only a few nights
+later.
+</p>
+<p>They crowded eagerly about the radio set when
+their friend&#8217;s turn was announced, and listened
+with a breathless interest, that was intensified by
+their warm personal regard for the performer, to
+the rendition of the cries of various animals with
+which Larry regaled them.
+</p>
+<p>The imitations were so lifelike that the boys
+might well have imagined they were in a zoölogical
+garden. Lions, tigers, bears, elephants, snakes,
+moose, and other specimens of the animal and
+the reptile tribes were imitated with a fidelity that
+was amazing. In addition, the renditions were
+interspersed with droll and lively comments by
+Larry that added immensely to the humor of the
+performance. When at last it was over, the boys
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+broke out into enthusiastic hand-clapping that
+would have warmed Larry&#8217;s heart, had he been
+able to hear it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The old boy is all there!&#8221; chortled Bob enthusiastically.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a wonder!&#8221; ejaculated Joe. &#8220;No question
+there of a square peg in a round hole. He&#8217;s
+found exactly the work in life he&#8217;s specially fitted
+for.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And think of the audience he has,&#8221; put in
+Jimmy. &#8220;At this very minute there are probably
+hundreds of thousands of people who have been
+tickled to death at his performance. Just suppose
+those people all clapped their hands at once just
+as we have done and we could hear it. Why, it
+would be like a young earthquake.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At this moment the doorbell rang, and Dr.
+Dale was announced. He spent a few minutes
+with Mr. and Mrs. Layton, and then came up to
+have a little chat with the boys. This was one
+thing he never overlooked. His interest in and
+sympathy with the young were unbounded, and
+accounted largely for the influence that he exerted
+in the community.
+</p>
+<p>The radio boys greeted the minister warmly
+and gladly made room for him around the table.
+His coming was never felt by them to be an interruption.
+They regarded him almost as one
+of themselves. Apart, too, from the thorough
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+liking they had for him as a man, they were exceedingly
+grateful to him for the help he had
+been to them in radio matters. He was their
+mentor, guide and friend.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew I&#8217;d find you busy with the radio,&#8221; he
+said, with a genial smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t be torn away from it,&#8221; replied Bob.
+&#8220;We think it&#8217;s just the greatest thing that ever
+happened. Just now we&#8217;ve been listening to Larry
+Bartlett give his imitations of animals. You remember
+Larry?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I certainly do,&#8221; replied Dr. Dale. &#8220;And I remember
+how you boys helped him get his present
+position. It was one of the best things you ever
+did. He&#8217;s certainly a finished artist. I heard him
+on his opening night, and I&#8217;ve laughed thinking of
+it many times since. He&#8217;s a most amusing entertainer.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was the first opportunity the boys had had
+to tell the doctor of the night when Bob found
+that he was a human aerial, and he listened to the
+many details of the experiment with absorbed
+interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s something new to me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You
+boys have reason to be gratified at having had a
+novel experience. That&#8217;s the beauty of radio.
+Something new is always cropping up. Many of
+the other sciences have been more or less fully
+explored, and while none of them will ever be
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+exhausted, their limits have been to some extent
+indicated. But in radio we&#8217;re standing just on the
+threshold of a science whose infinite possibilities
+have not even been guessed. One discovery
+crowds so closely on the heels of another that we
+have all we can do to keep track of them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve just got back from a little trip up in New
+York State,&#8221; he went on, as he settled himself
+more comfortably in his chair, &#8220;and I stopped off
+at Schenectady to look over the big radio station
+there. By great good luck, Marconi happened to
+be there on the same day&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Marconi!&#8221; breathed Bob. &#8220;The father of
+wireless!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; smiled Dr. Dale. &#8220;Or if you want to
+put it in another way, the Christopher Columbus
+who discovered the New World of radio. I
+counted it a special privilege to get a glimpse of
+him. But what attracted my special attention in
+the little while I could spend there was a small
+tube about eighteen inches long and two inches in
+diameter which many radio experts think will
+completely revolutionize long distance radio communication.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean the Langmuir tube,&#8221; said Joe. &#8220;I
+was reading of it the other day, and it seems to
+be a dandy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a wonderful thing,&#8221; replied the doctor.
+&#8220;Likely enough it will take the place of the great
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+transatlantic plants which require so much room
+and such enormous machinery. It&#8217;s practically
+noiseless. Direct current is sent into the wire
+through a complicated wire system and generates
+a high frequency current of tremendous power.
+I saw it working when it was connected with an
+apparatus carrying about fifteen thousand volts
+of electricity in a direct current. A small blue
+flame shot through the tube with scarcely a particle
+of noise. The broken impulse from the electrical
+generators behind the tube was sent through
+the tube to be flung off from the antenna into space
+in the dots and dashes of the international code.
+That little tube was not much bigger than a stick
+of dynamite, but was infinitely more powerful.
+I was so fascinated by it and all that it meant
+that it was hard work to tear myself away from
+it. It marks a great step forward in the field
+of radio.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It must have been wonderfully interesting,&#8221;
+remarked Bob. &#8220;And yet I suppose that in a
+year or two something new will be invented that
+will put even that out of date.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s practically certain that there will be,&#8221; assented
+the doctor. &#8220;The miracles of to-day become
+the commonplaces of to-morrow. That
+fifty-kilowatt tube that develops twelve horsepower
+within its narrow walls of glass, wonderful
+as it is, is bound to be superseded by something
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+better, and the inventor himself would be the first
+one to admit it. Some of the finest scientific
+brains in the country are working on the problem,
+and he would be a bold prophet and probably a
+false prophet that would set any bounds to its
+possibilities.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Radio is yet in its infancy,&#8221; the doctor concluded,
+as he rose to go. &#8220;But one thing is certain.
+In the lifetime of those who witnessed its
+birth it will become a giant&mdash;but a benevolent
+giant who, instead of destroying will re-create our
+civilization.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VI_THE_FOREST_RANGER' id='VI_THE_FOREST_RANGER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3>THE FOREST RANGER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Some days later Bob and Herb and Joe were
+on their way to Bob&#8217;s house to do a little experimenting
+on the latter&#8217;s set, when they were
+surprised at the alacrity with which Jimmy turned
+a corner and came puffing up to them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, fellows!&#8221; he yelled, as he came within
+earshot, &#8220;I&#8217;ve got some mighty interesting news
+for you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s have it,&#8221; said Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s about the snowball Buck fired through
+the window,&#8221; panted Jimmy, falling into step beside
+them. &#8220;I met a man who&#8217;s staying up at the
+Sterling House. He says Buck&#8217;s the boy who
+did it, all right.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How does he know?&#8221; all of the others asked
+with interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Saw Buck pick up a stone and pack the snow
+hard around it,&#8221; said Jimmy importantly. &#8220;He
+saw it himself, so we&#8217;ve got one witness for our
+side, all right.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s good,&#8221; said Bob, adding, with a glint
+in his eye: &#8220;Say, wouldn&#8217;t I like to get my
+hands on Buck, just for about five minutes!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you won&#8217;t have a chance,&#8221; said Jimmy,
+enjoying being the bearer of so much news.
+&#8220;Buck&#8217;s gone with his father to a lumber camp
+up in Braxton woods.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you know all this?&#8221; inquired Herb
+curiously. &#8220;You seem to be chock full of information
+to-day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, a little bird told me,&#8221; said Jimmy, looking
+mysterious. However, as Herb made a threatening
+motion toward him, he hurried to explain. &#8220;I
+met Terry Mooney,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I told him I knew
+all about who put the stone in the snowball and I
+told him that our crowd was going to make his
+look like two cents. He laughed and said swell
+chance we&#8217;d have. Said Buck had gone to the
+lumber camp with his father and that he and
+Carl Lutz were going to join him in a day or two.
+Just like Buck to run away when he knows there&#8217;s
+a good licking coming to him!&#8221; added Jimmy,
+with a sneer.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, what do we care?&#8221; said Joe. &#8220;At
+least we sha&#8216;n&#8217;t have those fellows around spoiling
+all the fun.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad you found out about the snowball
+just the same,&#8221; said Bob thoughtfully. &#8220;Every
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+little bit helps when we have to fight against that
+crooked gang of Buck&#8217;s.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s hoping,&#8221; said Herb fervently, &#8220;that
+they stay away all the rest of the spring.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>By this time the lads had reached Bob&#8217;s house.
+It was Saturday afternoon, and as the boys
+crowded noisily into the hall Bob noticed that his
+father was in the library and that he seemed to
+have company.
+</p>
+<p>He was starting upstairs with the other lads
+when his father came out of the library and called
+to him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on in for a few minutes, boys,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;I have a friend here who is a man after your own
+hearts,&#8221; and his eyes twinkled. &#8220;He&#8217;s interested
+in radio.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys needed no second invitation, for they
+never missed an opportunity of meeting any one
+who could tell them something about the wonders
+of radio.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Layton&#8217;s guest was lounging in one of the
+great chairs in the library, and from the moment
+the boys laid eyes on him they knew they were
+going to hear something of more than usual interest.
+</p>
+<p>The stranger was big, over six feet, and his
+face and hands were like a Cuban&#8217;s, they were so
+dark. Even his fair hair seemed to have been
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
+burnt a darker hue by the sun. There was a tang
+of the great out-of-doors about him, a hint of open
+spaces and adventure that fascinated the radio
+boys.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is my son, Mr. Bentley,&#8221; said Mr. Layton
+to the lounging stranger, still with a twinkle
+in his eye. &#8220;And the other boys are his inseparable
+companions. Also I think they are almost
+as crazy about radio as you are.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The stranger laughed and turned to Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been upstairs to see your set,&#8221; he said,
+adding heartily: &#8220;It&#8217;s fine. I&#8217;ve seldom seen
+better amateur equipment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>If Bob had liked this stranger before, it was
+nothing to what he felt for him now. To the
+radio boys, if any one praised their radio sets, this
+person, no matter who it was, promptly became
+their friend for life.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad you think it&#8217;s pretty good,&#8221; Bob
+said modestly. &#8220;We fellows have surely worked
+hard enough over it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This gentleman here,&#8221; said Mr. Layton to the
+boys, &#8220;ought to know quite a bit about radio. He
+operates an airplane in the service of our Government
+Forestry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the United States Forest Service?&#8221; cried
+Bob, breathlessly, eyeing the stranger with increasing
+interest. &#8220;And is your airplane equipped
+with radio?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Very much so,&#8221; replied Mr. Bentley. &#8220;It
+seems almost a fairy tale&mdash;what radio has done
+for the Forest Service.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve read a lot about the fighting of forest
+fires,&#8221; broke in Joe eagerly. &#8220;But I didn&#8217;t know
+radio had anything to do with it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It hadn&#8217;t until the last few years,&#8221; the visitor
+answered, adding, with a laugh: &#8220;But now it&#8217;s
+pretty near the whole service!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you tell us something about what you
+do?&#8221; asked Bob.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Bentley waved a deprecating hand while
+Mr. Layton leaned back in his chair with the
+air of one who is enjoying himself.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t so much what I do,&#8221; protested this interesting
+newcomer, while the boys hung upon his
+every word. &#8220;It is what radio has done in the
+fighting of forest fires that is the marvelous, the
+almost unbelievable, thing. The man who first
+conceived the idea of bringing radio into the
+wilderness had to meet and overcome the same
+discouragements that fall to the lot of every
+pioneer.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The government declared that the cost of
+carrying and setting up the radio apparatus would
+be greater than the loss occasioned every season
+by the terribly destructive forest fires. But there
+was a fellow named Adams who thought he knew
+better.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Adams!&#8221; repeated Bob breathlessly. &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t
+he the fellow who had charge of the Mud Creek
+ranger station at Montana?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The visitor nodded and gazed at Bob with interest.
+&#8220;How did you know?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I read something about him a while ago,&#8221;
+answered Bob vaguely. He was chiefly interested
+in having Mr. Bentley go on.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should think,&#8221; said Herb, &#8220;that it would
+be pretty hard work carrying delicate radio apparatus
+into the lumber country.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You bet your life it is,&#8221; replied Mr. Bentley.
+&#8220;The only way the apparatus can be carried is by
+means of pack horses, and as each horse can&#8217;t
+carry more than a hundred and fifty pounds you
+see it takes quite a few of the animals to lug even
+an ordinary amount of apparatus.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The hardest part of the whole thing,&#8221; he went
+on, warming to his recital as the boys were so
+evidently interested, &#8220;was packing the cumbersome
+storage batteries. These batteries were
+often lost in transit, too. If a pack horse happened
+to slip from the trail, its pack became
+loosened and went tumbling down the mountain
+side&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the life!&#8221; interrupted Jimmy gleefully,
+and the visitor smiled at him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You might not think so if you happened to
+be the one detailed to travel back over the almost
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+impassable trails for the missing apparatus,&#8221; observed
+Mr. Bentley ruefully. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t all fun,
+that pioneer installation of radio. Not by any
+means.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But radio turned the trick just the same,&#8221;
+said Bob slangily. &#8220;I&#8217;ve read that a message that
+used to take two days to pass between ranger stations
+can be sent now in a few seconds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Right!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Bentley, his eyes glinting.
+&#8220;In a little while the saving in the cost of
+forest fires will more than pay for the installation
+of radio. We nose out a fire and send word by
+wireless to the nearest station, before the fire
+fairly knows it&#8217;s started.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But just what is it that you do?&#8221; asked Joe,
+with flattering eagerness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do scout work,&#8221; was the reply. &#8220;I help
+patrol the fire line in cases of bad fires. The men
+fighting the fire generally carry a portable receiving
+apparatus along with them, and by that means,
+I, in my airplane, can report the progress of a fire
+and direct the distribution of the men.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It must be exciting work,&#8221; said Herb enviously.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s just the kind of life I&#8217;d like&mdash;plenty
+of adventure, something doing every
+minute.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s usually plenty doing,&#8221; agreed Mr.
+Bentley, with a likable grin. &#8220;We can&#8217;t complain
+that our life is slow.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I should think,&#8221; said Bob slowly, &#8220;that it
+might be dangerous, installing sets right there in
+the heavy timber.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what lots of radio engineers thought
+also,&#8221; agreed Mr. Bentley. &#8220;But no such trouble
+has developed so far, and I guess it isn&#8217;t likely
+to now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t they have some trouble in getting
+power enough for their sets?&#8221; asked Joe, with
+interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that was a serious drawback in the beginning,&#8221;
+came the answer. &#8220;They had to design
+a special equipment&mdash;a sort of gasoline charging
+plant. In this way they were able to secure
+enough power for the charging of the storage
+batteries.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob drew a long breath.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t I have liked to be the one to fit up
+that first wireless station!&#8221; he cried enthusiastically.
+&#8220;Just think how that Mr. Adams must have
+felt when he received his first message through
+the air.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t all fun,&#8221; the interesting visitor reminded
+the boys. &#8220;The station was of the crudest
+sort, you know. The first operator had a box to
+sit on and another box served as the support for
+his apparatus.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much the better,&#8221; retorted Bob stoutly.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+&#8220;A radio fan doesn&#8217;t know or care, half the time,
+what he&#8217;s sitting on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which proves,&#8221; said Mr. Bentley, laughing,
+&#8220;that you are a real one!&#8221; And at this all the
+lads grinned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But say,&#8221; interrupted Joe, going back to the
+problem of power, &#8220;weren&#8217;t the engineers able to
+think up something to take the place of the gasoline
+charging stations?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes. But not without a good deal of experimenting.
+Now they are using two hundred
+and seventy number two Burgess dry batteries.
+These, connecting in series, secure the required
+three hundred and fifty-volt plate current.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VII_RADIO_AND_THE_FIRE_FIEND' id='VII_RADIO_AND_THE_FIRE_FIEND'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3>RADIO AND THE FIRE FIEND</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I hope that the boys know what you&#8217;re
+talking about,&#8221; interrupted Mr. Layton at this
+point, his eyes twinkling, &#8220;for I&#8217;m sure I don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They know what I&#8217;m talking about all right,&#8221;
+returned his guest, admiration in his laughing
+eyes as he looked at the boys. &#8220;Unless I miss my
+guess, these fellows are the stuff of which radio
+experts are made. I bet they&#8217;ll do great things
+yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you tell us more about your experiences?&#8221;
+begged Herb, while the other boys tried
+not to look too pleased at the praise. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t
+often we have a chance to hear of adventures like
+yours first hand.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mr. Bentley, modestly, &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know that there&#8217;s much to tell. All we scouts do
+is to patrol the country and watch for fires. Of
+course, in case of a big fire, our duties are more
+exciting. I remember one fire,&#8221; he leaned back
+in his chair reminiscently and the boys listened
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+eagerly, hanging on every word. &#8220;It was a
+beauty of its kind, covering pretty nearly fourteen
+miles. Thousands of dollars&#8217; worth of valuable
+timber was menaced. It looked for a time
+as if it would get the better of us, at that.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Men were scarce and there was a high wind
+to urge the fire on. A receiving set was rushed
+to the fire line, some of the apparatus in a truck
+and some carried by truck horses. My plane was
+detailed to patrol the fire line and give directions
+to the men who were fighting the fire.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He paused, and the boys waited impatiently for
+him to go on.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The good old plane was equipped for both
+sending and receiving, and I tell you we patrolled
+that fourteen miles of flaming forest, sometimes
+coming so close to the tree tops that we almost
+seemed to brush them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My duty, of course, was to report the progress
+of the fire. Controlled at one point, it broke out
+at another, and it was through the messages from
+my &#8217;plane to the ground set stationed just behind
+the fire line that the men were moved from one
+danger point to the next.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Finally, the fire seeming nearly out along
+one side of the ridge, I sent the men to fighting it
+on the other side, where it had been left to rage
+uncontrolled. No sooner had the men scattered
+for the danger point than the brooding fire broke
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+out again and it was necessary to recall half the
+men.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was a long fight and a hard one, but with
+the aid of the blessed old wireless, we finally won
+out. As a matter of fact, the wireless-equipped
+airplane has become as necessary to the Forest
+Service as ships are to the navy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the old days,&#8221; he went on, seeing that the
+boys were still deeply interested, &#8220;when they depended
+upon the ordinary telephone to convey
+warnings of fires they were surely leaning upon a
+broken reed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Often, just when they needed the means of
+communication most, the fire would sweep
+through the woods, destroying trees to which the
+telephone wires were fastened, and melting the
+wires themselves. So the eyes of the Forest
+Service were put out and they were forced to
+work in the dark.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I should think,&#8221; protested Bob, &#8220;that
+there would be times when even wireless would
+be put out of the job. Suppose the fire were to
+reach one of the stations equipped with wireless.
+What then?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Bentley laughed as though amused at
+something.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can tell you an interesting incident connected
+with that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And one that shows
+the pluck and common sense of radio operators in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+general&mdash;don&#8217;t think that I&#8217;m throwing bouquets
+at myself, now, for first and last, I am a pilot,
+even if sometimes I find it necessary to employ
+radio.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, anyway, this operator that I am speaking
+of, found himself in a perilous position. A
+fire had been raging for days, and now it was so
+close to his station that the station itself was
+threatened.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One morning when he got up the smoke from
+the burning forest was swirling about the open
+space in front of the station and he knew that
+before long he would be seeing flame instead of
+smoke. The fire fighters had been working ceaselessly,
+fighting gallantly, but the elements were
+against them. The air was almost as dry and
+brittle as the wood which the flames lapped up
+and there was a steady wind that drove the fire
+on and on.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If only there might come a fog or the wind
+change its direction! But the radio man had no
+intention of waiting on the elements. I don&#8217;t believe
+he gave more than a passing thought to his
+own safety&mdash;his chief interest was for the safety
+of his beloved apparatus.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He decided to dismantle the set, build a raft
+and set himself and the apparatus adrift upon the
+water in the attempt to save it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so he worked feverishly, while the fire
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+came closer and he could hear the men who were
+fighting the fire shouting to each other. Finally
+he succeeded in dismantling the set and got it
+down to the water&#8217;s edge.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here he built a rough raft, piled the apparatus
+upon it, jumped after it, and drifted out into the
+middle of the lake.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did the station burn down?&#8221; asked Jimmy
+excitedly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, fortunately. The wind died down in the
+nick of time, giving the men a chance to control
+the blaze. When it was evident the danger was
+past, the operator set up his apparatus again and
+prepared to continue his duties, as though nothing
+had happened.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There you have the tremendous advantage of
+radio. There were no wires to be destroyed.
+Only a radio set which could be dismantled and
+taken to safety while the fire raged.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That operator sure had his nerve with him,
+all right,&#8221; said Bob admiringly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;More nerve than common sense perhaps,&#8221;
+chuckled Mr. Bentley. &#8220;But you certainly can&#8217;t
+help admiring him. He was right there when it
+came to grit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>After a while they began to discuss technicalities,
+and the boys learned a great many things
+they had never known before. The pilot happening
+to mention that there were sometimes a number
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+of airplanes equipped with radio operating
+within a restricted district, Joe wanted to know
+if they did not have a good deal of trouble with
+interference.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. There was at first some interference by
+amateurs, but these soon learned to refrain from
+using their instruments during patrol periods.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You see,&#8221; he explained, &#8220;we use a special type
+of transmitting outfit aboard our fire-detection
+craft. It&#8217;s called the SCR-Seventy-three. The
+equipment obtains its power from a self-excited
+inductor type alternator. This is propelled by
+a fixed wooden-blade air fan. In the steam-line
+casing of the alternator the rotary spark
+gap, alternator, potential transformer, condenser
+and oscillation transformer are self-contained.
+Usually the alternator is mounted on the underside
+of the fuselage where the propeller spends its
+force in the form of an air stream. The telegraph
+sending keys, field and battery switch, dry
+battery, variometer and antenna reel are the only
+units included inside the fuselage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The type of transmitter is a simple rotary gap,
+indirectly excited spark and provided with nine
+taps on the inductance coil of the closed oscillating
+circuit. Five varying toothed discs for the
+rotary spark gap yield five different signal tones
+and nine different wave lengths are possible.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So,&#8221; he finished, looking around at their absorbed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
+faces, &#8220;you see it is quite possible to press
+into service a number of airplanes without being
+bothered by interference.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It sounds complete,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;I&#8217;d like a
+chance to see one of those sets at close range
+sometime.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The time passed so quickly that finally the
+visitor rose with an apology for staying so late.
+The radio boys were sorry to see him go. They
+could have sat for hours more, listening to him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That fellow sure has had some experiences!&#8221;
+said Joe, as, a little later, the boys mounted the
+stairs to Bob&#8217;s room. &#8220;It was mighty lucky we
+happened along while he was here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You bet your life,&#8221; said Herb. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t
+have missed meeting him for a lot.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, fellows,&#8221; Jimmy announced from the
+head of the stairs, &#8220;I know now what I&#8217;m going
+to do when I&#8217;m through school. It&#8217;s me for the
+tall timber. I&#8217;m going to pilot an airplane in the
+service of my country.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ain&#8217;t he noble?&#8221; demanded Herb, grinning,
+as the boys crowded into Bob&#8217;s room.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VIII_NEAR_DISASTER' id='VIII_NEAR_DISASTER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<h3>NEAR DISASTER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Several days later while the radio boys were
+experimenting with their big set and talking over
+their interesting meeting with the Forest Service
+ranger, Herb displayed an immense horseshoe
+magnet.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look what he&#8217;s got for luck,&#8221; chortled Jimmy.
+&#8220;The superstitious nut!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Superstitious nothing!&#8221; snorted Herb. &#8220;If
+I&#8217;d wanted it for luck I wouldn&#8217;t have got a magnet,
+would I? Any old common horseshoe would
+have done for luck.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what&#8217;s the big idea?&#8221; asked Bob, looking
+up from the audion tube he was experimenting
+with. &#8220;Or is there any?&#8221; he added, with a
+grin.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You bet your life there is!&#8221; returned Herb.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s got to do with that very audion tube you&#8217;re
+fussing with.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah, go on,&#8221; jeered Joe, good-naturedly.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s a magnet got to do with an audion tube,
+I&#8217;d like to know!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Poor old Herb,&#8221; added Jimmy, with a commiserating
+shake of the head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, look here, all you fellows! Don&#8217;t you
+go wasting any pity on me,&#8221; cried Herb hotly.
+&#8220;If you don&#8217;t look out, I won&#8217;t show you my experiment
+at all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on, Herb,&#8221; said Bob consolingly. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+listening.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m glad there&#8217;s one sensible member of
+this bunch!&#8221; cried Herb, and from then on addressed
+himself solely to Bob. &#8220;Look here,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;You can make the audion tube ever so
+much more sensitive to vibration if you put this
+magnet near it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who says so?&#8221; asked Bob, with interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do. Here, put on the headphones and listen.
+I&#8217;ll prove it to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob obeyed and tuned in to the nearest broadcasting
+station where a concert was scheduled.
+As soon as he signified by a nod of his head that
+the connection was satisfactory Herb placed the
+big horseshoe magnet in such a position that the
+poles of the magnet were on each side of the
+tube.
+</p>
+<p>Sure enough, Bob was amazed at the almost
+magical improvement in the sound. It was
+clearer, more distinct, altogether more satisfactory.
+He listened in for another moment then
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+wonderingly took off the headphones while Herb
+grinned at him in triumph.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, what do you think?&#8221; asked the latter
+while Joe and Jimmy looked at them curiously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Think?&#8221; repeated Bob, still wonderingly.
+&#8220;Why, there&#8217;s only one thing to think, of course.
+That fool horseshoe of yours, Herb, is one wonderful
+improvement. I don&#8217;t know how it works,
+but it surely is a marvel.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Herb glanced at Jimmy and Joe in triumph.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did I tell you?&#8221; he said. &#8220;Perhaps now
+you&#8217;ll believe that my idea wasn&#8217;t such a fool one
+after all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what did it do, Bob?&#8221; asked Joe, mystified.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It increased the sensitivity of that old audion
+tube, that&#8217;s what it did,&#8221; replied Bob, absently,
+his mind already busy with inventive thoughts.
+&#8220;I can&#8217;t see yet just how it accomplished it, but
+the connection with the station was certainly
+clearer and more distinct than usual.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how can a magnet increase the sensitivity
+of a vacuum tube?&#8221; asked Jimmy, not yet wholly
+convinced. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t make sense.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t see why not,&#8221; contradicted Joe
+slowly. &#8220;I suppose the improvement is due to the
+magnetic effect of the magnet upon the electrons
+flowing from the filament to the plate. I don&#8217;t
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+exactly see why it should be an improvement, but
+if it is, then there must be some reason for it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish we could find the reason!&#8221; cried Bob
+excitedly. &#8220;If we could make some improvement
+upon the vacuum tube&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t wake him up, he is dreaming!&#8221; cried
+Herb. &#8220;If you don&#8217;t look out, old boy, you&#8217;ll
+have us all millionaires.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, there are worse things,&#8221; retorted Bob,
+taking the magnet from Herb&#8217;s hand and placing
+it near the tube. &#8220;This has given us something
+to think about, anyway.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For a while they puzzled over the mystery, trying
+to find some way in which the discovery
+might be made to serve a practical purpose&mdash;all
+except Herb, who retired to one corner of the
+&#8220;lab&#8221; to fuss with some chemicals which he
+fondly hoped might be used in the construction of
+a battery.
+</p>
+<p>So engrossed were the boys in the problem of
+the magnet and vacuum tube that they forgot all
+about Herb and his experiments. So what happened
+took them completely off their guard.
+</p>
+<p>There was a sudden cry from Herb, followed
+closely by an explosion that knocked them off
+their feet. For a moment they lay there, a bit
+dazed by the shock. Then they scrambled to
+their feet and looked about them. Herb, being
+the nearest to the explosion, had got the worst of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+it. His face and hands were black and he was
+shaking a little from the shock. He gazed at the
+boys sheepishly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wh-what happened?&#8221; asked Jimmy dazedly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;An earthquake, I guess,&#8221; replied Bob, as he
+looked about him to see what damage had been
+done.
+</p>
+<p>Some doughnuts, which their namesake had recently
+fetched from the store, lay scattered upon
+the floor, together with some rather dilapidated-looking
+pieces of candy, but aside from this, nothing
+seemed to have been damaged seriously.
+</p>
+<p>Jimmy&#8217;s followed Bob&#8217;s gaze, and, finding his
+precious sweets upon the floor, began gathering
+them up hastily, stuffing a doughnut in his mouth
+to help him hurry. What mattered it to Jimmy
+that the floor was none too clean?
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, what&#8217;s the big idea, anyway,&#8221; Joe demanded
+of the blackened Herb. &#8220;Trying to start
+a Fourth of July celebration, or something?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was just mixing some chemicals, and the result
+was a flare-up,&#8221; explained Herb sulkily.
+&#8220;Now, stop rubbing it into a fellow, will you?
+You might know I didn&#8217;t do it on purpose.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob began to laugh.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better get in connection with some soap and
+water, Herb,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Just now you look like
+the lead for a minstrel show.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, Herb,&#8221; Joe flung after the disconsolate
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+scientist as he made for the door. &#8220;As
+long as you don&#8217;t hurt anything but Jimmy&#8217;s
+doughnuts, we don&#8217;t care. You can have as
+many explosions as you like.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Humph, that&#8217;s all right for you,&#8221; retorted
+Jimmy. &#8220;But I&#8217;ll have you know I spent my last
+nickel for those doughnuts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just the same,&#8221; said Bob soberly, as they returned
+to the problem of the vacuum tube, &#8220;we&#8217;re
+mighty lucky to have come off with so little
+damage. Mixing chemicals is a pretty dangerous
+business unless you know just what you&#8217;re
+doing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And even then it is,&#8221; added Joe.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IX_A_HAPPY_INSPIRATION' id='IX_A_HAPPY_INSPIRATION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<h3>A HAPPY INSPIRATION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The days passed by, the boys becoming more
+and more engrossed in the fascination of radio all
+the time. They continued to work on their sets,
+sometimes with the most gratifying results, at
+others seeming to make little headway.
+</p>
+<p>But in spite of occasional discouragements they
+worked on, cheered by the knowledge that they
+were making steady, if sometimes slow, progress.
+</p>
+<p>There were so many really worth-while improvements
+being perfected each day that they
+really found it difficult to keep up with them all.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wish we could hear Cassey&#8217;s voice again,&#8221;
+said Herb, one day when they had tuned in on
+several more or less interesting personal messages.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what good it would do us,&#8221;
+grumbled Joe. &#8220;If he speaks always in code he
+could keep us guessing till doomsday.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s up to some sort of mischief, anyway,&#8221;
+said Bob; &#8220;and I, for one, would enjoy catching
+him at it again.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;We would be more comfortable to have Dan
+Cassey in jail, where he belongs,&#8221; observed
+Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>But just at present the trailing of that stuttering
+voice seemed an impossible feat even for the
+radio boys. If they could only get some tangible
+clue to work on!
+</p>
+<p>They saw nothing of Buck Looker or his
+cronies about town, and concluded that they were
+still at the lumber camp.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t stay away too long to suit me,&#8221; Bob
+said cheerfully.
+</p>
+<p>It was about that time that Bob found out
+about Adam McNulty. Adam McNulty was the
+blind father of the washerwoman who served the
+four families of the boys.
+</p>
+<p>Bob went to the McNulty cabin, buried in the
+most squalid district of the town, bearing a message
+from his mother. When he got there he
+found that Mr. McNulty was the only one at
+home.
+</p>
+<p>The old fellow, smoking a black pipe in the
+bare kitchen of the house, seemed so pathetically
+glad to see some one&mdash;or, rather, to hear some
+one&mdash;that Bob yielded to his invitation to sit
+down and talk to him.
+</p>
+<p>And, someway, even after Bob reached home,
+he could not shake off the memory of the lonesome
+old blind man with nothing to do all day
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+long but sit in a chair smoking his pipe, waiting
+for some chance word from a passer-by.
+</p>
+<p>It did not seem fair that he, Bob, should have
+all the good things of life while that old man
+should have nothing&mdash;nothing, at all.
+</p>
+<p>He spoke to his chums about it, but, though
+they were sympathetic, they did not see anything
+they could do.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t give him back his eyesight, you
+know,&#8221; said Joe absently, already deep in a new
+scheme of improvement for the set.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;But we might give him
+something that would do nearly as well.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; they asked, puzzled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Radio,&#8221; said Bob, and laid his hand lovingly
+on the apparatus. &#8220;If it means a lot to us, just
+think how much more it would mean to some one
+who hasn&#8217;t a thing to do all day but sit and think.
+Why, I don&#8217;t suppose any of us who can see can
+begin to realize what it would mean not to be able
+even to read the daily newspaper.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The others stared at Bob, and slowly his meaning
+sank home.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I get you,&#8221; said Joe slowly. &#8220;And say, let
+me tell you, it&#8217;s a great idea, Bob. It wouldn&#8217;t
+be so bad to be blind if you could have the daily
+news read to you every day&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And listen to the latest on crops,&#8221; added
+Jimmy.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;To say nothing of the latest jazz,&#8221; finished
+Herb, with a grin.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, why doesn&#8217;t this blind man get himself
+a set?&#8221; asked Jimmy practically. &#8220;I should
+think every blind person in the country would
+want to own one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose every one of them does,&#8221; said Bob.
+&#8220;And Doctor Dale said the other day that he
+thought the time would come when charities for
+the blind would install radio as a matter of humanity,
+and that prices of individual sets would
+be so low that all the blind could afford them.
+The blind are many of them old, you know, and
+pretty poor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean,&#8221; said Herb slowly, &#8220;that most of
+the blind folks who really need radio more than
+anybody else can&#8217;t afford it? Say, that doesn&#8217;t
+seem fair, does it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t fair!&#8221; cried Bob, adding, eagerly: &#8220;I
+tell you what I thought we could do. There&#8217;s
+that old set of mine! It doesn&#8217;t seem much to us
+now, beside our big one, but I bet that McNulty
+would think it was a gold mine.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hooray for Bob!&#8221; cried Herb irrepressibly.
+&#8220;Once in a while he really does get a good idea
+in his head. When do we start installing this
+set in the McNulty mansion, boys?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As soon as you like,&#8221; answered Bob. &#8220;Tomorrow&#8217;s
+Saturday, so we could start early in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+morning. It will probably take us some time to
+rig up the antenna.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys were enthusiastic about the idea, and
+they wasted no time putting it into execution.
+That very night they looked up the old set,
+examining it to make sure it was in working
+order.
+</p>
+<p>When they told their families what they proposed
+to do, their parents were greatly pleased.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It does my heart good,&#8221; said Mr. Layton to
+his wife, after Bob had gone up to bed, &#8220;to see
+that those boys are interested in making some one
+besides themselves happy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re going to make fine men, some day,&#8221;
+answered Mrs. Layton softly.
+</p>
+<p>The boys arrived at the McNulty cottage so
+early the next morning that they met Maggie
+McNulty on her way to collect the day&#8217;s wash.
+</p>
+<p>When they told her what they were going to
+do she was at first too astonished to speak and
+then threatened to fall upon their necks in her
+gratitude.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shure, if ye can bring some sunshine into my
+poor old father&#8217;s dark life,&#8221; she told them in her
+rich brogue, tears in her eyes, &#8220;then ye&#8217;ll shure
+win the undyin&#8217; gratitude uv Maggie McNulty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was a whole day&#8217;s job, and the boys worked
+steadily, only stopping long enough to rush home
+for a bit of lunch.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span></p>
+<p>They had tried to explain what they were doing
+to Adam McNulty, but the old man seemed
+almost childishly mystified. It was with a feeling
+of dismay that the boys realized that, in all
+probability, this was the first time the blind man
+had ever heard the word radio. It seemed incredible
+to them that there could be anybody in
+the world who did not know about radio.
+</p>
+<p>However, if Adam McNulty was mystified, he
+was also delightedly, pitifully excited. He followed
+the boys out to the cluttered back yard
+where they were rigging up the aerial, listening
+eagerly to their chatter and putting in a funny
+word now and then that made them roar with
+laughter.
+</p>
+<p>Bob brought him an empty soap box for a seat
+and there the old man sat hour after hour, despite
+the fact that there was a chill in the air, blissfully
+happy in their companionship. He had been
+made to understand that something pleasant was
+being done for him, but it is doubtful if he could
+have asked for any greater happiness than just
+to sit there with somebody to talk to and crack
+his jokes with.
+</p>
+<p>They were good jokes too, full of real Irish
+wit, and long before the set was ready for action
+the boys had become fond of the old fellow.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a dead game sport,&#8221; Joe said to Bob, in
+that brief interval when they had raced home for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+lunch. &#8220;I bet I&#8217;d be a regular old crab, blind
+like that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Layton put up an appetizing lunch for the
+blind man, topping it off with a delicious homemade
+lemon pie and a thermos bottle full of
+steaming coffee.
+</p>
+<p>The way the old man ate that food was amazing
+even to Jimmy. Maggie was too busy earning
+enough to keep them alive to bother much
+with dainties. At any rate, Adam ate the entire
+lemon pie, not leaving so much as a crumb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought I was pretty good on feeding,&#8221;
+whispered Joe, in a delighted aside, &#8220;but I never
+could go that old bird. He&#8217;s got me beat a
+mile.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Jimmy complacently, &#8220;I bet I&#8217;d tie
+with him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>If the boys had wanted any reward for that
+day of strenuous work, they would have had it
+when, placing the earphones upon his white head,
+they watched the expression of McNulty&#8217;s face
+change from mystification to wonder, then to
+beatific enjoyment.
+</p>
+<p>He listened motionless while the exquisite
+music flooded his starved old soul. Toward the
+end he closed his eyes and tears trickled from beneath
+the lids down his wrinkled face. He
+brushed them off impatiently and the boys noticed
+that his hand was trembling.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></p>
+<p>It was a long, long time before he seemed to
+be aware that there was any one in the room with
+him. He seemed to have completely forgotten
+the boys who had bestowed this rare gift upon
+him.
+</p>
+<p>After a while, coming out of his dream, the
+old man began fumbling with the headphones as
+if he wanted to take them off, and Bob helped
+him. The man tried to speak, but made hard
+work of it. Emotion choked him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shure, an&#8217; I don&#8217;t know what to make of it
+at all, at all,&#8221; he said at last, in a quivering voice.
+&#8220;Shure an&#8217; I thought the age of miracles was
+passed. I&#8217;m only an ignorant old man, with no
+eyes at all; but you lads have given me something
+that&#8217;s near as good. Shure an&#8217; it&#8217;s an old sinner
+I am, for shure. Many&#8217;s the day I&#8217;ve sat here,
+prayin&#8217; the Lord would give me wan more minute
+o&#8217; sight before I died, an&#8217; it was unanswered my
+prayers wuz, I thought. It&#8217;s grateful I am to
+yez, lads. It&#8217;s old Adam McNulty&#8217;s blessin&#8217; ye&#8217;ll
+always have. An&#8217; now will yez put them things
+in my ears? It&#8217;s heaven&#8217;s own angels I&#8217;d like to
+be hearin&#8217; agin. That&#8217;s the lad&mdash;ah!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And while the beatific expression stole once
+more over his blind old face the boys stole silently
+out.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='X_THE_ESCAPED_CONVICT' id='X_THE_ESCAPED_CONVICT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+<h3>THE ESCAPED CONVICT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The boys saw a good deal of Adam McNulty
+in the days that followed, and the change in the
+old man was nothing short of miraculous.
+</p>
+<p>He no longer sat in the bare kitchen rocking
+and smoking his pipe, dependent upon some
+passer-by for his sole amusement. He had radio
+now, and under the instruction of the boys he had
+become quite expert in managing the apparatus.
+Although he had no eyes, his fingers were extraordinarily
+sensitive and they soon learned to
+handle the set intelligently.
+</p>
+<p>His daughter Maggie, whose gratitude to the
+boys knew no bounds, looked up the radio program
+in the paper each day and carefully instructed
+her father as to just when the news reports
+were given out, the story reading, concerts,
+and so forth.
+</p>
+<p>And so the old blind man lived in a new world&mdash;or
+rather, the old world which he had ceased to
+live in when he became blind&mdash;and he seemed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+actually to grow younger day by day. For radio
+had become his eyes.
+</p>
+<p>Doctor Dale heard of this act of kindness on
+the part of the boys and he was warm in his
+praise.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Radio,&#8221; he told the boys one day when he met
+them on the street, &#8220;is a wonderful thing for
+those of us that can see, but for the blind it is
+a miracle. You boys have done an admirable
+thing in your kindness to Adam McNulty, and I
+hope that, not only individuals, but the government
+itself will see the possibilities of so great a
+charity and follow your example.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys glowed with pride at the doctor&#8217;s
+praise, and then and there made the resolve that
+whenever they came across a blind person that
+person should immediately possess a radio set if
+it lay within their power to give it to him.
+</p>
+<p>On this particular day when so many things
+happened the boys were walking down Main
+Street, talking as usual of their sets and the
+marvelous progress of radio.
+</p>
+<p>Although it was still early spring, the air was
+as warm almost as it would be two months later.
+There was a smell of damp earth and pushing
+grass in the air, and the boys, sniffing hungrily,
+longed suddenly for the freedom of the open
+country.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Buck and his bunch have it all their own
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+way,&#8221; said Herb discontentedly. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t
+mind being up in a lumber camp myself just
+now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Too early for the country yet,&#8221; said Jimmy
+philosophically. &#8220;Probably be below zero to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What you thinking about, Bob?&#8221; asked Joe,
+noticing that his chum had been quiet for some
+time.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was thinking,&#8221; said Bob, coming out of his
+reverie, &#8220;of the difference there has been in generators
+since the early days of Marconi&#8217;s spark
+coil. First we had the spark transmitters and
+then we graduated to transformers&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And they still gave us the spark,&#8221; added Joe,
+taking up the theme. &#8220;Then came the rotary
+spark gap and later the Goldsmith generator&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And then,&#8221; Jimmy continued cheerfully, &#8220;the
+Goldsmith generator was knocked into a cocked
+hat by the Alexanderson generator.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll have an improvement on that before
+long, too,&#8221; prophesied Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They have already,&#8221; Bob took him up quickly.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t you remember what Doctor Dale told us
+of the new power vacuum tube where one tube
+can take care of fifty K. W.?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee,&#8221; breathed Herb admiringly, &#8220;I&#8217;ll say
+that&#8217;s some energy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those same vacuum tubes are being built
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+right now,&#8221; went on Bob enthusiastically. &#8220;They
+are made of quartz and are much cheaper than
+the alternators we&#8217;re using now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They are small too, compared to our present-day
+generators,&#8221; added Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You bet!&#8221; agreed Bob, adding, as his eyes
+narrowed dreamily: &#8220;All the apparatus seems to
+be growing smaller these days, anyway. I bet
+before we fellows are twenty years older, engineers
+will have done away altogether with large
+power plants and cumbersome machinery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I read the other day,&#8221; said Joe, &#8220;that before
+long all the apparatus needed, even for transatlantic
+stations, can be contained in a small room
+about twenty-five feet by twenty-five.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what shall we do for power?&#8221; protested
+Herb. &#8220;We&#8217;ll always have to have generators.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There isn&#8217;t any such word as &#8216;always&#8217; in
+radio,&#8221; returned Bob. &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t wonder if in
+the next twenty or thirty years we shall be able,
+by means of appliances like this new power
+vacuum tube, to get our power from the ordinary
+lighting circuit.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that would do away entirely with generators,&#8221;
+added Joe triumphantly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I wouldn&#8217;t say anything was impossible,&#8221;
+said Herb doubtfully. &#8220;But that seems to
+me like a pretty large order.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a large order,&#8221; agreed Bob, adding with
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+conviction: &#8220;But it isn&#8217;t too large for radio to
+fill.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Speaking of lodging all apparatus in one fair-sized
+room,&#8221; Joe went on. &#8220;I don&#8217;t see why that
+can&#8217;t really be done in a few years. Why, they
+say that this new power vacuum tube which
+handles fifty K. W. is not any larger than a desk
+drawer.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see the day of the vest-pocket radio set coming
+nearer and nearer, according to you fellows,&#8221;
+announced Herb. &#8220;Pretty soon we&#8217;ll be getting
+our apparatus so small we&#8217;ll need a microscope to
+see it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Laugh if you want to,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;But I bet
+in the next few years we&#8217;re going to see greater
+things done in radio than have been accomplished
+yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that&#8217;s saying something!&#8221; exclaimed Joe,
+with a laugh.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess,&#8221; said Jimmy thoughtfully, &#8220;that there
+have been more changes in a short time in radio
+than in any other science.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should say so!&#8221; Herb took him up. &#8220;Look
+at telephone and telegraph and electric lighting
+systems. There have been changes in them, of
+course, but beside the rapid-fire changes of radio,
+they seem to have been standing still.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There haven&#8217;t been any changes to speak of
+in the electric lighting systems for the last fifteen
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span>
+years or more,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;And the telephone
+has stayed just about the same, too.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no doubt about it,&#8221; said Joe. &#8220;Radio
+has got &#8217;em all beat as far as a field for experiment
+is concerned. Say,&#8221; he added fervently,
+&#8220;aren&#8217;t you glad you weren&#8217;t born a hundred
+years ago?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys stopped in at Adam McNulty&#8217;s cabin
+to see how the old fellow was getting along.
+They found him in the best of spirits and, after
+&#8220;listening in&#8221; with him for a while and laughing
+at some of his Irish jokes, they started toward
+home.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish,&#8221; said Bob, &#8220;that we could have gotten
+a line on Dan Cassey. It seems strange that we
+haven&#8217;t been able to pick up some real clue in all
+this time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For, although the boys had caught several other
+mysterious messages uttered in the stuttering
+voice of Dan Cassey, they had not been able to
+make head nor tail of them. The lads liked
+mysteries, but they liked them chiefly for the fun
+of solving them. And they seemed no nearer to
+solving this one than they had been in the beginning.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it&#8217;s a fool idea,&#8221; said Herb sheepishly.
+&#8220;But since we were the ones that got Cassey his
+jail sentence before, I kind of feel as if we were
+responsible for him.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty lucky for us we&#8217;re not,&#8221; remarked
+Joe. &#8220;We certainly would be up against it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>On and on the boys went. Presently Joe began
+to whistle and all joined in until suddenly Jimmy
+uttered a cry and went down on his face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello, what&#8217;s wrong?&#8221; questioned Bob, leaping
+to his chum&#8217;s side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tripped on a tree root,&#8221; growled Doughnuts,
+rising slowly. &#8220;Gosh! what a spill I had.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better look where you are going,&#8221; suggested
+Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why they can&#8217;t chop off some of
+these roots, so it&#8217;s better walking.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right&mdash;you come down and do the chopping,&#8221;
+returned Joe, lightly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not much! The folks that own the woods
+can do that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t find fault, Jimmy. Remember, some
+of these very roots have furnished us with shinny
+sticks.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, not the one I tripped over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was some time later that the boys noticed
+that they had tramped further than they had intended.
+They were on the very outskirts of the
+town, and before them the heavily-wooded region
+stretched invitingly.
+</p>
+<p>Jimmy, who, on account of his plumpness, was
+not as good a hiker as the other boys, was for
+turning back, but the other three wanted to go on.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+And, being three against one, Jimmy had not the
+shadow of a chance of getting his own way.
+</p>
+<p>It was cool in the shadows of the woods, and
+the boys were reminded that it was still early in
+the season. It was good to be in the woods, just
+the same, and they tramped on for a long way
+before they finally decided it was time to turn
+back.
+</p>
+<p>They were just about to turn around when
+voices on the path ahead of them made them hesitate.
+As they paused three men came into full
+view, and the boys stood, staring.
+</p>
+<p>Two of the men they had never seen before,
+but the other they knew well. It was the man
+whose voice they had been trailing all these weeks&mdash;Dan
+Cassey, the stutterer!
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XI_DOWN_THE_TRAP_DOOR' id='XI_DOWN_THE_TRAP_DOOR'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+<h3>DOWN THE TRAP DOOR</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It seemed that in the semi-darkness of the
+woods Cassey did not at once recognize the
+radio boys. He was talking excitedly to his
+companions in his stuttering tongue and he was
+almost upon the boys before he realized who they
+were.
+</p>
+<p>He stopped still, eyes and mouth wide open.
+Then, with a stuttered imprecation, he turned and
+fled. The men with him stayed not to question,
+but darted furtively into the woods.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on, fellows!&#8221; cried Bob, with a whoop
+of delight. &#8220;Here&#8217;s where we nail Dan Cassey,
+sure.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys, except poor Jimmy, were unusually
+fleet, and they soon overtook Cassey. Bob&#8217;s
+hand was almost upon him when the man doubled
+suddenly in his tracks and darted off into the
+thick underbrush.
+</p>
+<p>Bob, with Herb and Joe close at his heels, was
+after him in a minute. He reached a clearing
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+just in time to see Cassey dash into an old barn
+which had been hidden by the trees.
+</p>
+<p>The boys plunged into the barn with Jimmy
+pantingly bringing up the rear. In Bob&#8217;s heart
+was a wild exultation. They had Cassey cornered.
+Once more they would bring this criminal
+to justice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You guard the door,&#8221; he called in a low tone
+to Joe. &#8220;See that Cassey doesn&#8217;t get out that
+way, and Herb and I will get after him in
+here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The barn was so dark that they could hardly
+see to move around. There was a window high
+up in the side wall, but this was so covered with
+dirt and cobwebs that it was almost as though
+there was none.
+</p>
+<p>However, Cassey must be lurking in one of
+those dark corners, and if they moved carefully
+they were sure to capture him!
+</p>
+<p>There was a loft to the barn, but if there had
+been a ladder leading up to it it had long since
+rotted and dropped away, so that Bob was reasonably
+sure the man could not be up there.
+</p>
+<p>It was eery business, groping about in the
+musty darkness of the old barn for a man who
+would go to almost any lengths of villainy to
+keep from being caught.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly Bob saw something move, and, with
+an exultant yell, jumped toward it. Once more
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+he almost had his hand upon Cassey when&mdash;something
+happened.
+</p>
+<p>The floor of the barn seemed to open and let
+him through, and his chums with him. As he
+fell through the hole into blackness he had confused
+thoughts of an earthquake. Then he
+struck bottom with a solid thump that almost
+made him see stars.
+</p>
+<p>He heard similar thumps about him and realized
+that Herb and Jimmy had followed him. Whatever
+it was they had shot through had evidently
+magically closed up again, for they were in absolute
+darkness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; came in a voice which Bob recognized
+as Jimmy&#8217;s, &#8220;I must say, this is a nice note!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been pushed off the end of the world,
+I guess,&#8221; said Herb, with a sorry attempt at humor.
+&#8220;Who all&#8217;s in this party anyway? Are
+we all here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess so,&#8221; said Joe, and at the sound of his
+voice Bob jumped.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you doing here?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;I
+thought you were going to guard the door.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I should have done, but I played
+the big idiot,&#8221; retorted Joe bitterly. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t
+resist coming after you fellows to be in on the
+big fight. I suppose while I was trailing you
+boys somebody sneaked in the door and signed
+our finish.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Looks like it,&#8221; said Bob, feeling himself to
+make sure there were no bones broken. &#8220;And
+now, instead of delivering Cassey to justice we&#8217;re
+prisoners ourselves. Say, I bet the old boy isn&#8217;t
+laughing at us or anything just now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m awful sorry, Bob,&#8221; said Joe penitently.
+&#8220;I thought if I kept my eye on the door&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said Bob generously. &#8220;Accidents
+will happen and there&#8217;s no use crying over
+spilled milk. I suppose the most sensible thing
+for us to do right now is to hustle around and
+find a way out of this place.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe there isn&#8217;t any,&#8221; said Jimmy dolefully.
+&#8220;Then what&#8217;ll we do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay here and let the rats eat us, I guess,&#8221;
+said Herb cheerfully, and Jimmy groaned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gosh, don&#8217;t talk about eating, old boy,&#8221; he
+pleaded. &#8220;I&#8217;m just about starved this minute.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll probably stay starved for some little
+time longer,&#8221; said Bob unfeelingly. He had
+risen cautiously to his feet, and finding that their
+prison was at least high enough for them to stand
+up in, reached his hands tentatively above his
+head.
+</p>
+<p>As, even by standing on tiptoe, his fingers encountered
+nothing but air, he decided that they
+must have dropped further than he had thought
+at the time.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span></p>
+<p>A hand reached out and took hold of him and
+he realized that Joe was standing beside him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Must have been some sort of trap door opening
+inward, I guess,&#8221; said the latter. &#8220;You
+didn&#8217;t see anything, did you, Bob?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. It happened too suddenly. One minute
+I was reaching forward to grab hold of Cassey
+and the next moment I found myself flying
+through space.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Humph,&#8221; grunted Joe. &#8220;It was lucky for
+Cassey that we all happened to be in a bunch,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;He couldn&#8217;t have gotten rid of us so
+quickly if we&#8217;d been scattered about&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As we should have been,&#8221; added Bob. &#8220;Just
+the same,&#8221; he added, after a minute, &#8220;I don&#8217;t suppose
+it would have done any good if one of us
+had been left up there. It must have been the
+men who were with Cassey who sprang the trap
+on us; and if that&#8217;s so, the fight would have been
+three to one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to have tried it just the same,&#8221; said
+Joe belligerently. &#8220;I bet Cassey would have
+got a black eye out of it, anyway.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For some time they groped around the black
+hole of their prison, hoping to find some way of
+escape, but without success. They were beginning
+to get tired and discouraged, and they sat
+down on the floor to talk the situation over.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span></p>
+<p>The queer thing about this hole in the ground
+was that it possessed a flooring where one would
+have expected to find merely packed-down dirt.
+The flooring consisted of rough boards laid side
+by side, and when the boys moved upon it it
+sounded like the rattling of some rickety old
+bridge.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s some mystery about this place,&#8221; said
+Bob. &#8220;I bet this is a regular meeting place for
+Cassey and whoever his confederates may be. In
+case of pursuit all they would have to do would
+be to hide in this hole and they&#8217;d be practically
+safe from discovery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; said Herb, &#8220;why Cassey didn&#8217;t do
+that now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Probably didn&#8217;t have time,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;I
+was right on his heels, you know, and probably he
+didn&#8217;t dare stop for anything.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so they turned the trick on us,&#8221; said Joe.
+&#8220;And it sure was a neat job.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Too neat, if we don&#8217;t get out of here soon,&#8221;
+groaned Jimmy. &#8220;I bet they&#8217;ve just left us here
+to starve!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t put it beyond Cassey,&#8221; said Herb
+gloomily. &#8220;It would be just the kind of thing
+he&#8217;d love to do. He&#8217;s got a grudge against us,
+anyway, for doing him out of Miss Berwick&#8217;s
+money and landing him in jail, and this would
+be a fine way to get even.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, if that&#8217;s his game, he&#8217;s got another
+guess coming,&#8221; said Bob, adding excitedly:
+&#8220;Say, fellows, if that was a trap door that let us
+down into this hole, and it must have been something
+of that sort, we&#8217;ll probably be able to get
+out the same way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it&#8217;s above our heads,&#8221; protested Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What difference does that make?&#8221; returned
+Bob impatiently. &#8220;One of us can stand on the
+other&#8217;s back, and we can haul the last fellow out
+by his hands.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Simple when you say it quick,&#8221; said Joe
+gloomily. &#8220;But I bet that trap door is bolted on
+the outside. You don&#8217;t think Cassey&#8217;s going to
+let us off that easy, do you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we could see anyway,&#8221; returned Bob.
+&#8220;Anything&#8217;s better than just sitting here. Come
+on, let&#8217;s find that trap door.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This feat, in itself, was no easy one. They
+had wandered about in the dark so much that they
+had become completely confused.
+</p>
+<p>Since Herb was the slightest, he was hoisted
+up on Bob&#8217;s shoulders and they began the stumbling
+tour of their prison. It seemed ages before
+Herb&#8217;s glad cry announced a discovery of some
+sort.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve found a handle,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Steady there,
+Bob, till I give it a pull.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XII_GROPING_IN_DARKNESS' id='XII_GROPING_IN_DARKNESS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+<h3>GROPING IN DARKNESS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Herb tugged gently and gave another yell of
+delight when whatever was attached to the handle
+yielded grudgingly to the pull.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the trap door, fellows!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Move
+over a bit, Bob, till I pull the thing down.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob, who, about this time, was finding Herb&#8217;s
+weight not any too comfortable, moved over, and,
+in doing so, stumbled, nearly pitching himself and
+Herb to the floor.
+</p>
+<p>As it was, Herb lost his balance and leaped
+wildly. He landed on his feet and reached out
+a hand to find Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of all the tough luck,&#8221; he groaned. &#8220;There
+I had the thing in my hand and now we&#8217;ve gone
+and lost it again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sorry. But stop your groaning and get
+busy,&#8221; Bob commanded him. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t moved
+from this spot, so if you get up on my shoulders
+again you ought to be able to get hold of the
+handle easily enough.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span></p>
+<p>So, hoisted and pushed by Joe and Jimmy,
+Herb finally regained his perch and felt for the
+handle. He found it, and this time pulled the
+door so far open that the boys could see through
+the opening in the barn floor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If somebody can hold that door,&#8221; panted
+Herb, &#8220;I think I can get through this hole. Grab
+hold, boy. It sure is heavy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So Joe caught the door as it swung downward
+and Herb scrambled through the aperture. Bob
+gave a grunt of relief as the weight was taken
+from his shoulders.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re next, Joe,&#8221; Bob was saying when
+Jimmy came stumbling up, carrying something
+that banged against Bob&#8217;s legs.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got it,&#8221; he panted. &#8220;Had an idea I
+might find something like it. Trust your Uncle
+Jimmy&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For the love of butter, what are you raving
+about?&#8221; interrupted Joe, and Jimmy proudly exhibited
+his prize.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A soap box,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And a good big one,
+too. If we stand on that we can reach the opening
+easily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good for you, Doughnuts,&#8221; cried Bob, joyfully
+seizing upon the soap box. &#8220;This beats
+playing the human footstool all hollow. Jump
+up on it, Jimmy, and see how quick you can get
+out of here.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></p>
+<p>Jimmy needed no second invitation. He
+scrambled up on the tall box, and by stretching
+up on tip toe could just manage to get his fingers
+over the edge of the flooring above.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Give me a boost, some one,&#8221; he commanded,
+and Bob obligingly administered the boost.
+</p>
+<p>Joe was next. Bob went last, holding the trap
+door with his foot to keep it from closing too
+quickly. Once upon the floor of the barn he
+took his foot away and the door banged to with
+a snap, being balanced by a rope and weight
+above.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, there&#8217;s that!&#8221; exclaimed Bob, eyeing the
+closed door with satisfaction. &#8220;If Cassey
+thought he was going to fool us long, he sure was
+mistaken.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe he&#8217;s hiding around here somewhere,&#8221;
+suggested Herb, lowering his voice to a whisper.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No such luck,&#8221; replied Bob. &#8220;I&#8217;d be willing
+to wager that the moment we struck bottom there,
+Cassey and his friends beat it away from here as
+fast as their legs could take them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think we&#8217;d better look around a
+little bit, anyway?&#8221; suggested Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wouldn&#8217;t do any harm,&#8221; agreed Bob. &#8220;But
+first let&#8217;s have a look outside. We don&#8217;t want
+to overlook any clues.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys thrashed around the bushes about the
+barn until they were satisfied no one was hiding
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+there and then returned to the barn. They were
+curious to find out just how they had been shot
+through that trap door.
+</p>
+<p>They thought at first that it was perhaps
+worked by some sort of apparatus, but they found
+that this was not the case. They found by experimenting
+that the trap door yielded easily to
+their weight, and decided that it had been their
+combined rush upon Cassey that had done the
+trick. The weight of the four of them upon it
+had shot the door down so rapidly that they had
+not had time even to know what was happening
+to them, much less scramble to safety. Then it
+had shut on them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It couldn&#8217;t have worked better for them,&#8221;
+said Herb, as they turned toward the door of the
+barn. &#8220;I bet they&#8217;re laughing yet at the way
+they put things over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let &#8217;em laugh,&#8221; said Bob, adding fiercely:
+&#8220;But I bet you anything that the last laugh will
+be ours!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder what Cassey was doing here, anyway,&#8221;
+said Jimmy, as they walked slowly homeward.
+&#8220;It was lucky, wasn&#8217;t it, that we happened
+along when we did?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see where it&#8217;s so lucky,&#8221; grumbled Joe.
+&#8220;We&#8217;re no nearer catching him now than we ever
+were.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Except that we know he&#8217;s around this
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+locality,&#8221; put in Bob. &#8220;I guess the police will be
+glad to know that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! are you going to tell the police?&#8221; asked
+Jimmy, whose thoughts had been upon what he
+was going to get for dinner.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;He&#8217;s an escaped
+criminal, and it&#8217;s up to us to tell the police all we
+know about him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only wish we knew more to tell,&#8221; said Joe
+disconsolately.
+</p>
+<p>Since they had been flung through the trap
+door, Joe had called himself every unpleasant
+name he could think of for his carelessness. If
+he had stayed at the door where he belonged,
+there would have been one of them left to grapple
+with Dan Cassey. Probably the two men who
+had been with Cassey when they had surprised
+him had not been anywhere around. They belonged
+to the type of criminal that always thinks
+of its own safety first. Probably they had not
+been anywhere near the barn. And if it had been
+only Dan Cassey and himself, well, he, Joe, could
+at least have given the scoundrel a black eye&mdash;maybe
+captured him.
+</p>
+<p>He said something of this to his chums, but
+they laughed at him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop your grouching,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Haven&#8217;t
+we already agreed that there&#8217;s no use crying over
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+spilled milk? And, anyway, you just watch out.
+We&#8217;ll get Cassey yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As soon as the boys reached town they went
+straight to the police station and told the story
+of their encounter with Cassey to the grizzled old
+chief, who nodded his head grimly and thanked
+them for the information.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll send some men out right away,&#8221; he told
+them. &#8220;If there&#8217;s a criminal in those woods,
+they&#8217;re sure to get him before dark. It&#8217;s too bad
+you lads couldn&#8217;t have got him yourselves. It
+would sure have been a feather in your caps!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why doesn&#8217;t he rub it in?&#8221; grumbled Joe,
+as they turned at last toward home and dinner.
+&#8220;He ought to know we feel mad enough about
+it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Bob, &#8220;if the police round him up,
+because of our information, it will be almost as
+good as though we&#8217;d caught him ourselves. I
+wouldn&#8217;t,&#8221; he added, with a glint in his eye, &#8220;exactly
+like to be in Cassey&#8217;s shoes, now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIII_CUNNING_SCOUNDRELS' id='XIII_CUNNING_SCOUNDRELS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+<h3>CUNNING SCOUNDRELS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>But, contrary to the expectations of the radio
+boys, the police were not able to locate Cassey nor
+any of the rest of the gang. They searched the
+woods for miles around the old barn about which
+the boys had told them, even carrying their search
+into the neighboring townships, but without any
+result. It seemed as though the earth had opened
+and swallowed up Cassey together with his rascally
+companions. If such a thing had actually
+happened, their disappearance could not have been
+more complete.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They must be experts in the art of hiding,&#8221;
+grumbled Bob, upon returning from a visit to the
+chief of police. &#8220;I was certain they would be
+rounded up before this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Guess they must have made a break for the
+tall timber,&#8221; said Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Decided, maybe, it isn&#8217;t just healthy around
+here,&#8221; added Herb, with a grin.
+</p>
+<p>And then, just when they had decided that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+Cassey and his gang had made a masterly getaway,
+the radio boys got on their trail once again.
+</p>
+<p>That very evening, when tuning in for the concert,
+they caught another of those mysterious,
+stuttering messages in the unmistakable voice of
+Dan Cassey!
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rice, rats, make hay,&#8221; was the substance of
+this message, and the boys would have laughed if
+they had not been so dumbfounded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you know about that?&#8221; gasped
+Jimmy. &#8220;That old boy sure has his nerve with
+him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re still hanging around here somewhere!&#8221;
+cried Bob excitedly. &#8220;They&#8217;ve probably
+got a hiding place that even the police can&#8217;t find.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, if we could only make sense of this!&#8221; exclaimed
+Herb, staring at the apparently senseless
+message which he had written down. &#8220;If we
+only had their code the whole thing would be
+simple.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, if we only had a million dollars, we&#8217;d
+be millionaires!&#8221; retorted Jimmy scornfully.
+&#8220;Where do you get that stuff, anyway?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Bob, temporarily giving up the
+problem, &#8220;as far as I can see, all there is for us
+to do is to keep our eyes and ears open and trust
+to luck. Now what do you say we listen in on
+the concert for a little while?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In the days that followed Cassey&#8217;s voice came
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+to them several times out of the ether, and always
+in that same cryptic form that, try as they would,
+they could not make out.
+</p>
+<p>It was exasperating, that familiar voice coming
+to them out of the air day after day without
+giving them the slightest clue to the whereabouts
+of the speaker.
+</p>
+<p>And then, while they were in town one day,
+they quite unexpectedly ran into their old friend,
+Frank Brandon, the wireless inspector, whose
+work for some time had taken him into another
+district.
+</p>
+<p>However, he was to stay in Clintonia for a few
+days on business now, and since he had nothing
+particular to do that day, Bob enthusiastically invited
+him up to his home for a visit.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe you can give us some tips on our set,&#8221;
+Bob added, as Mr. Brandon readily accepted the
+invitation. &#8220;We&#8217;re not altogether satisfied with
+our batteries. For some reason or other they
+burn out too quickly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I&#8217;ll take a look at it,&#8221; agreed Mr. Brandon
+good-naturedly. &#8220;Although I imagine you
+boys are such experts by this time I can&#8217;t tell you
+very much. What have you been doing with
+yourselves since we last met?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys told him something of their experiences,
+in which he showed intense interest, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+in return he told them some interesting things that
+had happened to him.
+</p>
+<p>And when he spoke of catching mysterious
+messages in the stuttering voice of Dan Cassey,
+Bob broke in upon him eagerly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve caught a good many such messages
+too,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Have you managed to make anything
+of them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a thing,&#8221; said Mr. Brandon, shaking his
+head. &#8220;If it is a criminal code, and I am about
+assured that it is, then it is a remarkably clever
+one and one that it is almost impossible to decipher
+without a key. I&#8217;ve just about given up
+trying.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then the boys told of their encounter with
+Cassey in the woods and their adventure in the
+old barn, and Frank Brandon was immensely excited.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;By Jove,&#8221; he said, &#8220;the man is up to his old
+tricks again! I&#8217;d like to get hold of him before
+he does any serious harm. That sort of criminal
+is a menace to the community.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The funny part of it,&#8221; he continued, as they
+turned the corner into Bob&#8217;s block, &#8220;is that these
+messages are not all in Cassey&#8217;s voice. Have you
+noticed that?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was the boys&#8217; turn to be surprised.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a new one on us,&#8221; Bob confessed.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span>
+&#8220;The only messages we have caught so far have
+been in Cassey&#8217;s voice.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Frank Brandon slowly shook his head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I have caught a couple in a
+strange voice, a voice I never heard before.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The same kind of message?&#8221; asked Herb
+eagerly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The same kind of message,&#8221; Brandon
+affirmed. &#8220;I have taken it for granted that the
+owner of the strange voice is a confederate of
+Cassey&#8217;s.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe one of the fellows who was with him
+in the woods,&#8221; said Jimmy, and Mr. Brandon
+nodded gravely.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s possible,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, of
+course, but I imagine that there are several in
+Cassey&#8217;s gang.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>By this time they had reached Bob&#8217;s home, and
+as it was nearly lunch time, Mrs. Layton insisted
+that they all stay to lunch. The boys, not liking
+to make her trouble, said they would go home and
+come back later, but the lady of the house would
+have none of it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sit down, all of you,&#8221; she commanded, in her
+cheerful, hospitable way. &#8220;I know you&#8217;re starved&mdash;all
+but Jimmy&mdash;&#8221; this last with a smile, &#8220;and
+there&#8217;s plenty to eat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Frank Brandon was very entertaining all during
+the meal and kept them in gales of laughter.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+Mrs. Layton found him as amusing as did the
+boys.
+</p>
+<p>At last the lunch came to an end and Mr.
+Brandon professed himself ready to talk shop.
+</p>
+<p>He was enthusiastic over the radio set the boys
+showed him and declared that he could see very
+little improvement to suggest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You surely have kept up with the march,&#8221; he
+said admiringly. &#8220;You have pretty nearly all the
+latest appliances, haven&#8217;t you? Good work,
+boys. Keep it up and you&#8217;ll be experts in
+earnest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If we could only find some way to lengthen
+the life of our storage batteries,&#8221; said Bob, not
+without a pardonable touch of pride, &#8220;we wouldn&#8217;t
+have much to complain about. But that battery
+does puzzle us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keep your battery filled with water and see if
+it doesn&#8217;t last you about twice as long,&#8221; suggested
+the radio expert. &#8220;Don&#8217;t add any acid to your
+battery, for it&#8217;s only the water that evaporates.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will that really do the trick?&#8221; asked Joe,
+wondering. &#8220;I don&#8217;t just see how&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It does just the same,&#8221; Brandon interrupted
+confidently. &#8220;All you have to do is to try it to
+find out. Don&#8217;t use ordinary water though. It
+needs to be distilled.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a new one on me, all right,&#8221; said Bob,
+adding gratefully: &#8220;But we&#8217;re obliged for the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span>
+information. If distilled water will lengthen the
+life of our battery, then distilled water it shall
+have.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems queer,&#8221; said Mr. Brandon reflectively,
+&#8220;how apparently simple things will work immense
+improvement. Marconi, for instance, by merely
+shortening his wave length, is discovering wonderful
+things. We cannot even begin to calculate
+what marvelous things are in store for us
+when we begin to send out radio waves of a few
+centimeters, perhaps less. We have not yet explored
+the low wave lengths, and when we do
+I believe we are in for some great surprises.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on,&#8221; said Joe, as he paused. &#8220;Tell us
+more about these low wave lengths.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIV_A_DARING_HOLDUP' id='XIV_A_DARING_HOLDUP'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+<h3>A DARING HOLDUP</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Frank Brandon shook his head and smiled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I don&#8217;t know much more to tell,&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;As I have said, what will happen when
+we materially decrease the wave length, is still in
+the land of conjecture. But I tell you,&#8221; he added,
+with sudden enthusiasm, &#8220;I&#8217;m mighty glad to be
+living in this good old age. What we have already
+seen accomplished is nothing to what we are going
+to see. Why,&#8221; he added, &#8220;some scientists, Steinmetz,
+for instance, are even beginning to claim
+that ether isn&#8217;t the real medium for the propagation
+of radio waves.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221; asked Bob, with
+interest. &#8220;Is it some sort of joke?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Joke, nothing!&#8221; replied Frank Brandon. &#8220;As
+a matter of fact, I fully believe that electro-magnetic
+waves can as easily be hurled through a void
+as through ether.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys were silent for a moment, thinking
+this over. It sounded revolutionary, but they
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+had great respect for Frank Brandon&#8217;s judgment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s the Rogers underground aerial,&#8221; Bob
+suggested tentatively, and Brandon took him up
+quickly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly!&#8221; he said. &#8220;That leans in the direction
+of what I say. Why, I believe the day is
+coming&mdash;and it isn&#8217;t so very far in the future,
+either&mdash;when no aerial will be used.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, I believe,&#8221; he added, becoming more and
+more enthusiastic as he continued, &#8220;that ten years
+from now we shall simply attach our receiving
+outfits to the ground and shall be able to receive
+even more satisfactorily than we do to-day.&#8221; He
+laughed and added lightly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But who am I to assume the rôle of prophet?
+Perhaps, like a good many prophets, I see too
+much in the future that never will come true.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe it,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t
+wonder if all your prophesy will come true in a few
+years.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Herb, with a grin, &#8220;it will be a relief
+not to get any more broken shins putting up
+aerials.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Brandon laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m with you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been there myself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you read about that radio-controlled
+tank?&#8221; Joe asked. &#8220;The one that was exhibited
+in Dayton, I mean?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I not only read about it, I saw it,&#8221; Mr. Brandon
+answered, and the boys stared at him in surprise.
+&#8220;I happened to be there on business,&#8221; he
+said; &#8220;and you can better believe I was on hand
+when they rolled that tank through the traffic.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did it look like?&#8221; asked Jimmy eagerly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The car was about eight feet long and three
+feet high,&#8221; responded Brandon. &#8220;It was furnished
+with a motor and storage batteries, and I
+guess its speed was about five or six miles an
+hour.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And was it really controlled by radio?&#8221; put in
+Herb, wishing that he had been on the spot.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; returned Brandon. &#8220;An automobile
+followed along behind it and controlled it
+entirely by wireless signals. The apparatus that
+does all the work is called the selector, and it&#8217;s only
+about the size of a saucer. It decodes the dots
+and dashes and obeys the command in an inconceivably
+short time&mdash;about a quarter of a second.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can be controlled by an airplane, too, can&#8217;t
+it?&#8221; asked Bob, and the radio inspector nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In case of war,&#8221; he said slowly, &#8220;I imagine
+these airplane-controlled tanks could do considerable
+damage.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Their guest left soon after that, and, of course,
+the boys were sorry to have him go. His last
+words to them were about Cassey.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keep your eyes open for that scoundrel,&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+said, &#8220;and we&#8217;ll find out what he&#8217;s up to yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But in the next few days so many alarming
+things happened that the boys had little time to
+think about Dan Cassey. The alarming happenings
+consisted of a series of automobile robberies
+in neighboring towns, robberies committed so
+skillfully that no hint nor clue was given of the
+identity of the robbers.
+</p>
+<p>And then the robberies came nearer home, even
+into Clintonia itself. The president of one of
+the banks left his machine outside the bank for
+half an hour, and when he came out again it was
+gone. No one could remember seeing any suspicious
+characters around.
+</p>
+<p>Then Raymond Johnston, a prominent business
+man of the town, had his car taken in the
+same mysterious manner from in front of his
+home. As before, no one could give the slightest
+clue as to the identity of the thieves.
+</p>
+<p>The entire community was aroused and the
+police were active, and yet the mystery remained
+as dark as ever.
+</p>
+<p>Then, one day, Herb came dashing over to
+Bob&#8217;s home in a state of wild excitement. Joe
+and Jimmy were already there, and Herb stopped
+not even for a greeting before he sprang his news.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, fellows!&#8221; he cried, sprawling in a chair
+and panting after his run, &#8220;it&#8217;s time somebody
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+caught those auto thieves. They are getting a
+little too personal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s up?&#8221; they demanded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One of dad&#8217;s trucks has been held up!&#8221; gasped
+Herb. &#8220;In broad daylight, too!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was anything taken?&#8221; asked Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anything? Well, I should say! They looted
+the truck of everything. It&#8217;s a wonder they didn&#8217;t
+steal the machinery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a pretty big loss for your dad, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+said Bob gravely.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is!&#8221; replied Herb, running his fingers
+through his hair. &#8220;He&#8217;s all cut up about it and
+vows he&#8217;ll catch the ruffians. Though he&#8217;ll have
+to be a pretty clever man if he does, I&#8217;ll say.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They do seem to be pretty slick,&#8221; agreed Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if the same gang is responsible for
+all the robberies,&#8221; put in Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks that way,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;It looks
+as if there were a crook at the head of the bunch
+who has pretty good brains.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A regular master criminal, Doughnuts?&#8221; gibed
+Herb, then sobered again as he thought of his
+father&#8217;s loss.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s bad enough,&#8221; he said gloomily, &#8220;to hear of
+other people&#8217;s property being stolen, but when it
+comes right down to your own family, it&#8217;s getting
+a little too close for comfort.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What is your dad going to do about it?&#8221; asked
+Bob.
+</p>
+<p>Herb shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What can he do?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Except what
+everybody else has done&mdash;inform the police and
+hope the rascals will be caught. And even if they
+are caught,&#8221; he added, still more gloomily, &#8220;it
+won&#8217;t do dad much good, except that he&#8217;ll get revenge.
+The crooks will probably have disposed of
+all their stolen property before they&#8217;re caught.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; said Bob hopefully.
+&#8220;Those fellows are getting a little bit too daring
+for their own good. Some day they&#8217;ll go too far
+and get caught.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope so. But crooks like that are pretty
+foxy,&#8221; returned Herb, refusing to be cheered.
+&#8220;They&#8217;re apt to get away with murder before
+they&#8217;re caught.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lads were silent for a moment, trying to
+think things out, and when Bob spoke he unconsciously
+put into words something of what his
+comrades were thinking.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems as if radio ought to be able to help
+out in a case like this,&#8221; he said, with a puzzled
+frown. &#8220;But I must say I don&#8217;t see how it can.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can&#8217;t,&#8221; returned Herb. &#8220;If some one had
+been lucky enough to get a glimpse of one of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+thieves, then good old radio would have its chance.
+We could wireless the description all over the
+country and before long somebody would make
+a capture.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s where the cunning of these rascals
+comes in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Either nobody sees them at
+all, or when they do the thieves are so well disguised
+by masks that a useful description isn&#8217;t
+possible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Were the fellows who held up your father&#8217;s
+truck masked?&#8221; asked Jimmy with interest.
+</p>
+<p>Herb nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;From all I can hear,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was a regular
+highway robbery affair&mdash;masks, guns, and all
+complete. The driver of the truck said there were
+only two of them, but since they had guns and
+he was unarmed, there wasn&#8217;t anything he could
+do.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They made him get down off the truck, and
+then they bound his hands behind him and hid
+him behind some bushes that bordered the road.
+He would probably be there yet if he hadn&#8217;t managed
+to get the gag out of his mouth and hail some
+people passing in an automobile. Poor fellow!&#8221;
+he added. &#8220;Any one might have thought he had
+robbed the truck from the way he looked. He
+was afraid to face dad.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it wasn&#8217;t his fault,&#8221; said Joe. &#8220;No man
+without a weapon is a match for two armed rascals.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t he say what the robbers looked like?&#8221;
+insisted Jimmy. &#8220;He must have known whether
+they were short or tall or fat or skinny.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He said they were about medium height, both
+of them,&#8221; returned Herb. &#8220;He said they were
+both about the same build&mdash;rather thin, if anything.
+But their faces were so well covered&mdash;the
+upper part by a mask and the lower by bandana
+handkerchiefs&mdash;that he couldn&#8217;t give any
+description of them at all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I bet,&#8221; Bob spoke up suddenly, &#8220;that whoever
+is at the head of that rascally gang knows the
+danger of radio to him and his plans. That&#8217;s
+why his men are so careful to escape recognition.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys stared at him for a minute and then
+suddenly the full force of what he intimated
+struck them.
+</p>
+<p>At the same instant the name of the same man
+came into their minds&mdash;the name of a man who
+used radio for the exchange of criminal codes, a
+man who stuttered painfully.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cassey!&#8221; they said together, and Herb added,
+thoughtfully:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder!&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XV_OFF_TO_THE_WOODS' id='XV_OFF_TO_THE_WOODS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+<h3>OFF TO THE WOODS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>For days the town hummed with the excitement
+that followed the daring robbery of the truck
+belonging to Mr. Fennington, but as time passed
+and there seemed little prospect of bringing the
+robbers to justice, interest died down. But the
+radio boys never abated their resolve to do all in
+their power to recover the stolen merchandise,
+although at that time they were kept so busy in
+high school, preparing for a stiff examination,
+that they had little time for anything else.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s getting so bad lately that I don&#8217;t even get
+time to enjoy my meals,&#8221; grumbled Jimmy, one
+sunny spring afternoon. &#8220;Swinging an oar a la
+Ben Hur would be just a little restful exercise
+after the way we&#8217;ve been drilling the last week.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get out!&#8221; exclaimed Joe. &#8220;Why, you
+wouldn&#8217;t last two hours in one of those galleys,
+Doughnuts. They&#8217;d heave you over the side as
+excess baggage once they got wise to you.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;After two hours of rowing in one of those old
+galleys, he&#8217;d be glad to get heaved overboard, I&#8217;ll
+bet,&#8221; put in Herb, grinning. &#8220;I think Jimmy
+would rather drown any day than work that
+hard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Huh! I don&#8217;t see where you fellows get off
+to criticize,&#8221; retorted the harassed youth. &#8220;I
+never saw any of you win gold medals for hard
+and earnest work.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lots of people deserve medals who never get
+them,&#8221; Bob pointed out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. But, likewise, lots of people don&#8217;t deserve
+&#8217;em who don&#8217;t get &#8217;em,&#8221; retorted Jimmy,
+and for once appeared to have won an argument.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess you&#8217;re right at that,&#8221; conceded Bob.
+&#8220;But, anyway, I&#8217;m going to pass those examinations
+no matter how hard I have to work. It
+will pretty near break my heart, but it can&#8217;t be
+helped.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The others were equally determined, and they
+dug into the mysteries of Horace and Euclid to
+such good effect that they all passed the examinations
+with flying colors. After that came a
+breathing space, and just at that time a golden
+opportunity presented itself.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Fennington, Herbert&#8217;s father, had become
+interested, together with several other business
+men of Clintonia, in a timber deal comprising
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+many acres of almost virgin forest in the northern
+part of the state. He was going to look over
+the ground personally, and when Herb learned
+of this, he urged his father to take him and the
+other radio boys along for a brief outing over
+the Easter holiday. When his father seemed extremely
+dubious over this plan, Herb reminded
+him that Mr. Layton had taken them all to Mountain
+Pass the previous autumn, and that it would
+be only fair to reciprocate.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the Lookers are up in that part of the
+country, too,&#8221; said Mr. Fennington. &#8220;Aren&#8217;t you
+fellows scared to go where Buck Looker is?&#8221; he
+added, with a smile lurking about his mouth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, we&#8217;re terribly afraid of that!&#8221; answered
+Herb sarcastically. &#8220;We&#8217;ll take our
+chances, though, if you&#8217;ll only let us go with
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, well, I&#8217;ll see,&#8221; said his father, and Herb
+knew that this was practically equivalent to surrender.
+Accordingly he hunted up his chums and
+broached the project to them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Herb, your words are as welcome as the flowers
+in May,&#8221; Bob told him, with a hearty slap on
+the back. &#8220;If this trip actually works out, we&#8217;ll
+forgive you all last winter&#8217;s jokes, won&#8217;t we,
+fellows?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an awful lot to ask of a fellow, but I
+suppose we can manage it,&#8221; said Joe, and Jimmy,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+after pretending to think the matter over very
+seriously, finally said the same.
+</p>
+<p>They were all overjoyed at the prospect of such
+a trip, and had little difficulty in getting the consent
+of their parents. Mr. Fennington eventually
+consented to take the radio boys with him, and
+there ensued several days of bustle and excited
+packing. At length all was ready, and they
+found themselves, one bright spring morning, installed
+in a big seven-passenger touring car <i>en
+route</i> for Braxton Woods, as the strip of timberland
+was called.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is the life!&#8221; chortled Jimmy, as the miles
+rolled away behind. &#8220;Fresh air, bright sun, the
+song of birds, and&mdash;doughnuts!&#8221; and he produced
+a bulging paper bag full of his favorite dainty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you get that way?&#8221; asked Joe severely,
+although he eyed the bag hungrily. &#8220;The
+&#8216;song of doughnuts!&#8217; You&#8217;re the only Doughnut
+that I ever heard of that could sing, and you&#8217;re
+no great shakes at it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you know what I meant!&#8221; exclaimed
+Jimmy. &#8220;At least, you&#8217;re thicker than usual if
+you don&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you hear that, Joe?&#8221; laughed Bob. &#8220;The
+boy&#8217;s telling you that you&#8217;re thick. Are you going
+to stand for that?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He knows it&#8217;s true. And, anyway, he doesn&#8217;t
+dare talk back for fear I won&#8217;t give him one of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+these delicious little morsels,&#8221; said Jimmy placidly.
+&#8220;How about it, Joe?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s taking mean advantage of a poor fellow
+who&#8217;s practically dying of starvation,&#8221; said Joe.
+&#8220;Give me a doughnut, and I won&#8217;t talk back&mdash;until
+after I&#8217;ve eaten it, anyway.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all right then,&#8221; said his plump friend.
+&#8220;After you&#8217;ve eaten one, you&#8217;ll feel so grateful
+to me that you&#8217;ll regret all the low-down things
+you&#8217;ve ever said about me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you&#8217;re the finest pal any fellow ever had,&#8221;
+declared Joe. &#8220;How many doughnuts have you
+left, Jimmy?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something tells me that you don&#8217;t mean all you
+say,&#8221; said Jimmy suspiciously. &#8220;Just the same,
+I&#8217;ll take a chance and give you another one. They
+won&#8217;t last long at the rate they&#8217;re going; I can
+tell that without half trying.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, a short life but a merry one,&#8221; said Bob.
+&#8220;Come across with another, Jimmy, will you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know I love you too much to refuse you
+anything, Bob,&#8221; said Jimmy. &#8220;Just the same,
+I&#8217;m going to hold out another for myself, and
+then you big panhandlers can finish them up. I&#8217;ve
+just had four, but I suppose those will have to last
+me for the present.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, that&#8217;s tough&mdash;only four!&#8221; exclaimed
+Herb, in mock sympathy. &#8220;What will you ever
+do until lunch time, I wonder?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m wondering the same thing myself; but I&#8217;m
+used to suffering whenever I&#8217;m with you fellows,
+so I suppose I&#8217;ll have to grin and bear it somehow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why you didn&#8217;t bring some more,
+while you were about it,&#8221; complained Bob. &#8220;You
+might have known that wouldn&#8217;t be half enough.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be a long time before I buy any more
+for you Indians, you can bet your last dollar on
+that,&#8221; said Jimmy, in an aggrieved voice.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ve been going to school a number of years,
+now, but you still don&#8217;t know what &#8216;gratitude&#8217;
+means.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The only one that should be grateful is yourself,
+Doughnuts,&#8221; Joe assured him. &#8220;You know
+if you had eaten that whole bag full of doughnuts
+that you&#8217;d have been heading a funeral to-morrow
+or next day. It&#8217;s lucky you have us around to
+save you from yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>While Jimmy was still framing an indignant
+reply to this there was a loud report, and the
+driver quickly brought the big car to a halt.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Blowout,&#8221; he remarked laconically, walking
+around to view a shoe that was flat beyond the
+possibility of doubt. It was not an unmixed evil
+to the boys, however, for they welcomed the
+chance to get out and stretch their cramped muscles.
+They helped the driver jack up the wheel
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+and change shoes, and in a short time they were
+ready to proceed.
+</p>
+<p>Back they climbed into their places, and with a
+rasp of changing gears they were on their way
+once more.
+</p>
+<p>Braxton Woods lay something over a hundred
+miles from Clintonia, but the roads were good
+most of the way, and they had planned to reach
+their destination that evening. When they had
+covered sixty miles of the distance, Mr. Fennington
+consented to stop for the lunch for which the
+boys had been clamoring for some time. They
+took their time over the meal, building a fire and
+cooking steak and frying potatoes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee, this was a feast fit for a king!&#8221; exclaimed
+Jimmy, when it was over.
+</p>
+<p>The boys lay down on the newly sprouted grass,
+but had hardly got settled when the driver, who
+appeared restless, summoned them to proceed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got a long way to go yet,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;and the last fifteen miles are worse than all the
+rest of the trip put together. The road is mostly
+clay and rocks, and at this time of year it&#8217;s apt
+to be pretty wet. I don&#8217;t want to have to drive it
+after dark.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Fennington was also anxious to get on, so
+their rest was a brief one, and they were soon on
+their way again.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span></p>
+<p>The radio boys laughed and sang, cracked jokes,
+and waved to passing cars, while the mileage record
+on the speedometer mounted steadily up. The
+sun was still quite a way above the western horizon
+when they reached the place where the forest
+road branched off from the main highway. The
+driver tackled this road cautiously, and they soon
+found that his description of it had not been overdrawn.
+It was a narrow trail, in most places not
+wide enough for two cars to pass, and they wondered
+what would happen should they meet another
+car going in the opposite direction. But in
+the whole fifteen miles they met only one other
+motor, and fortunately that was at a wide place
+in the road.
+</p>
+<p>The scent of spring and growing things was
+strong in the air, and compensated somewhat for
+the atrocious road. The boys were often tossed
+high in the air as the car bumped over logs and
+stones, or came up with a lurch out of some deep
+hole. But they hung on to each other, or whatever
+else was most convenient, and little minded
+the rough going.
+</p>
+<p>After one particularly vicious lunge, however,
+the heavy car came down with a slam, and there
+was a sharp noise of snapping steel. With a muttered
+exclamation the driver brought his car to
+a halt and climbed out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just as I thought!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;A spring
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+busted, and the nearest garage twenty miles away.
+Now we&#8217;re up against it for fair!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean that we can&#8217;t go on?&#8221; asked Mr.
+Fennington anxiously. &#8220;It will be dark in another
+hour.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it will,&#8221; replied the chauffeur. &#8220;But
+what can we do about it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t we make a temporary repair?&#8221; suggested
+Bob. &#8220;We can&#8217;t have much further to go now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m open to suggestions, young fellow,&#8221;
+growled the driver. &#8220;If you can tell me how to
+fix this boiler up, go to it. It&#8217;s more than I can
+do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob and the others made a thorough examination
+of the damage, and they were not long in
+concocting a plan. Bob had brought with him a
+small but very keen-edged ax, and it was the
+work of only a few minutes to cut a stout limb
+about six inches in diameter from a tree.
+</p>
+<p>With this, and a coil of heavy rope that was
+carried in the car for emergencies, they proceeded
+to make the temporary repair.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVI_PUT_TO_THE_TEST' id='XVI_PUT_TO_THE_TEST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+<h3>PUT TO THE TEST</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>First of all the boys trimmed the branch to a
+length slightly greater than the distance between
+axle and axle of the car. Then, near each end,
+they cut a notch about two inches deep, one to fit
+over the front and one over the rear axle. Next
+they placed the branch in position, and with the
+heavy rope lashed it securely into position. Thus
+the front and rear axles were kept at the proper
+distance from each other, and, moreover, the
+side of the car that was over the broken spring
+could rest on the stout pole.
+</p>
+<p>The driver, who at first had watched their efforts
+with a derisive grin, took their plan more
+seriously as he realized the scheme, and now he
+examined the completed job with an air of surprised
+respect.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got to admit that that looks as though
+it might do the trick,&#8221; he admitted, at length.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve seen a lot of roadside repairs in my time,
+but blest if that hasn&#8217;t got &#8217;em all beat. I&#8217;ll take
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+it at slow speed the rest of the way, and we&#8217;ll see
+if it will stand up long enough to get us in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And get them in it did, in spite of much creaking
+and groaning and bumping.
+</p>
+<p>The automobile drew up before a long one-story
+building, constructed roughly but substantially
+of unpainted boards. Supper was being
+served, and they were just in time to partake of a
+typical lumber camp meal. The big table was
+laden with huge joints of meat, platters of biscuits
+and vegetables, while strong, black coffee
+was served in abundance. After this plates of
+doughnuts were passed around, greatly to Jimmy&#8217;s
+delight, and for once he could eat all he wanted
+with nobody to criticize, for the lumbermen were
+no tyros at this sort of thing, and packed away
+food in quantities and at a speed that made the
+boys gape.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee!&#8221; exclaimed Bob, after they had emerged
+into the balmy spring air outside, &#8220;I used to think
+that Jimmy could eat; but he can&#8217;t even make the
+qualifying heats with this crowd. You&#8217;re outclassed,
+Doughnuts, beyond the chance of argument.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see but what I&#8217;ll have to admit it,&#8221;
+sighed his rotund friend. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t care. It
+seems like Heaven to be in a place where they
+serve doughnuts like that. There&#8217;s none of this
+&#8216;do-have-a-doughnut&#8217; business. Some big husky
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+passes you a platter with about a hundred on it
+and says, &#8216;dig in, young feller.&#8217; Those are what
+I call sweet sounding words.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you dug, all right,&#8221; remarked Joe, grinning.
+&#8220;I saw you clean one platter off all by
+your lonesome&mdash;at least, you came pretty near it,&#8221;
+he qualified, with some last lingering regard for
+the truth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t anything of the kind! But I only wish
+I could,&#8221; lamented Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, Doughnuts, nobody can deny
+that you did your best,&#8221; laughed Herb. &#8220;After
+you&#8217;ve had a little practice with this crowd, I&#8217;ll
+back you against their champion eater any day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So would I,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;We&#8217;ve often talked
+about entering Jimmy in a pie-eating contest, but
+I never before thought we could find anybody who
+would even stand a chance with him. Up here,
+though, there&#8217;s some likely-looking material.
+Judging from some of those huskies we saw to-night,
+they might crowd our champion pretty
+hard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can enter me any time you want to,&#8221; said
+Jimmy. &#8220;Even if I didn&#8217;t win, I&#8217;d have a lot of
+fun trying. I never really got enough pie at one
+time yet, and that would be the chance of a lifetime.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At first the boys were more than half joking,
+but after they had been at the camp a few days
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+and had begun to get acquainted, they let drop
+hints regarding Jimmy&#8217;s prowess that aroused
+the interest of the lumbermen. He was covertly
+watched at meal times, and as the bracing woodland
+air and long hikes combined to give an added
+edge to his appetite, his ability began to command
+attention. There were several among the woodsmen
+who had a reputation for large capacity, but
+it was soon evident that Jimmy was not to be
+easily outdistanced in his own particular department.
+</p>
+<p>At length interest became so keen that it was
+decided to stage a real old-fashioned pie-eating
+contest, to determine whether the champions of
+the camp were to be outdistanced by a visitor from
+the city. The cook was approached, and agreed
+to make all the pies that, in all human probability,
+would be needed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmy, you&#8217;re in for it now!&#8221; exclaimed Herb,
+dancing ecstatically about his plump friend.
+&#8220;Here&#8217;s your chance to make good on all the
+claims we&#8217;ve ever advanced for you. You&#8217;re up
+against a strong field, but my confidence in you
+is unshaken.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It simply isn&#8217;t possible that our own Jimmy
+could lose,&#8221; grinned Bob. &#8220;I&#8217;ve seen him wade
+into pies before this, and I know what he can do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I appreciate your confidence, believe me,&#8221; said
+Jimmy. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t care much whether I win
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+or not. I know I&#8217;ll get enough pie for once in my
+life, and that&#8217;s the main thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The time for the contest was set for the following
+evening, the third of their stay. Five lumbermen
+had been put forward to uphold the reputation
+of the camp, and they and Jimmy ate no supper
+that night, waiting until the others had finished.
+Then the board was cleared, and the cook
+and his helper entered, bringing in several dozen
+big pies of all varieties. One of these was placed
+before each of the contestants, and they could
+help themselves to as many more as their capacity
+would admit.
+</p>
+<p>The cook, as having the best knowledge of matters
+culinary, was appointed judge, and was provided
+with a pad and pencil to check up each contestant.
+A time limit of two hours was set, the
+one having consumed the greatest amount of pie
+in that time to be declared the winner.
+</p>
+<p>The cook gave the signal to start, and the contest
+was on.
+</p>
+<p>The lumbermen started off at high speed, and
+at first wrought tremendous havoc among the
+pies, while Jimmy ate in his usual calm and placid
+manner, evidently enjoying himself immensely.
+Each of the lumbermen had his following, who
+cheered him on and urged him to fresh endeavors.
+Bob and Joe and Herb said little, for they had observed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+Jimmy&#8217;s prowess over a period of several
+years, and knew his staying qualities.
+</p>
+<p>At the end of the first half hour their friend
+was badly outdistanced, but the other contestants
+had slowed up noticeably, while Jimmy still ate
+calmly on, no faster and no slower than when he
+had started. He was only starting on his second
+pie when all the others were finishing theirs, but
+the confidence of his three comrades remained
+unshaken. They observed that the lumbermen
+chose their third pies very carefully, and started
+to eat them in a languid way. They were only
+about half through when Jimmy disposed of his
+second one, and started on a third.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel, Jimmy?&#8221; asked Herb, with
+a grin. &#8220;Are you still hungry?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, not exactly hungry, but it still tastes
+good,&#8221; replied Jimmy calmly. &#8220;You sure can
+make good pies, Cook.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The other contestants essayed feeble grins, but
+it was easy to see that their pies no longer tasted
+good to them. More and more slowly they ate,
+while Jimmy kept placidly on, his original gait
+hardly slackened. He finished the third pie and
+started nonchalantly on a fourth. At sight of
+this, and his confident bearing, two of the other
+contestants threw up their hands and admitted
+themselves beaten.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I used to like pie,&#8221; groaned one, &#8220;but now I
+hope never to see one again. That youngster
+must be made of rubber.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve often said the same thing myself,&#8221; chortled
+Bob. &#8220;Just look at him! I believe he&#8217;s good
+for a couple more yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Excitement ran high when two of the remaining
+lumbermen were forced out toward the middle
+of their fourth pie, leaving only Jimmy and a
+jolly man of large girth, who before the start
+had been picked by his companions as the undoubted
+winner.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go to it, Jack!&#8221; the lumbermen shouted now.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t let the youngster beat you out. He&#8217;s
+pretty near his limit now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was true that flaky pie crust and luscious filling
+had lost their charm for Jimmy, but his opponent
+was in even worse plight. He managed to
+finish his fourth pie, but when the cook handed
+him a fifth, the task proved to be beyond him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve reached my limit, fellers,&#8221; he declared.
+&#8220;If the youngster can go pie number five, he&#8217;ll be
+champion of the camp.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Excitement ran high as Jimmy slowly finished
+the last crumbs of his fourth pie, and the cook
+handed him a fifth. Would he take it, or would
+the contest prove to be a draw?
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVII_THE_BULLY_GETS_A_DUCKING' id='XVII_THE_BULLY_GETS_A_DUCKING'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+<h3>THE BULLY GETS A DUCKING</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Our man doesn&#8217;t have to eat another whole
+pie,&#8221; protested Bob. &#8220;If he just eats some of it
+he&#8217;ll win, Mr. Judge.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; nodded the cook. &#8220;How about
+you, young feller? Are you able to tackle it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sure thing,&#8221; responded Jimmy. &#8220;Hand it
+over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He forced himself to cut and eat a small piece,
+and when he had finished, pandemonium broke
+loose. The judge declared him undisputed
+champion of the camp, and he was caught up and
+elevated to broad shoulders while an impromptu
+triumphal procession was organized that circled
+the camp with much laughter and many jokes at
+the expense of the defeated aspirants for the
+title.
+</p>
+<p>After this was over, the boys held a little private
+jubilation of their own in the little cabin
+where they were quartered with Mr. Fennington.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+He had been away during the contest, but he returned
+shortly afterward, and laughingly congratulated
+Jimmy on his newly won honors.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel?&#8221; he inquired. &#8220;Do you
+think you could manage another piece of pie?
+I&#8217;ll see that you have a large piece if you think
+you can.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir! I&#8217;ve had enough pie to last me for
+a good while to come,&#8221; declared Jimmy positively.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll be ashamed to look a pie in the face. For
+the next week or so I&#8217;ll have to stick to my favorite
+doughnuts for dessert.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you did nobly, Doughnuts, and I love
+you more than ever,&#8221; declared Bob. &#8220;You were
+up against a field that anybody might be proud
+to beat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And the best part of it, to me, is the feeling
+that our confidence in Jimmy&#8217;s eating powers was
+justified,&#8221; declared Joe. &#8220;After all the wonderful
+exhibitions he&#8217;s given in the past, it would have
+been terrible if he hadn&#8217;t come up to scratch to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The way that fellow they call Jack started off,
+I never thought you had a chance, Jimmy,&#8221; confessed
+Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If he could have held that pace, I wouldn&#8217;t
+have had a look-in,&#8221; admitted Jimmy. &#8220;I figured
+he&#8217;d have to slow down pretty soon, though.
+&#8216;Slow but sure&#8217; is my motto.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;How would you like to take a nice three-mile
+sprint now?&#8221; asked Herb mischievously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Three mile nothing!&#8221; exclaimed Jimmy scornfully.
+&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t run three yards right now. I
+think I&#8217;ll lie down and give my digestion a
+chance,&#8221; and in a few minutes he was peacefully
+snoring.
+</p>
+<p>The next morning he showed no ill effects from
+the prodigious feast, but ate his usual hearty breakfast.
+The others were forced to the conclusion
+that his table ability was even greater than they
+had suspected, and from that time on they firmly
+believed him to be invincible in his particular
+department.
+</p>
+<p>By this time they were thoroughly familiar with
+the camp, and decided to make an excursion into
+the woods the following day, taking lunch with
+them and making it a day&#8217;s outing. The cook
+so far departed from his usual iron-clad rules as
+to make them up a fine lunch, making due allowance
+for Jimmy&#8217;s proven capacity.
+</p>
+<p>They started out immediately after breakfast.
+Not being particular as to direction, they followed
+the first old logging road that they came to. It
+led them deeper and deeper into the forest that
+was alive with the sounds and scents of spring.
+Last year&#8217;s fallen leaves made a springy carpet
+underfoot, while robins sang their spring song
+in the budding branches overhead.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></p>
+<p>For some time the boys tramped in silence,
+breathing deeply of the exhilarating pine and balsam
+atmosphere and at peace with all the world.
+Soon there was a glint of water through the
+trees, and the boys, with one accord, diverged
+from the faint trail that they had been following
+and were a few minutes later standing at the
+water&#8217;s edge.
+</p>
+<p>They found themselves on the shore of a large
+lake. It was ringed about with big trees, many of
+which leaned far out over it as though to gaze at
+their reflections in the water. The ripples lapped
+gently on a sloping sandy beach, and the invitation
+to swim proved irresistible to all but Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know what lake water is like at this time of
+year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You fellows can go in and freeze
+yourselves all you like, but I&#8217;ll stay right here and
+look after the things. Just dive right in and
+enjoy yourselves.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, we won&#8217;t coax you,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;But
+that water looks too good to miss. It is pretty
+cold, but I guess that won&#8217;t kill us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Off came their clothes, and with shouts and
+laughter they splashed through the shallow water
+and struck out manfully. The icy water made
+them gasp at first, but soon the reaction came, and
+they thoroughly enjoyed their swim. They tried
+to coax Jimmy in, but he lay flat on his back
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+under a tree and was adamant to all their pleadings.
+</p>
+<p>The others did not stay in very long, but
+emerged glowing from the effects of exercise and
+the cold water. As they were getting into their
+clothes they heard voices coming toward them,
+and they had hardly finished dressing when the
+voices&#8217; owners came crashing through the underbrush
+close to where the boys were standing.
+</p>
+<p>The two groups stared in astonishment for a
+few moments, for the newcomers were none other
+than Carl Lutz, Buck Looker, Terry Mooney,
+and another older fellow, who was a stranger to
+the radio boys.
+</p>
+<p>Buck&#8217;s expression of surprise quickly gave place
+to an ugly sneer, and he turned to his friends.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look who&#8217;s here!&#8221; he cried, in a nasty tone.
+&#8220;I wonder what they&#8217;re up to now, Carl?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not hiding from the cops because we
+broke a plate glass window and were afraid to
+own up to it,&#8221; Bob told him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who broke a window?&#8221; demanded Buck.
+&#8220;You can&#8217;t prove that it wasn&#8217;t a snowball that
+one of your own bunch threw that broke that
+window.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t throw that kind of snowballs,&#8221; said
+Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221; asked Buck.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you trying to say that we put stones in our
+snowballs?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t have to say it,&#8221; retorted Joe. &#8220;You
+just said it yourself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Too late Buck realized his mistake, and his
+coarse red face grew purple as Herb and Jimmy
+grinned at him in maddening fashion.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you laugh at me, Jimmy Plummer!&#8221; he
+exclaimed, picking on Jimmy as being the least
+warlike of the radio boys. &#8220;I&#8217;ll make you laugh
+out of the other side of your mouth in a minute,&#8221;
+and he started to dash past Bob to reach his
+victim.
+</p>
+<p>But to do so he had to pass between Bob and
+the bank of the lake, which just at this point was
+a foot or so above the water.
+</p>
+<p>As he rushed past, Bob adroitly shot out a
+muscular arm and his elbow caught the bully fair
+in the side. Buck staggered, made a wild effort
+to regain his balance, and with a prodigious
+splash disappeared in the icy waters of the
+lake.
+</p>
+<p>For a few seconds friend and enemy gazed
+anxiously at the spot where he had gone under,
+but he soon came to the surface, and, sputtering
+and fuming, struck out for the shore and dragged
+himself out on to dry land.
+</p>
+<p>He made such a ludicrous figure that even his
+cronies could not forbear laughing, but he turned
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+on them furiously and their laughter suddenly
+ceased. Then he turned to Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I didn&#8217;t have these wet clothes on, I&#8217;d
+make you pay for that right now, Bob Layton,&#8221; he
+sputtered. &#8220;I&#8217;ll make you sorry for that before
+you&#8217;re much older.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why not settle it right now?&#8221; offered Bob.
+&#8220;Your clothes will dry soon enough, don&#8217;t worry
+about that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I know you&#8217;d like nothing better than to
+see me get pneumonia,&#8221; said Buck. &#8220;You wait
+here till I go home and get dry clothes on, and
+I&#8217;ll come and give you the licking that you deserve.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s only a bluff, and you know it,&#8221; said
+Bob contemptuously. &#8220;But if any of your friends
+would like to take your place, why, here I am.
+How about you, Lutz?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But Carl muttered something unintelligible, and
+backed away. The others likewise seemed discouraged
+by the mischance to their leader, for
+they turned and followed his retreating form
+without another word.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Some sports!&#8221; commented Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Game as a mouse,&#8221; supplemented Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was a swell ducking you gave Buck,&#8221;
+chuckled Jimmy. &#8220;Just when he was going to
+pick on me, too. I owe you something for that,
+Bob.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Pay me when you get rich and famous,&#8221;
+laughed his friend. &#8220;You don&#8217;t owe me anything,
+anyway. It was a pleasure to shove Buck into
+the lake. I&#8217;m perfectly willing to do it again any
+time I get the chance.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s my turn next time,&#8221; said Joe. &#8220;I
+can&#8217;t let you hog all the fun, Bob.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; replied his friend. &#8220;If we run
+into him again, I&#8217;ll leave him to your tender mercies.
+But I don&#8217;t imagine he or his friends will
+bother us any more to-day, so why not have
+lunch?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was thinking the same thing,&#8221; remarked
+Jimmy, and they forthwith set to work to prepare
+what Jimmy termed a &#8220;bang-up lunch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVIII_A_STARTLING_DISCOVERY' id='XVIII_A_STARTLING_DISCOVERY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+<h3>A STARTLING DISCOVERY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The cook had supplied the radio boys with a
+lavish hand, but their long walk and the swim
+had given them ravenous appetites, and by the
+time they finished there was little left of the
+lunch. Even this little was soon disposed of by
+the bright-eyed birds that ventured close in pursuit
+of the tempting bits. By sitting as still as
+statues the boys succeeded in enticing the little
+fellows almost within arm&#8217;s length, and derived no
+little amusement at the evident struggle between
+greed and caution.
+</p>
+<p>But soon the last crumb was gone, and after
+a short rest the lads began to think of returning
+to camp. They did not want to go back by the
+same road over which they had come, however,
+so decided to follow the shores of the lake until
+they should find some other path. This was, of
+course, a roundabout way of getting home, but
+they had the better part of the afternoon before
+them, and were in no particular hurry.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on over to the north,&#8221; suggested Joe.
+&#8220;I think there is another trail in that direction.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and I imagine the walking is better,&#8221; put
+in Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, you don&#8217;t want to go too far out of the
+way,&#8221; came hastily from Jimmy. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to
+walk back remember.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Forward it is!&#8221; cried Bob. &#8220;Come on, Jimmy,
+you&#8217;ve got to walk off that big lunch you stowed
+away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gee, if I walk too far I&#8217;ll be hungry again
+before I get home,&#8221; sighed the stout youth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wow! hear Jimmy complain,&#8221; burst out Joe.
+&#8220;He hardly has one meal down than he&#8217;s thinking
+of another.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>To find another trail was not as simple a matter
+as it had seemed, and they must have traveled
+over two miles before Bob&#8217;s keen eyes detected a
+slight break in the dry underbrush that might
+denote a path such as they sought. They found a
+dim trail leading in the general direction in which
+they wished to go, and set out at a brisk pace,
+even Jimmy being willing to hurry as visions of
+the loaded supper table floated before him.
+</p>
+<p>Gradually the path widened out, as others ran
+into it, until it became a fairly well-defined woods
+road. It was thickly strewn with last year&#8217;s soft
+and rotting leaves, and the boys made little sound
+in spite of the rapidity of their pace. Bob and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+Joe and Herb were striding along in a group,
+Jimmy having dropped behind while he fixed
+a refractory shoe lace, when suddenly Bob halted
+abruptly and held up a warning hand. The
+others, scenting something amiss, stopped likewise,
+looking inquiringly at Bob.
+</p>
+<p>Silently he pointed to a spot slightly ahead of
+them and several paces off the road. Even as
+the others gazed wonderingly, Bob beckoned them
+to follow and slipped silently into the brush that
+lined the road.
+</p>
+<p>On the other side stood a big tree, its trunk and
+branches sharply outlined against the clear sky.
+At the base of this tree, with his back toward
+them, stood a man. Now, the surprising part of
+it all, and that which had caused the boys to proceed
+so cautiously, was the fact that the man
+wore headphones and was evidently receiving a
+message of some kind. Fastened to the tree was
+a box, which evidently contained telephonic apparatus.
+At first the boys thought he must be
+listening at an ordinary telephone, but the fact
+that he had no transmitter indicated that he was
+listening in on a radio receiving set.
+</p>
+<p>The boys had hardly reached their place of concealment
+when the man turned sharply about,
+darting furtive glances here and there, evidently
+in search of possible intruders. The boys
+crouched lower behind the bushes and prayed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span>
+fervently that Jimmy would not arrive before the
+man had gone. The fellow was of fair size, with
+a deeply tanned face, and wore a moustache.
+Fortunately, after they had been watching him a
+few minutes, he removed the earphones, placed
+them in the box, and, after locking it, started into
+the woods, following a dimly marked footpath.
+</p>
+<p>It was well that he left when he did, for not two
+minutes later Jimmy came puffing along, looking
+anxiously for the others. He stopped in amazement
+when he saw his friends emerge from the
+bushes, and was about to raise his voice in vehement
+questionings when Bob leaped at him and
+clapped a hand over his mouth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be quiet!&#8221; he hissed into his ear. &#8220;There&#8217;s
+some funny work going on here, and we want to
+find out what it is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Thus admonished, Jimmy was released, and in
+low tones the others told him of what they had
+seen and showed him the box fastened to the tree.
+While they were about it, they made a hasty
+search for the antenna, and found it strung close
+to the trunk of the tree, extending from the top
+almost to the roots. After this discovery they
+hurried after the man with the moustache, fearful
+lest they should lose his trail.
+</p>
+<p>It was no easy matter to follow the dimly
+marked path, for it passed at times over stony
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+ground and big boulders, where often it took much
+searching here and there before they picked up its
+continuation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We may be taking all this trouble for nothing,&#8221;
+said Bob, after one of these searches.
+&#8220;Maybe he&#8217;s just a lumberman receiving instruction
+by wireless from his employers. Big business
+firms are using radio more and more for
+such purposes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t like the way he kept looking about
+him, as though he had something to conceal,&#8221; objected
+Joe. &#8220;It can&#8217;t do any harm to see where
+he goes, anyway. We may find out something
+important.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;His hands weren&#8217;t those of a lumberman,&#8221; observed
+Herb. &#8220;Those hands never saw rough
+work nor, judging from the man&#8217;s face and manner,
+honest work. Come on, fellows.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Accordingly the boys followed the difficult trail
+with untiring patience, and at last their perseverance
+was rewarded. The path widened out into a
+little clearing, and at the further side of this was
+a rough log cabin. The little shack had two small
+windows, and with infinite caution the boys approached
+until they could see into the nearest one.
+</p>
+<p>The interior was rudely furnished with a heavy
+table and two crudely fashioned chairs, while in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+the corner furthest from them two bunks had
+been built, one above the other. In another corner
+was a compact radio transmitting set.
+</p>
+<p>At the table was seated the man with the
+moustache, intently studying a notebook propped
+up before him. From this he made notes on a
+sheet of paper, scowling at times like one engaged
+in a difficult task. At length he shoved back his
+chair, rose to his feet, and, striding across the
+little shack, carefully placed the notebook under a
+board on a shelf. Luckily he was so absorbed in
+what he was doing that he did not even glance
+toward the window where the radio boys were
+observing his every motion.
+</p>
+<p>But Bob now judged that they had seen enough,
+and he wished to run no unnecessary risk of detection.
+At a signal from him they made for the
+underbrush at the edge of the clearing, where they
+could command a view of the door, and waited to
+see if the mysterious stranger would emerge.
+</p>
+<p>In a few minutes the door opened and the man
+stepped out, stopping to fasten it securely behind
+him. Then, with a quick glance about the little
+clearing, he made for the path leading to the main
+road and in a short time the sound of his going
+died away.
+</p>
+<p>The boys waited a few minutes, thinking that
+possibly he might return for something forgotten,
+but no further sound came from the path. At
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+length they ventured to approach the deserted
+cabin.
+</p>
+<p>The door had been fastened with a heavy padlock,
+but this was not sufficient to deter the radio
+boys. Searching through their pockets for some
+implement with which they could undo the lock,
+Jimmy discovered a stout fish-hook, and after
+they had ground off the barbs against a flat stone
+this made an ideal tool. With it Bob probed about
+in the interior of the padlock, and at length, with
+a sharp click, it sprung open. Ordinarily he
+would not have done this, but he had every reason
+to believe that he was dealing with a criminal and
+that he was justified in the interest of law and
+order in taking steps that would prevent any
+further depredations against society.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;More ways than one of killing a cat,&#8221; remarked
+Bob, as he pushed open the heavy door
+and entered the cabin. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to know
+what&#8217;s in that notebook before we leave this place.
+Let&#8217;s have a look.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys quickly brought the book from its place
+of concealment and carried it to the table, where
+they bent eagerly over it as Bob turned the pages.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t look like sense to me,&#8221; complained
+Jimmy. &#8220;I never saw such a lot of fool words
+jumbled together.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but something tells me there&#8217;s method in
+this madness,&#8221; said Bob, his brows knit as he
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+concentrated on the problem before him. &#8220;Say,
+fellows!&#8221; he exclaimed, as sudden excitement
+gripped him, &#8220;do you remember those nights we
+were listening to our big set and we heard the
+mysterious messages? They were just a lot of
+words, and we couldn&#8217;t make anything out of
+them at the time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You bet I remember!&#8221; exclaimed Joe. &#8220;I
+think I could even tell you most of the words.
+Why, there&#8217;s some of them in that book, right
+now!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly,&#8221; replied Bob, nodding. &#8220;I remember
+them, too, and this must be the key to the code.
+My stars, what luck! Let&#8217;s see how close we can
+recall the words we caught, and then we&#8217;ll see if
+we can make sense of them with the help of this
+key.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you the words as I remember them,
+and you check me up,&#8221; suggested Joe, and this
+they accordingly did.
+</p>
+<p>Between them they managed to get it straight,
+just as they had heard it, &#8220;Corn-hay-six-paint-water-slow-sick-jelly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;s right,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Anyway,
+we&#8217;ll see if it comes right with the key. You read
+the words, Joe, and I&#8217;ll find them in this notebook
+and you can write them down. Shoot the
+first one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Corn,&#8221; said Joe.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span></p>
+<p>Bob hunted rapidly down the columns of code
+words and their equivalents, and soon found the
+one he was after.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Motor truck,&#8221; he read out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That sounds promising!&#8221; exclaimed Joe.
+&#8220;The next word I&#8217;ve got is &#8216;hay.&#8217; What&#8217;s the
+answer to that?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Silk,&#8221; said Bob, after a shorter search this
+time.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Six,&#8221; read Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Castleton Road!&#8221; exclaimed Bob, his voice
+shaking with excitement as he traced down the
+columns of words. Herb and Jimmy were also
+excited; especially the former, as he realized better
+than the others how serious a loss the theft
+of his father&#8217;s truckload of silk had been and
+now thought he saw some clue in this message that
+might throw light on the whereabouts of the
+stolen goods.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIX_THE_ROBBERS__CODE' id='XIX_THE_ROBBERS__CODE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+<h3>THE ROBBERS&#8217; CODE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;The next word is &#8216;paint,&#8217;&#8221; said Joe. &#8220;What
+does that stand for, Bob?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just a minute, till I find it,&#8221; replied his friend,
+and after turning over several pages found the
+word he sought.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It means &#8216;to-night,&#8217;&#8221; he said. &#8220;Read what we&#8217;ve
+got so far.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Motor truck&mdash;silk&mdash;Castleton Road&mdash;to-night,&#8221;
+read Joe. &#8220;That&#8217;s clear enough so far.
+The next code word is water.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;No guards,&#8217;&#8221; said Bob. And so they went,
+until the completed message read as follows:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Motor truck&mdash;silk&mdash;Castleton Road&mdash;to-night&mdash;no
+guards&mdash;hold up&mdash;take everything to
+usual place&mdash;notify when job is done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the message that caused the theft of
+my father&#8217;s merchandise!&#8221; exclaimed Herb, jumping
+to his feet. &#8220;If we had only had the key then,
+when there was still time, we could have prevented
+the hold-up.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Very likely we could,&#8221; agreed Bob soberly.
+&#8220;But we may be able to do the next best thing,
+Herb&mdash;get the stuff back again. If we make a
+copy of this key and then leave the book just
+where we found it, the thieves will never dream
+that anybody knows their secret, and they&#8217;ll keep
+right on using the same code.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see,&#8221; said Herb slowly. &#8220;And then if we
+hear any more code messages we can translate
+them with this key, and likely get on the trail of
+the crooks.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly!&#8221; replied Bob. &#8220;Now, I have a notebook
+here, and if one of you fellows will dictate
+that code, I&#8217;ll copy it down and we&#8217;ll get out of
+here while the getting&#8217;s good. There&#8217;s no telling
+what minute some of the gang will show up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll dictate,&#8221; volunteered Joe. &#8220;But while you
+and I are doing that, Bob, why can&#8217;t Jimmy and
+Herb act as lookouts? Then if any of the gang
+comes along they can give us warning and we&#8217;ll
+clear out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s good advice,&#8221; agreed Bob, and Herb
+and Jimmy went outside and up the path a short
+distance, where they crouched, listening, with
+every muscle tense to warn their comrades if
+danger threatened.
+</p>
+<p>Meanwhile, in the cabin, Bob&#8217;s pencil flew at
+furious speed as Joe dictated. The code was very
+complete, and consisted of over two hundred
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
+words, each word, in some cases, standing for a
+whole phrase. Bob wrote as he had never written
+before, but in spite of his utmost efforts it took
+over an hour to copy the entire list. He and Joe
+expected every minute to hear Herb or Jimmy
+give the alarm, but the woods remained calm and
+peaceful, and they finished their task without
+interruption.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s the last word, Bob!&#8221; exclaimed Joe,
+with a sigh of relief. &#8220;Let&#8217;s put that little book
+back on the shelf where we found it, and make a
+quick getaway.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, we&#8217;ve got to make tracks,&#8221; agreed Bob.
+&#8220;It will be away after dark now when we get
+back to the camp. If we don&#8217;t hurry they will be
+organizing searching parties for us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With great care he placed the notebook back
+on the shelf, under the board, and then gazed
+searchingly around the cabin to make sure that
+no signs of their visit were left behind to warn
+the thieves. After assuring himself that everything
+was exactly as they had found it, he and Joe
+left the rude habitation, snapping the big padlock
+through the hasp.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a swell lock,&#8221; observed Joe, grinning.
+&#8220;It looks strong enough to discourage anybody,
+but Jimmy&#8217;s fish-hook licked it to a frazzle in no
+time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the way with a lot of padlocks,&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+Bob, as the two started off in search of the others.
+&#8220;It would take dynamite to break them open, but
+they&#8217;re easy enough to pick.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you know how, that is,&#8221; supplemented Joe,
+with a grin.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s understood,&#8221; replied Bob. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+hard to do anything without the know-how.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They soon picked up the two sentinels, who
+were greatly relieved to see them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought you were going to spend the night
+there,&#8221; grumbled Jimmy. &#8220;What happened?
+Did you both fall asleep in the middle of it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re an ungrateful rascal, Doughnuts,&#8221; answered
+Joe. &#8220;Here Bob and I have worked like
+slaves for the last hour, while all you had to do
+was loaf around in the nice fresh air. Then instead
+of thanking us, you growl because we took
+so long.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, don&#8217;t get sore,&#8221; protested Jimmy. &#8220;I
+suppose we should all be so happy over this discovery
+that we shouldn&#8217;t mind anything. I&#8217;ll bet
+your father will be tickled to death, Herb.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess he will,&#8221; agreed Herb. &#8220;Although
+we&#8217;re still a long way from getting back the stolen
+silk. There&#8217;s no doubt that we&#8217;ve struck a mighty
+promising clue, that much is sure.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob was about to make some remark when he
+checked himself and halted in a listening attitude.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think some one is coming!&#8221; he exclaimed,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
+in a low tone. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure I heard voices. Let&#8217;s
+duck into the underbrush, quick!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They were not a moment too soon, for they had
+hardly reached a place of concealment behind a
+great fallen tree when two men appeared around a
+bend in the path. One was the same whom they
+had followed a few hours before, while the other
+was a stranger to them. This man was of a desperate
+and unprepossessing appearance, and a
+bulge under his coat suggested the possible presence
+of a weapon.
+</p>
+<p>The boys congratulated themselves that this
+formidable looking personage had not arrived
+half an hour sooner, for they were of course unarmed
+and would have been hard put to it had
+they been caught in the cabin.
+</p>
+<p>They lay snugly hidden in their retreat behind
+the fallen tree until the voices of the two men
+had died away in the direction of the lonely cabin.
+Then they returned cautiously to the path and
+hastened toward the main road. This they
+reached without meeting any one else, and set
+out for camp at a pace that caused Jimmy to cry
+for mercy. But the shadows lay long athwart
+the path, camp was still an indefinite distance
+away, and they hurried the unfortunate youth
+along at a great rate in spite of his piteous protests.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be the best thing in the world for you,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+Doughnuts,&#8221; said Joe unfeelingly. &#8220;What you
+need is plenty of exercise to take that fat off
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Besides, think of what a fine appetite you&#8217;ll
+have when we reach camp,&#8221; laughed Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got all the appetite now that I know
+how to have,&#8221; groaned Jimmy. &#8220;You fellows
+haven&#8217;t a heart between you. Where other people
+keep their hearts, you&#8217;ve all got chunks of Vermont
+granite.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Flash a little speed, and don&#8217;t talk so much,&#8221;
+advised Herb. &#8220;Be like the tramp that the fellow
+met going down the street one day with an expensive
+rug.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who wants to be like a tramp?&#8221; objected
+Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You do, when you want to loaf all the time,&#8221;
+retorted Herb. &#8220;But now I&#8217;ll tell you a good
+joke to make the way seem shorter. Jimmy got
+me started, and now I&#8217;ll have to get it out of my
+system.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it about a tramp?&#8221; asked Jimmy suspiciously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. And it&#8217;s a pippin,&#8221; Herb assured him.
+&#8220;It seems this tramp was running down the street
+with an expensive rug over his shoulder, and
+somebody stopped him and began to ask questions.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Where did you steal that rug from?&#8217; asked
+the suspicious citizen.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;I didn&#8217;t steal it,&#8217; answered the tramp, trying
+to look insulted. &#8216;A lady in that big house down
+the street handed it to me and told me to beat it,
+and I am.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say, that&#8217;s a pretty good joke, for you, Herb,&#8221;
+said Bob, laughing with the others.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s nothing. I&#8217;ve got others just as
+good,&#8221; said Herb eagerly. &#8220;Now, here&#8217;s one
+that I made up myself the other day, but I forgot
+to tell it to you. Why&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suffering tomcats!&#8221; exclaimed Joe. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+tell us anything that you made up yourself, Herb!
+Or, at least, wait until we get back and have supper,
+so that we&#8217;ll be strong enough to stand it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I say,&#8221; agreed Jimmy. &#8220;I&#8217;m so
+hungry that I can&#8217;t think of anything but supper,
+anyway. I know your joke is as good as usual,
+Herb, but I wouldn&#8217;t be able to appreciate it just
+now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s discouraging to a high-class humorist to
+have to throw away his choice offerings on a
+bunch like this,&#8221; said Herb, in an injured voice.
+&#8220;Some day, when I am far away, you&#8217;ll wish you
+had listened to those gems of humor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to believe you, but that hardly seems
+possible,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Can you imagine the day
+ever coming when we&#8217;d actually want to sit down
+and listen to Herb&#8217;s line of humor?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My imagination isn&#8217;t up to anything like that,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+replied Joe. &#8220;But, of course, you don&#8217;t really
+ever have to ask Herb to spill some of those jokes.
+The hard thing is to keep him from doing it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, all right,&#8221; retorted Herb. &#8220;Only, remember
+that it is &#8216;easier to criticize than to create.&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For some time after this they plodded along
+hoping to reach camp before it got entirely dark.
+Bob was the first to see a distant point of light
+through the trees, and he emitted a whoop that
+startled the others.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XX_ON_THE_TRAIL' id='XX_ON_THE_TRAIL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+<h3>ON THE TRAIL</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can see the lights from the camp!&#8221; Bob
+exclaimed. &#8220;Use your eyes, fellows. A little to
+the left of us, through the trees.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s about time,&#8221; groaned Jimmy, as
+they all looked in the direction indicated. &#8220;I was
+just getting ready to lie down and die peacefully.
+I couldn&#8217;t travel another mile if you paid me for
+it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, buck up, Doughnuts, and get a move
+on!&#8221; exclaimed Bob. &#8220;You never know what
+you can do until you try. Come on, let&#8217;s take it
+on the double.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He and Joe and Herbert broke into a lively
+trot, and rather than be left behind Jimmy overcame
+his reluctance for further effort, and with
+much puffing and blowing and fragmentary complaint
+managed to hold the pace until they arrived
+at the mess house.
+</p>
+<p>Luckily for them, supper had been delayed
+owing to the failure of some supplies to arrive
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+on time, and the lumbermen had just started eating
+when the radio boys burst in through the
+door.
+</p>
+<p>The lumbermen stopped eating long enough to
+welcome their arrival, and they found their places
+set as usual.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glory be!&#8221; exclaimed Jimmy, as he slid into
+his chair. &#8220;If there were a pie-eating contest on
+to-night, I could show you fellows some real class.
+I feel empty right down to my toes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s lucky we got a head start, Champ,&#8221; remarked
+one of the men, with a grin. &#8220;Pass everything
+down this way, you amateurs. There&#8217;s a
+professional here wants to show us some fancy
+eating.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>By this time Jimmy was too busily occupied to
+make any answer, and the other radio boys were
+also showing good appetites. The long trip and
+the excitement of their discovery of the secret
+code had sharpened their naturally keen appetites
+until for once they all felt on equal terms with the
+lumbermen. Jimmy surpassed himself, and great
+was the admiration expressed for his ability as a
+trencherman.
+</p>
+<p>After supper the boys sought out Mr. Fennington
+and told him of their discovery in the
+lonely cabin. Then Bob showed him the copy
+he had made of the code, and Mr. Fennington
+studied this a long time with knit brows.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;There seems little doubt that you boys have
+unearthed an important clue, and one that may
+easily lead to the discovery of the crooks who
+stole my merchandise,&#8221; he said, at length. &#8220;I
+suppose I should put this information in the hands
+of the police. And yet perhaps we had better
+say nothing until we learn something further.
+With your radio outfit you may be able to catch
+another code message that would give us more
+definite information, and then it would be time
+enough to call in the police.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think that would be the best thing to do,
+Dad,&#8221; agreed Herb. &#8220;As soon as we get back
+home we&#8217;ll fix it so one of us will be at the set a
+good part of every afternoon and evening, and
+we&#8217;ll be almost certain to catch some more messages
+like the last one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His father nodded, and was still considering
+the matter when there came a knock at the door.
+Herb crossed over and opened it, and he and his
+friends uttered exclamations of astonishment and
+delight as they recognized the visitor. He was
+none other than Frank Brandon, the government
+radio inspector.
+</p>
+<p>On his part, he was no less pleased to see them,
+and they all shook hands heartily, with many questions
+and explanations, after which the radio inspector
+was introduced to Mr. Fennington.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you&#8217;re all wondering what I&#8217;m
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+doing up here,&#8221; he said, after the greetings were
+over.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, in a way,&#8221; admitted Bob. &#8220;Although we
+know that your position calls you all over, and
+we may expect to meet you almost any old place.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that&#8217;s a fact,&#8221; replied Brandon. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+up here on the same old business, too. Somewhere
+in this neighborhood there&#8217;s an unauthorized
+sending station, but in these thick woods it
+may prove a rather difficult place to locate exactly.
+However, it will only be a matter of time
+when we nail it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys glanced at one another, and the same
+thought was in all their minds. They remembered
+the radio apparatus they had seen in the
+lonely cabin, and had little doubt that this would
+prove to be the unauthorized station of which the
+radio man was in search.
+</p>
+<p>He must have read something of this in their
+expression, for he looked searchingly from one
+to another.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Looks to me as though you fellows knew
+something,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;I might have known
+if there was anything going on in the radio line
+within fifty miles of where you are that you&#8217;d
+know something about it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ve got a hunch that we could lead
+you right to the place you&#8217;re looking for,&#8221; said
+Bob quietly.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; shouted Brandon, leaping excitedly
+to his feet. &#8220;Do you really mean that? Tell
+me all about it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For the second time that evening Bob recounted
+the happenings of their eventful excursion, while
+the radio inspector listened intently, throwing in
+a question here and there. When Bob had finished
+he made no comment for a few minutes.
+</p>
+<p>Then he took the copy of the code and examined
+it intently, jotting down phrases here and
+there in his own notebook.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said at length, &#8220;this looks to be a
+much bigger thing than I had supposed. Of
+course I heard of the robbery of the motor-truck,
+but I never for a moment connected that with this
+sending station we&#8217;ve been looking for. It seems
+fairly evident, though, that if we can lay our
+hands on the operators of the unauthorized sending
+outfit, we&#8217;ll also have the perpetrators of that
+hold-up. This is a case where we&#8217;ll have to think
+out every move before we act.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just before you arrived I was considering the
+advisability of putting the matter into the hands
+of the police,&#8221; said Mr. Fennington. &#8220;What
+would you do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keep the whole thing to ourselves for the
+present,&#8221; said Mr. Brandon decisively. &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+send for a couple of good men to come up here
+and help me, and we&#8217;ll keep a watch on that cabin
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+for a few days. If this thing got into the papers,
+it would put the crooks on their guard, and probably
+spoil our chances of catching them and getting
+back the loot. I&#8217;ve got a small but extremely
+efficient receiving and sending set in my car, and
+if any more code messages are sent out we&#8217;ll catch
+them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His confidence was contagious, and the boys
+felt almost as though the capture of the criminals
+had already been accomplished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What puzzles me, though,&#8221; remarked Mr.
+Fennington, &#8220;is how you knew that there was an
+unauthorized radio sending station in this
+neighborhood, Mr. Brandon. I should think it
+would be almost impossible to locate such a station,
+even approximately.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the contrary,&#8221; replied Frank Brandon, &#8220;it
+is little more than a matter of routine. Probably
+any of these radio fiends here could explain the
+method as well as I can, but I&#8217;ll try to make it
+plain to you.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is a certain type of aerial that has what
+we call &#8216;directional&#8217; properties, that is, when it is
+shifted around, the incoming signals will be
+loudest when this loop aerial, as it is called, is
+directly in line with the sending station. The receiving
+antenna is wound on a square frame, and
+when the signals are received at their maximum
+strength, we know that the frame is in a practically
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span>
+straight line with the sending station we&#8217;re
+after.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but that still leaves you in the dark as
+to whether the station is one mile away or a hundred
+miles,&#8221; observed Mr. Fennington, as Brandon
+paused.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s very true,&#8221; answered the other. &#8220;And
+for that reason we can&#8217;t stop at using just one
+loop aerial. What we actually do is to have
+three stations, each one equipped with a loop.
+These three stations are located a good many
+miles apart. Now, with these three loops, we
+have three lines of direction. We lay out these
+lines on a chart of the territory, and where they
+intersect, is the place where the unlicensed station
+is located. Is that clear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perfectly,&#8221; said Mr. Fennington. &#8220;But what
+looks like a point on the map may be a large space
+on the actual territory.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, our work isn&#8217;t done by any means
+after we have got our first rough bearings,&#8221; continued
+Brandon. &#8220;Having determined the approximate
+position, we take the loops and receivers
+to what we know is a place quite near the
+station we&#8217;re after, and then we repeat the former
+process. This time it is much more accurate.
+Gradually we draw the net tighter until we find
+the antenna belonging to the offender, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span>
+then&mdash;well, we make him wish he hadn&#8217;t tried to fool the
+government.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You certainly have it reduced to an exact
+science,&#8221; acknowledged Mr. Fennington. &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+wonder that everybody interested in radio gets
+to be a fanatic.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll make a &#8216;bug&#8217; out of you before we get
+through, Dad,&#8221; declared Herb, grinning.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If my load of silk is recovered through the
+agency of radio, I&#8217;ll be enthusiastic enough over
+it to suit even you fellows,&#8221; said his father. &#8220;It
+will mean the best set that money can buy for
+you if I get it back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll hold you to that promise,&#8221; threatened
+Herb. &#8220;Radio can do anything,&#8221; he added, with
+the conviction of a devotee.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, pretty nearly everything,&#8221; qualified Mr.
+Brandon. &#8220;A little while ago it was considered
+marvelous that we could transmit the voice by
+radio, and now the transmission of photographs
+by radio has been successfully accomplished.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Fennington incredulously.
+&#8220;Do you mean to say that an actual recognizable
+photograph has been sent through the
+air by radio? That seems almost too much to
+believe.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nevertheless, it has been done,&#8221; insisted Frank
+Brandon. &#8220;I saw the actual reproduction of one
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+that had been sent from Italy to New York by
+the wireless route, and while I can&#8217;t claim that it
+was perfect, still it was as plain as the average
+newspaper picture. And don&#8217;t forget that this is
+a new phase of the game, and is not past the experimental
+stage yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, after that, I am inclined to agree with
+Herbert that &#8216;radio can do anything,&#8217;&#8221; admitted
+Mr. Fennington.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;ll have much trouble making
+a convert of you,&#8221; laughed the radio inspector.
+&#8220;No doubt the quickest way, though, will be to
+recover your stolen shipment, so we&#8217;ll start working
+in that direction the first thing in the morning.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And in this he was as good as his word. He
+was up betimes, getting in touch with headquarters
+by means of his compact portable outfit. He
+kept at work until he had received the promise of
+two trustworthy men, who were to report to him
+at the lumber camp as soon as they could get
+there. Then he routed out the radio boys, and
+after a hasty breakfast they all set out to locate
+the cabin where the boys had found the code key.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXI_THE_GLIMPSE_THROUGH_THE_WINDOW' id='XXI_THE_GLIMPSE_THROUGH_THE_WINDOW'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+<h3>THE GLIMPSE THROUGH THE WINDOW</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The sun was just climbing above the treetops
+when the radio boys and Frank Brandon
+set out over the forest road, to the accompaniment
+of a full chorus of lusty feathered singers. Robin
+and starling and thrush combined to make the
+dewy morning gladsome, and the boys whistled
+back at them and wished Larry Bartlett were
+there to learn some new notes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This would be just his dish,&#8221; commented
+Herb. &#8220;After he got warmed up, you wouldn&#8217;t
+be able to tell him from the birds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The only difference is, that he&#8217;s better,&#8221; declared
+Joe. &#8220;If he were here now, he&#8217;d be teaching
+the dicky birds a new song or two. That boy
+is certainly a wonder.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s very clever,&#8221; acknowledged Brandon.
+&#8220;He&#8217;s getting along wonderfully well at the broadcasting
+station, and I understand he&#8217;s had several
+good offers from the big vaudeville circuits.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why doesn&#8217;t he accept one?&#8221; questioned Joe.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;He hasn&#8217;t fully recovered from the effects of
+the accident yet. And, besides, he says he likes
+the radio work better. He can stay in one place,
+and cut out all the traveling. That seems to be a
+strong consideration with him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know that I can blame him,&#8221; commented
+Bob. &#8220;I should think that continual
+jumping around from place to place would get
+on anybody&#8217;s nerves.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Still, it gives one a fine chance to see the
+country,&#8221; argued Frank Brandon. &#8220;If any of you
+fellows ever get into radio work in a commercial
+way, the chances are you won&#8217;t be able to &#8216;stay put&#8217;
+in one place very long.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s one great advantage about traveling,
+anyway,&#8221; said Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that, Doughnuts?&#8221; queried Joe. &#8220;I
+should think that with your restful nature you&#8217;d
+rather stay in the same place and grow old and
+fat in perfect comfort.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that part of it is all right,&#8221; admitted
+Jimmy. &#8220;But don&#8217;t forget that different parts
+of the country have different kinds of cooking.
+In New York the specialty is shore dinners; go
+a little South, and you get fried chicken and corn
+pone cooked by guaranteed southern mammies;
+go up North, and you get venison steaks; in the
+West they&#8217;ll feed you mutton chops as big as a
+plate. And so it goes.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve even forgotten some places,&#8221; laughed
+Bob. &#8220;How about a steaming dish of beans in
+Boston?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, or frijoles and chile con carne in New
+Mexico,&#8221; suggested Herb.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cease, cease!&#8221; groaned Jimmy. &#8220;Why talk
+about such things when we&#8217;re such a long way
+from them? Every time you mention something
+new it makes me feel hungrier.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hungrier!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Brandon. &#8220;Why,
+it&#8217;s hardly half an hour since we finished breakfast!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What has breakfast got to do with it?&#8221; demanded
+the insatiable Jimmy. &#8220;That&#8217;s past and
+done with. It&#8217;s time to think of lunch, now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You win,&#8221; laughed Brandon. &#8220;Your capacity
+will make you famous some day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s made him famous already&mdash;at least, up
+here,&#8221; Bob informed the radio inspector. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t
+you know that he is the undisputed champion pie
+eater of the camp?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I didn&#8217;t know that, but it doesn&#8217;t surprise
+me in the least to hear it,&#8221; said Brandon,
+with a smile. &#8220;How did he gain his laurels?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then Bob told him about the contest, and when
+he had finished Mr. Brandon laughingly congratulated
+Jimmy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I always had a sneaking idea that you could
+do it,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;But after my experience
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+with lumbermen&#8217;s appetites, I realize that you
+must have been on your mettle all the way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was rather hard at the end,&#8221; admitted
+Jimmy, &#8220;but take it all together it was a real
+pleasure. That cook sure does know how to
+make good pies,&#8221; and an expression of blissful
+reminiscence spread over his round countenance.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He made a regular pig of himself, but we
+knew he would, and that&#8217;s why we had such confidence
+in him,&#8221; said Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing of the kind!&#8221; protested Jimmy.
+&#8220;You know you fellows got me into it in the first
+place. You fixed it all up, and I only went in as
+a favor to you. But I might know better than to
+expect gratitude from this bunch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll find it in the dictionary,&#8221; Joe informed
+him. &#8220;You ought to be grateful to us for providing
+you with a feed like that. It would have
+cost you a lot of money to buy all those pies
+back home.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think he came well out of it, at any rate,&#8221;
+interposed the radio man. &#8220;But we must now be
+getting somewhere near that cabin, and we&#8217;d better
+go as quietly as we can. We know that there
+are two of the gang hanging out in it, and there&#8217;s
+no telling how many more there may be.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not so very near the cabin yet,&#8221; answered
+Bob. &#8220;Nearer that tree to which they had the
+receiving set attached.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span></p>
+<p>Nevertheless, they advanced as silently as possible,
+keeping a sharp lookout for any sign of the
+black-moustached stranger and his friend. The
+woods seemed devoid of human presence other
+than their own, however, and they saw nothing
+to arouse suspicion until at length they reached
+the tree to which the receiving set was fastened.
+Frank Brandon examined this with interest. The
+box was securely locked, but the radio man drew
+a big bunch of various-sized keys from his pocket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to see what&#8217;s in this box, but first I
+think we&#8217;d better post sentries,&#8221; he said, in a low
+voice. &#8220;Suppose you go back a few hundred feet
+the way we came, Jimmy. You go the same distance
+in the other direction, Herb. And Joe can
+go a little way up the path that leads toward the
+cabin. You can stay here and help me get this
+box open, Bob. If any of you hear some one
+coming, imitate a robin&#8217;s note three times, and
+then keep out of sight. We don&#8217;t want the crooks
+to suspect yet that anybody is on their trail.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The three radio boys scattered to their appointed
+posts, and Frank Brandon proceeded to
+try key after key in the lock. He had to try fully
+a dozen before at last the lock clicked and the door
+of the box swung open.
+</p>
+<p>Inside was a complete radio receiving set, with
+vacuum tube detector and batteries in perfect
+working order. Between the roots of the tree an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+iron pipe had been driven into the earth to act as
+a ground. The antenna was strung from top to
+bottom of the tree on the side away from the
+path, and there was nothing to differentiate the
+box from an ordinary wire telephone set, except
+that it was slightly larger. There were a number
+of regular wire telephones scattered throughout
+the woods, to aid in fighting forest fires, so that
+anybody traveling along the path would have been
+unlikely to give this outfit more than a passing
+glance, if they noticed it at all. Had the radio
+boys not chanced to see the black-moustached
+man listening, with wireless headphones over his
+ears, the fact that the box contained a wireless
+receiving outfit might never have been discovered.
+</p>
+<p>Brandon and Bob went carefully over every article
+of the equipment. They were on the lookout
+for another notebook such as the boys had
+found in the cabin, but there was nothing of the
+kind in the box. When they were satisfied of this,
+Mr. Brandon carefully replaced everything as he
+had found it, and snapped the lock shut.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much for that!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Now, let&#8217;s
+get hold of the others and we&#8217;ll see what that
+mysterious cabin looks like.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Joe and Herb and Jimmy were soon recalled
+from their sentry duty, and all set out along the
+path to the cabin. When they got close to the
+clearing the three sentries were again posted,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+while Bob and the inspector made a detour
+through the woods so as to approach the cabin on
+the side away from the path, where there was
+little likelihood of those inside keeping a lookout.
+Very cautiously they advanced from the
+concealment of the woods, Frank Brandon with
+his right hand on the butt of a deadly looking
+automatic pistol. They crept close to the wall of
+the cabin, and listened intently for some sign of
+life within.
+</p>
+<p>That there was at least one man in the cabin,
+and that he was still sleeping, soon became evident,
+for they heard the heavy breathing of one
+sound asleep. Mr. Brandon cautiously raised
+himself as high as the window, and peered within.
+From this position he could not see the sleeper,
+however, and he and Bob moved silently to the
+other side of the shack. From there they commanded
+a good view of the interior, and could
+plainly see the sleeping man, who was the same
+whom the boys had first encountered the day
+before.
+</p>
+<p>His black-moustached face was toward them,
+and Brandon gave a start of recognition, while
+his fingers tightened on his pistol. For a few
+moments he stood tense, evidently deciding what
+to do. Then he beckoned to Bob to follow, and
+made for the path where the others anxiously
+awaited them.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I know that man in there!&#8221; exclaimed Brandon
+excitedly. &#8220;He is known as &#8216;Black&#8217; Donegan,
+on account of his black hair and moustache. He&#8217;s
+wanted by the police of New York and Chicago,
+and I guess other cities, too. We could easily get
+him now, but if we did, the chances are the rest
+of the gang would take alarm, and we&#8217;d miss the
+chance of bagging them and getting back Mr.
+Fennington&#8217;s stolen property. It&#8217;s hard to say
+what is the best thing to do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>But on the instant a plan occurred to Bob, and
+he lost no time in communicating it to the others.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXII_A_NEFARIOUS_PLOT' id='XXII_A_NEFARIOUS_PLOT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+<h3>A NEFARIOUS PLOT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;If this fellow in the cabin is such a bad man,
+we can&#8217;t afford to risk losing sight of him,&#8221; said
+Bob. &#8220;Suppose Joe and Jimmy and I stay here,
+while Herb goes back with you, Mr. Brandon.
+We can stay here until your two regulars show up,
+and Herb can then bring them here to relieve us.
+How does that strike you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a way out of the predicament,&#8221; answered
+Frank Brandon, his frown vanishing. &#8220;You fellows
+are apt to have a long vigil, though. My
+men won&#8217;t get to the camp until this afternoon,
+and after that it takes quite a while to reach this
+place.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess we can stand it,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Can&#8217;t
+we, fellows?&#8221; he asked, glancing at the others.
+</p>
+<p>Both Joe and Jimmy agreed, although the latter
+had secret misgivings as he thought regretfully
+of the dinner he would miss. However, such considerations
+were of little weight just then, and it
+was finally decided to adopt Bob&#8217;s plan.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll leave my pistol with you,&#8221; said Brandon,
+as he and Herb prepared to leave. &#8220;But whatever
+else you do, steer clear of this gang and don&#8217;t use
+firearms unless as a last resort. Remember, that
+if they once find out their hiding place is discovered,
+our whole scheme will be ruined.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys promised to exercise the greatest caution,
+and then Mr. Brandon and Herb started
+back toward camp.
+</p>
+<p>Bob, after a brief inspection, dropped the
+deadly automatic pistol into his pocket, and then
+the three friends considered how they might best
+keep watch on the cabin without being discovered.
+First of all, at Joe&#8217;s suggestion, they armed
+themselves with serviceable clubs, that might come
+in handy in time of necessity. Then they slipped
+silently into the underbrush, and worked their
+way along until they had attained a position where
+they commanded a view of the cabin&#8217;s only door.
+</p>
+<p>The spot they had chosen was surrounded by
+dense thickets, and one might have passed within
+ten feet without spying them. Bob carefully
+parted the bushes and broke off twigs here and
+there until they could see plainly enough, and yet
+were securely hidden from the cabin. This done,
+the boys made themselves as comfortable as possible
+under the circumstances, and prepared for
+a long vigil.
+</p>
+<p>They had been in their retreat less than half an
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+hour when the door of the shack was flung open,
+and the black-moustached man appeared on the
+threshold. He gazed searchingly about the little
+clearing, then glanced up at the mounting sun and
+stretched prodigiously. At length, apparently satisfied
+that all was as it should be, he turned back
+into the cabin, and soon the aroma of bacon and
+coffee came floating down the wind to where the
+boys lay. Jimmy&#8217;s nose twitched and his mouth
+watered, but he thought of the importance of the
+mission that had been intrusted to them by the
+radio inspector and stifled his longings.
+</p>
+<p>The man in the cabin ate a leisurely breakfast,
+and apparently was in no hurry. Indeed, from
+the way he loitered over the meal, the boys rather
+suspected that he was awaiting the arrival of some
+other members of the gang. Nor were they mistaken.
+After a time the lads could hear the
+sound of approaching voices, and soon three men
+entered the clearing and made for the cabin. At
+the first sound of their voices, the man inside had
+stepped swiftly to the door, one hand in the
+bulging pocket of his coat; but when he recognized
+the others an ugly grin spread over his face,
+while his hand dropped to his side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you have got here at last, eh?&#8221; he snarled.
+&#8220;I&#8217;m glad to find you didn&#8217;t hurry yourselves any.
+I thought I sent you a wireless message to get
+here early.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;So you did, chief,&#8221; spoke up one of the newcomers.
+&#8220;But we couldn&#8217;t get here no sooner.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You couldn&#8217;t?&#8221; snapped the other. &#8220;Why
+couldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We got word that one of the government radio
+inspectors was at the lumber camp, so we had to
+come here by the long way. We were afraid he
+might recognize one of us if we happened to bump
+into him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, the cops have photoed all of you so often
+that I don&#8217;t wonder you&#8217;re shy,&#8221; sneered the
+leader. &#8220;But come on inside. There&#8217;s no use of
+standing chinning here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Two of the men muttered sullenly to themselves,
+but ceased abruptly as the leader&#8217;s frowning
+gaze fell on them. They all shuffled into the
+cabin, and the black-moustached man shut the
+door with a bang.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Say,&#8221; whispered Bob, &#8220;we&#8217;ve got to listen in
+on this pow-wow, fellows. I&#8217;m going to sneak
+up to the window and try to hear what they&#8217;re
+saying. They must have some purpose in meeting
+here like this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, be mighty careful, Bob,&#8221; said Joe
+anxiously. &#8220;They&#8217;re a tough crowd, and we&#8217;ve
+got to watch our step. If they discover you, head
+for here, and if we can&#8217;t get away we&#8217;ll put up a
+battle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I have any kind of luck, they won&#8217;t discover
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+me,&#8221; Bob assured him. &#8220;Just sit tight, and
+I&#8217;ll be back in a jiffy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Very cautiously he crept through the underbrush
+toward the cabin. In spite of all his care
+a branch snapped under him and the second time
+the door was flung wide and the ill-favored leader
+of the gang stepped out and peered about him.
+</p>
+<p>Bob flattened out as close to the ground as he
+could get and lay tense, while the outlaw gazed
+suspiciously at the bushes amid which he was concealed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter, Blackie?&#8221; called one of
+the gang. &#8220;Did you think you heard somethin&#8217;?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know I did!&#8221; exclaimed the other. &#8220;But I
+suppose it was only some animal prowling
+around.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bein&#8217; alone in this shack has got on your
+nerves, maybe,&#8221; taunted one of the gang.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nerves, my eye!&#8221; exclaimed the other. &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t own such things! But I&#8217;ve got a notion to
+take a look through those bushes, anyway,&#8221; and
+he started in Bob&#8217;s direction.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on back, Blackie,&#8221; urged another of the
+gang. &#8220;We can&#8217;t be foolin&#8217; around here all day.
+Be yourself, can&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The others chimed in to the same effect, and
+their leader reluctantly abandoned his search and
+returned to the cabin. Had he gone another
+twenty feet he would inevitably have discovered
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+Bob, who had been on the point of springing to
+his feet and giving battle. It was a narrow escape,
+and the radio boys heaved sighs of relief as the
+door of the cabin closed on the formidable figure
+of the leader. They knew that these men were
+desperate criminals, heavily armed, who would
+not hesitate at murder to avoid capture.
+</p>
+<p>Bob resumed his advance, an inch at a time, and
+at length reached the edge of the clearing. Before
+him lay a stretch of perhaps twenty feet of open
+ground, and should one of the desperados chance
+to open the door while he was crossing this space,
+discovery would be certain. However, this was
+a chance that Bob knew he must take, and without
+hesitation he sprang to his feet and ran swiftly
+but silently toward the cabin.
+</p>
+<p>Fortunately he reached it unobserved, and
+crouched close to the wall beneath one of the little
+windows. There were numerous cracks in the
+side of the rude structure, and he had no difficulty
+in hearing what was going on inside.
+</p>
+<p>The crooks were engaged in a heated debate,
+but soon the voice of their leader spoke out commandingly
+and the others fell silent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you we haven&#8217;t had a chance to get rid
+of that last load of silk we got near Castleton,&#8221; he
+said, in an angry voice. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t get the price I
+wanted for it, and, besides, it will be just as easy
+to get rid of two loads as one, and no more risk.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+Now, I&#8217;m going to send out a radio message in
+code to the rest of the gang, and we&#8217;ll pull off the
+job to-night, just as I&#8217;ve already told you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There were no dissenting voices, and presently
+Bob heard the whirr of the sending set, followed
+by the voice of the leader.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;HDEA&#8217; HDEA&#8217;,&#8221; he called again and again,
+switching over to the receiving set to get an answer.
+At length he evidently reached the station
+he was after, for he listened intently for a few
+minutes. Then the generator hummed again, and
+Bob heard the black-moustached man speaking
+again.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get this, and get it right,&#8221; he commanded,
+and there followed a string of words that would
+have been mere gibberish to Bob had he not held
+the key to their meaning. He searched frantically
+in his pockets for a pencil, and scribbled the words
+down as the man spoke them. When he had finished,
+the leader of the gang shut down the generator,
+and turned to the others.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s fixed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There won&#8217;t be much
+to do for the rest of the day but look over your
+guns and make sure they&#8217;re in good working order.
+Since we got that last truck they&#8217;ve been
+putting guards on them, and we want to be prepared
+to shoot before they do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a general pushing back of chairs,
+and Bob realized that at any moment the door
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+might open. His mind worked quickly, and instead
+of going back to his friends the way he had
+come, he made a rush for the woods on the opposite
+side of the clearing. In this way the &#8220;blind,&#8221;
+or windowless, end of the cabin was toward him,
+so that he would not be likely to be detected unless
+the robbers came out and walked around the
+house.
+</p>
+<p>Lucky it was for Bob that he acted as he did,
+because he had barely started when the door was
+flung open and those inside came streaming out.
+For a few moments they stood in a group in
+front of the door, talking, and then scattered, some
+walking about, while others threw themselves on
+the ground and smoked.
+</p>
+<p>But by this time Bob had reached the cover of
+the woods undiscovered, and set out to rejoin
+his friends. This necessitated a long detour, and
+it was a full hour later that he crept silently into
+their hiding place. So quietly did he come that
+Jimmy was on the point of uttering a startled exclamation,
+but checked himself just in time.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIII_PREPARING_AN_AMBUSH' id='XXIII_PREPARING_AN_AMBUSH'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+<h3>PREPARING AN AMBUSH</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Say, you came as quietly as a shadow,&#8221; whispered
+the plump youth. &#8220;How do you ever do it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t expect me to blow a whistle under
+the circumstances, do you?&#8221; asked Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind that, but tell us what you heard,&#8221;
+said Joe impatiently. &#8220;What are they up to,
+Bob?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t tell you until I compare what I copied
+down with the code key,&#8221; said Bob, as he fished in
+his pocket for the bit of paper on which he had
+noted down the robber&#8217;s message. Having found
+this, he and Joe searched through the key and
+soon had the following message pieced together:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Truck&mdash;silk&mdash;Barberton Road&mdash;to-night.
+Meet me and others&mdash;Hicks Bridge&mdash;eight
+o&#8217;clock. Truck due&mdash;ten o&#8217;clock.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Having deciphered the message, the boys gazed
+questioningly at one another.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That doesn&#8217;t give us much time to act,&#8221; said
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+Joe. &#8220;If we wait here it may be close to eight
+o&#8217;clock before the others come to relieve us, and
+then it will be too late to prevent the robbery.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The answer is, that we won&#8217;t wait here,&#8221; said
+Bob decisively. &#8220;As long as we know their plans
+up until this evening, there&#8217;s no need of watching
+this cabin any longer, anyway. We&#8217;d better start
+back right away, and tell Mr. Brandon what we&#8217;ve
+found out. He&#8217;ll know the best thing to do then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That sounds all right to me,&#8221; said Joe, and as
+Jimmy saw a chance of getting back to camp in
+time for dinner, he put in no objections.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, for the love of butter, try to go quietly,
+Jimmy,&#8221; warned Bob. &#8220;If those fellows hear a
+sound from this direction, they&#8217;ll be right after us,
+because their suspicions are already aroused.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll do the best I can,&#8221; promised his rotund
+friend. &#8220;But I&#8217;m heavier than you fellows, and I
+can&#8217;t slide around so easily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, go easy, anyway,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Now,
+are we all ready?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With infinite caution the boys wormed their
+way through the brushwood, Bob leading. By
+luck rather than good management Jimmy managed
+to be as quiet as his friends, and after almost
+an hour of this slow progress Bob judged that
+they were far enough away from the cabin to risk
+a faster pace. The shack was out of sight among
+the trees when he sprang to his feet, followed by
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span>
+the others, and in a short time they had reached
+the path leading to the main road. Here it was
+still necessary to be extremely careful, for they
+never knew at what moment some turn in the
+path would bring them face to face with some of
+the robber band. Fortunately nothing of the kind
+happened, and soon they reached the main road
+and started at high speed for camp.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if we can&#8217;t take some sort of a short
+cut,&#8221; came from Joe as they raced along.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the talk,&#8221; puffed poor Jimmy, who had
+great difficulty in keeping up with his chums.
+&#8220;The shorter the better.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t dare risk it,&#8221; returned Bob. &#8220;Why
+we might get lost.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who&#8217;s afraid of getting lost?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are, for we might lose too much time and
+all our plans would go to smash. No, we&#8217;ve got
+to stick to the main road.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How much further have we to go?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to chase along until we reach
+camp,&#8221; put in Joe. &#8220;Hustle now, every minute
+may be precious.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t hustle any more than I am hustling,&#8221;
+panted poor Jimmy. &#8220;Do you want me to drop
+down of heart failure or something like that?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe we&#8217;d better go along and leave Jimmy
+behind,&#8221; suggested Joe, with a wink at Bob.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Not much,&#8221; cried the stout youth, and after
+that did his best to keep up with the others.
+</p>
+<p>Not a great while later they came in sight of
+camp, much to their relief.
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Brandon was astonished to see them back
+so soon, but as briefly as possible Bob told him
+of what they had learned and showed him the
+code message.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You fellows have done a clever bit of detective
+work, and with reasonable luck it ought to be
+possible to bag the whole gang to-night,&#8221; said
+Brandon. &#8220;I know where Hicks Bridge is. It&#8217;s
+about five miles this side of Barberton, and an
+ideal place for an ambuscade. The road runs between
+high banks just before it gets to the bridge,
+and some of the gang posted on those banks could
+command the road from either direction. But I&#8217;ll
+get in communication with the chief of police of
+Barberton, and we&#8217;ll see if we can&#8217;t catch the
+thieves in their own trap.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose the two men you were expecting
+haven&#8217;t arrived yet, have they?&#8221; inquired Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. And I&#8217;m afraid we won&#8217;t be able to wait
+for them, either,&#8221; said Brandon. &#8220;I could radio
+to the Barberton chief, but I&#8217;m afraid the message
+might be intercepted by the crooks, if one
+of them happened to be listening. I guess it will
+be better to go by way of my automobile, although
+I hate to lose the time that it will take.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t there a telephone line from the camp?&#8221;
+suggested Joe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, unfortunately, one hasn&#8217;t been installed
+yet,&#8221; replied the inspector. &#8220;But we can do the
+trick with the car if we start right away. I suppose
+there&#8217;s no need of asking if you fellows
+would like to come with me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;None whatever,&#8221; answered Bob, grinning.
+&#8220;Just give us a chance to go in and snatch a little
+grub off the table, and we&#8217;ll eat it on the way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Frank Brandon nodded, and the three boys
+dashed into the mess hall and caught up anything
+in the way of eatables that came nearest to hand,
+Jimmy, of course, specializing on his favorite
+doughnuts. Then they hurried out, and found
+Mr. Brandon waiting for them, with the motor
+running. After a short search they found Herb
+fast asleep in his bunk, and roused him unceremoniously,
+hustling him out before he was fairly
+awake.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s it all about?&#8221; he questioned, rubbing
+his eyes. &#8220;Has the camp caught fire, or do you
+just want to borrow some money from me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind the funny business now, we&#8217;ll tell
+you all about it while we&#8217;re traveling,&#8221; said Bob,
+as they reached the automobile. &#8220;In you go,
+Herb.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Before they could find seats Mr. Brandon had
+let in the clutch, and the car started with a jerk
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+that landed them in a heap on the cushions. Regardless
+of the rough road, he kept picking up
+speed, and soon it was all they could do to stay in
+the car at all. Barberton was about thirty miles
+from the camp, and to reach it they had to cross
+Hicks Bridge. All looked calm and peaceful just
+then, and it was hard to believe that in a few short
+hours a desperate fight might be raging between
+the high banks that flanked the road. The bridge
+was some two hundred feet long, and passed over
+a deep cut between two hills. In spite of its present
+peaceful appearance it was easy to see that
+the place would be an ideal one to perpetrate such
+a crime as the robbers contemplated, and after
+they had passed over the bridge Mr. Brandon
+opened the throttle wider in his impatience to
+reach Barberton.
+</p>
+<p>They slowed down to go through the streets
+of the town, and as they drew up in front of the
+police station, Brandon shut off his motor and
+leaped to the sidewalk.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on in, boys, and we&#8217;ll tell the chief about
+the little party scheduled for this evening,&#8221; he
+said, and the boys followed him into the police
+station.
+</p>
+<p>Fortunately the chief of police, Mr. Durand,
+was in, and he greeted Mr. Brandon with a heartiness
+that showed they were old friends.
+</p>
+<p>After they had shaken hands, Brandon introduced
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+the radio boys, and then proceeded to acquaint
+the chief with the details of the plot they
+had discovered. As Mr. Durand listened a dark
+frown gathered between his bushy eyebrows, and
+his fingers drummed angrily on the table before
+him. When Mr. Brandon had finished, the chief
+jumped to his feet and strode fiercely up and down
+the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This won&#8217;t be the first trouble we&#8217;ve had with
+those rascals!&#8221; he exclaimed wrathfully. &#8220;Members
+of the same gang have held up and robbed
+stores in this town, and we have two of them
+doing their bit in jail right now. And if we have
+any luck to-night we&#8217;ll have the whole gang under
+lock and key before the morning. These young
+fellows must have been right on the job from start
+to finish, Frank.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I guess they were,&#8221; replied Brandon.
+&#8220;If we land this gang, we&#8217;ll have them to thank
+for it. But now what are your plans for capturing
+the crooks?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For answer the chief pressed a button, and a
+capable looking police lieutenant appeared.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get together ten of our best men,&#8221; he directed,
+&#8220;and put them into two automobiles.
+When they are ready to start, report to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lieutenant saluted, and left the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;According to the code message, the robbers
+won&#8217;t be at Hicks Bridge much before eight
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+o&#8217;clock, which is after dark these days,&#8221; said the
+chief. &#8220;We&#8217;ll get there a lot earlier than that,
+and I&#8217;ll conceal my men in the woods. Then I&#8217;ll
+leave orders here to stop the motor truck as it
+comes through, and replace its crew with a few
+picked men from my force. When the robbers
+try to hold up that truck, they&#8217;ll have a big surprise
+in store for them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It might be a good plan,&#8221; suggested Bob, &#8220;to
+mount a searchlight or two on the motor truck.
+At the right minute you could turn these on the
+crooks, and while it would confuse them, it would
+give your men in the woods a big advantage, as
+they&#8217;d be able to see the hold-up men plainly without
+being seen themselves.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Young man, that&#8217;s a first-rate suggestion!&#8221;
+exclaimed the chief, eyeing him appraisingly,
+&#8220;and you can believe we&#8217;ll take advantage of it.
+I&#8217;ll commandeer a couple from the Electric Light
+Company in readiness to mount on the truck when
+it comes along. I wish we could persuade you
+and your friends to join the Barberton police
+force.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll be pretty nearly a part of it until those
+crooks are captured, if you&#8217;ll let us,&#8221; said Bob.
+&#8220;We all want to be in at the finish.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be a dangerous business, and bullets
+may fly thick,&#8221; the chief warned him. &#8220;You fellows
+have done more than your full duty already,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+and we can hardly call on you to do any more.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just the same, we&#8217;ll come along if you don&#8217;t
+mind,&#8221; insisted Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;ll be very glad to have you, as far as I&#8217;m
+concerned,&#8221; said Mr. Durand. &#8220;I suppose you&#8217;ll
+want to be in on it, too, Frank?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re dead right,&#8221; Brandon assured him emphatically.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve gone too far with this to want
+to drop out now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>At this point the lieutenant appeared and reported
+that the men were in the automobiles,
+ready to start. Picking up the telephone, the chief
+ordered his own car. He invited Mr. Brandon
+and the radio boys to ride with him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can leave your car in the police garage,
+Frank,&#8221; he said, and Brandon was not slow in
+availing himself of this offer. In a short time
+he returned, and the three automobiles started for
+the scene of the projected hold-up, the chief&#8217;s car
+leading and the other two following close behind.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIV_LYING_IN_WAIT' id='XXIV_LYING_IN_WAIT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+<h3>LYING IN WAIT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Doesn&#8217;t look as though there&#8217;s going to be
+much monotony in our young lives to-night,&#8221; remarked
+Bob, as, tightly packed in the tonneau of
+the car, the boys rode on through the gathering
+darkness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For that matter there hasn&#8217;t been much for
+several days past,&#8221; chuckled Joe, who sat at his
+right. &#8220;A fellow would have to be a glutton to
+want more adventure than we&#8217;ve had since we
+came to Braxton Woods. What with Buck
+Looker and Black Donegan, we ought to be pretty
+well satisfied.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only hope Cassey will be in the gang that
+is rounded up to-night,&#8221; observed Herb. &#8220;It
+would be too bad if only the rest were captured
+and that all-around scoundrel slipped through the
+meshes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess Cassey is the brains of the whole
+bunch,&#8221; put in Jimmy. &#8220;Probably the others
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+didn&#8217;t know anything about radio until he put
+them on to it. He&#8217;ll be there all right. And he&#8217;s
+likely to put up a pretty stiff fight before he lets
+himself be captured, for he knows what it means
+to him to be sent back to prison. With a new
+sentence tacked on to the old one it&#8217;ll probably
+mean that he&#8217;ll be in for life.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In a little while they reached the scene of the
+proposed robbery. They were well in advance of
+the time set by the plotters, and the chief took his
+time in carefully disposing his forces, availing
+himself of Frank Brandon&#8217;s advice in doing
+this.
+</p>
+<p>The bridge stretched between two hills at the
+bottom of which was a small stream, about a
+hundred feet below. On each side, almost down
+to the bridge itself, extended trees and shrubbery
+that afforded excellent hiding places. The only
+trouble was that both the outlaws and the officers
+who were trying to apprehend them were likely to
+seek the same shelter and might in this way stumble
+across each other before the trap was ready to
+be sprung.
+</p>
+<p>This, however, was a contingency that had to
+be faced, and preparations were made accordingly.
+The men were placed at strategic points on both
+sides of the bridge. Whether the attempt at hold-up
+would be made at the entrance to the bridge or
+on the further side was a matter of speculation.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+The chief went on the theory, however, that it
+would probably take place at the entrance, and
+there he placed the majority of the men under
+him.
+</p>
+<p>The radio boys hinted that there was where
+they would like to be also, but in this the chief
+was adamant.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve stretched a point in letting you young fire-eaters
+come along at all,&#8221; he said. &#8220;As it is, I
+may have a hard time explaining to your parents.
+And I hate to think what my position would be if
+anything happened to you. So I am going to
+put you where I think you&#8217;ll be comparatively out
+of danger. You&#8217;re just to be lookers on at this
+shindig. And if the bullets begin to fly, you just
+lie flat on the ground behind the trees until they
+stop. It may not be so glorious, but it&#8217;s likely to
+be a mighty sight more healthy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>So, much against their will, the boys were compelled
+to obey orders and take the place assigned
+to them which was on the further side of the
+bridge.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Putting us up in the gallery when we ought to
+have seats in the orchestra,&#8221; grumbled Joe, as the
+boys ensconced themselves in a thicket behind a
+big clump of trees.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cheer up, you old gloom hound,&#8221; chaffed Bob.
+&#8220;We may get in on this yet. At any rate, if we
+are in the gallery, we have a good view of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
+stage. Or at least we shall have, when the searchlight
+gets busy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The darkness deepened until the night became
+as black as Egypt. There was no moon, and even
+the stars were obscured by clouds that heavily
+veiled the sky. The night was chill, and the boys
+buttoned their coats tightly about them as they
+sat waiting for developments.
+</p>
+<p>They had perhaps an hour to wait, but it was
+not known but that some of the robbers would be
+on the ground at an earlier time than had been set,
+and every sense was on the alert as all strained
+their ears for the slightest sound and peered into
+the darkness on the chance that they might catch
+glimpses of shadowy forms. After the first few
+moments they had not ventured to talk for fear
+that they might be overheard. But this did not
+debar them from thinking, and they thrilled with
+excitement as they pictured each to himself the
+struggle that seemed about to take place on the
+road.
+</p>
+<p>The minutes dragged along interminably, and
+in the intense silence the lads could almost hear
+the beating of their hearts. Then at a little distance
+a twig cracked and sent the blood racing
+madly through their veins.
+</p>
+<p>Soon footsteps were heard approaching, and
+the lads crouched still lower in their hiding place.
+The sounds came nearer, and they could detect the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
+tread of two men. They were approaching without
+any excessive degree of caution, as they had
+no reason to believe that their plans had been discovered.
+As they drew closer, the boys could
+hear them conversing in low tones.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you it&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said a rough voice,
+which they recognized as that of Black Donegan.
+&#8220;All the fellows are tipped off and know just
+what they&#8217;ve got to do. Jake and Toppy will do
+the holding up, and then the rest of us will jump
+in if the driver cuts up rough. If he does, there&#8217;ll
+be one more dead driver.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The boys waited for the answer that seemed to
+be long in coming. What they heard finally was
+a whistle that made them jump. They had heard
+that whistle before!
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cassey!&#8221; whispered Bob to Joe. &#8220;Cassey, as
+sure as you&#8217;re born!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The next instant his belief became a thrilling
+certainty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It-t-t-t isn&#8217;t the d-d-driver.&#8221; The voice came
+out, with an explosive quality. &#8220;It&#8217;s the g-g-guards
+he may have w-w-with him. The p-p-police
+are getting pretty l-l-leary about all the robberies
+t-t-t-that have been taking place around
+here lately, and they&#8217;ve g-g-g-,&#8221; again came the
+whistle, &#8220;g-got to do something or lose their jobs.
+At any rate t-t-this is the last thing we&#8217;re g-g-going
+to pull off around here&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess he&#8217;s right about that,&#8221; Joe whispered
+to Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&mdash;&mdash;and j-j-just as soon as we&#8217;re through
+with this, w-w-we&#8217;d better p-pull up stakes and
+try somewhere else.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The voice was now so close at hand that if the
+boys had reached out of the thicket they would
+almost have touched the speaker. At this thought
+Jimmy and Herb, especially, felt a thrill of excitement.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXV_AN_EXCITING_STRUGGLE' id='XXV_AN_EXCITING_STRUGGLE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+<h3>AN EXCITING STRUGGLE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think myself that we&#8217;ve hung round this
+neck o&#8217; the woods about long enough,&#8221; agreed
+Donegan. &#8220;And I ain&#8217;t any too well pleased to
+have that radio inspector snooping around the
+woods. He ain&#8217;t up to any good if you ask me.
+But brace up, Cassey, for this last haul. You ain&#8217;t
+generally chicken-hearted.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll f-f-find that I have my n-n-nerve with
+me when the pinch comes,&#8221; replied Cassey. &#8220;I&#8217;d
+rather be k-k-killed by a bullet than g-g-g-go back
+to prison.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The voices receded as the men went on, and
+soon the sound of their footsteps ceased. It was
+evident they were searching for the most advantageous
+place for the crime that they contemplated.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I told you that I had a hunch that that villain
+would be here,&#8221; whispered Jimmy, when they felt
+that it would be safe to speak.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good thing, too,&#8221; said Bob grimly. &#8220;Cassey&#8217;ll
+get to-night what&#8217;s coming to him.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span></p>
+<p>Half an hour passed&mdash;an hour&mdash;an hour and a
+half. Then far in the distance the boys heard the
+hum of a motor engine and the rumble of a heavy
+truck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There it comes!&#8221; ejaculated Joe, throwing
+caution to the winds in his excitement.
+</p>
+<p>The rumbling grew louder, and soon the boys
+knew that it must be close to the bridge. Then
+they saw the lamps of an auto truck sending out
+their beams of light a hundred feet in advance,
+and could just discern above them the massive
+body of the truck.
+</p>
+<p>It came on at a moderate rate of speed, slowing
+up somewhat as it struck the bridge.
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly shots rang out and the boys could
+see two dark figures standing on the bridge and
+waving their hands at the driver, as they bellowed
+out orders to stop. At the same time, as
+though the shots had been a signal, three other
+figures came rushing from other directions.
+</p>
+<p>It was impossible for the boys to keep still, and
+they too sprang to their feet and started for the
+scene of the hold-up, running at the top of their
+speed.
+</p>
+<p>Just as they left their covert there was a blinding
+flash that made the whole bridge as bright as
+day. A searchlight had been turned on from the
+top of the truck full in the faces of the robbers.
+They staggered as though they had been struck,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+and at the same instant there came a volley of
+shots and the police were upon the hold-up
+men.
+</p>
+<p>There was a wild mélée of struggling men, as
+they swayed back and forth in a desperate struggle.
+The robbers had been taken completely by
+surprise and were outnumbered two to one.
+There were shouts and the crack of revolvers, and
+the thud of pistol butts.
+</p>
+<p>But the battle, though fierce, was of short duration.
+In a few minutes the robbers had been subdued.
+One lay stunned on the bridge and another
+lay by him wounded. Two more were held in the
+grasp of officers.
+</p>
+<p>One, however, tore himself away from the officer
+who had grappled with him, and came rushing
+in the direction of the radio boys. In the
+glare from the searchlight they recognized Cassey.
+</p>
+<p>He saw them, too, and fired his revolver at
+them. The shot went wild. He pressed the
+trigger again but with no result. Then, realizing
+that his weapon was empty, he hurled it at Bob,
+who was nearest to him.
+</p>
+<p>Bob dodged, and the next instant grabbed at
+Cassey&#8217;s legs. The expertness that had made
+him the star of his football team stood him in good
+stead. His arms closed round Cassey in a flying
+tackle, and they came heavily to the bridge
+together.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></p>
+<p>Cassey struggled desperately to rise, but Bob
+held him in an unbreakable grip, and a second
+later his comrades had come to his assistance and
+the scoundrel was overpowered and delivered over
+to the police, who came rushing up.
+</p>
+<p>The robbers were securely bound and bundled
+into the auto truck that they had planned to rob.
+Then in high spirits the party drove back to Barberton.
+The chief was jubilant, and the praises
+he heaped upon the radio boys made their ears
+burn. They stayed long enough at his office to
+see the prisoners safely jailed and then, though
+the hour was late, rode back to their quarters in
+the woods with Mr. Brandon.
+</p>
+<p>They slept long and late after their exciting
+experience, and it was almost noon the next day
+when they awoke. Bob was somewhat surprised
+to find a letter waiting for him. It bore no stamp,
+and had evidently been brought there by one of the
+lumbermen.
+</p>
+<p>He opened it curiously and glanced at the signature.
+Then he gave a shout that brought his
+comrades quickly to his side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of this, fellows?&#8221; he cried.
+&#8220;Buck Looker&#8217;s writing to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a chorus of wondering exclamations.
+</p>
+<p>The last paragraph caught Bob&#8217;s eye and he
+read it aloud:
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;As for Bob Layton and those other chumps,
+all we&#8217;ve got to do is to stand pat. No one saw
+us put the stones in the snowballs, and if we just
+deny it, they can&#8217;t pin anything on us. They&#8217;ll
+have to pay for the window, and that&#8217;ll even up
+things for what they did to us at Mountain Pass.
+</p>
+<div class='ra'>
+<p style='text-align: right; '>&#8220;Yours,</p>
+<p style='text-align: right; '>&#8220;<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Buck.</span>&#8221;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Bob was utterly dumbfounded. Then he
+glanced at the heading of the letter and let out a
+whoop.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this is too rich!&#8221; he cried, almost choking
+with laughter. &#8220;This letter is directed to Carl
+Lutz. You know he went home two or three days
+ago. Buck has written two letters, one to Lutz
+and the other to me&mdash;probably a roast&mdash;and he&#8217;s
+put them in the wrong envelopes. Oh, how he&#8217;s
+given himself away!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bob&#8217;s comrades were fairly convulsed, and
+Jimmy grew so purple in the face that they had
+to slap him vigorously on the back. They had
+scarcely got him into a calmer frame, before he
+threatened to go off again, for he saw Buck
+Looker strolling along the road.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Probably&#8217;s come along to see how you were
+bearing up under the roast,&#8221; chuckled Joe.
+</p>
+<p>Bob ran over toward Buck, followed by his
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+comrades. Buck looked alarmed and put himself
+in a posture of defense.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, we&#8217;re not going to hurt you,&#8221; said Bob.
+&#8220;I only wanted to tell you that I got your letter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope it blistered your hide,&#8221; growled Buck.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It made me nearly laugh myself to death,&#8221; replied
+Bob. &#8220;But let me advise you, Buck, to
+make sure the next time that you get the right
+letter in the right envelope.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221; asked Buck, in
+apprehension.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Only that I got the letter you meant for Carl
+Lutz,&#8221; replied Bob. &#8220;Maybe you&#8217;ve forgotten
+what you said, so I&#8217;ll read the last paragraph,&#8221;
+and, dwelling on every word, he read it over deliberately.
+</p>
+<p>Before he had quite finished, Buck made a
+desperate grab at the letter, but Bob was too
+quick for him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, you don&#8217;t!&#8221; he exclaimed, as he folded it
+and put it carefully into his pocket. &#8220;That letter&#8217;s
+going to cost you about two hundred dollars, for
+that&#8217;s what it will cost to pony up for the broken
+window. We&#8217;ve got you dead to rights, and you&#8217;d
+better pay up and pay up quick. So long, Buck.
+And do be more careful next time to get the right
+letter in the right envelope.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>With all his bluster knocked out of him, Buck
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+slunk away. The boys were not surprised to
+learn in the next letter from home that the insurance
+company had been paid.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Some excitement we have had here,&#8221; remarked
+Bob. &#8220;Wonder if we&#8217;ll ever have such
+strenuous times again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sure,&#8221; declared Joe promptly, and he was
+right, as we shall see in the next volume of this
+series, to be called, &#8220;The Radio Boys with the
+Forest Rangers.&#8221; In that volume we shall see
+how they fought a fire that came close to ending
+tragically.
+</p>
+<p>After a good dinner, the boys lay sprawled out
+on the grass basking in the spring sunshine and
+utterly at peace with themselves and the world.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s been hard work, but we&#8217;ve had
+pretty good luck at trailing a voice,&#8221; observed
+Bob.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; agreed Joe with a grin, &#8220;and s-s-s-such
+a v-v-v-voice!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>And Jimmy whistled.
+</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:2em;'>THE END</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='full' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE RADIO BOYS SERIES</p>
+<p>(Trademark Registered)</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p>By ALLEN CHAPMAN</p>
+<p>Author of the &#8220;Railroad Series,&#8221; Etc.</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-weight:bold;'>Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers For Each Story. Every Volume Complete in Itself.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>A new series for boys giving full details of radio work,
+both in sending and receiving&mdash;telling how small and
+large amateur sets can be made and operated, and how
+some boys got a lot of fun and adventure out of what they
+did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly fascinating,
+so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure
+all lads will peruse them with great delight.
+</p>
+<p><b>Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known
+radio expert of the New York Tribune.</b>
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS&#8217; FIRST WIRELESS;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, The Message That Saved the Ship.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, Making Good in the Wireless Room.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, The Midnight Call for Assistance.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG PATROL;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or, Making Safe the Ocean Lanes.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE TOM SWIFT SERIES</p>
+<p>By VICTOR APPLETON</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-weight:bold;'>Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers. Every Volume Complete in Itself.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius.
+Tom Swift is a bright, ingenious boy and his inventions
+and adventures make the most interesting kind of reading.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES</p>
+<p>By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of
+wealthy men of a small city located on a lake. The boys
+love outdoor life, and are greatly interested in hunting, fishing,
+and picture taking. They have motor cycles, motor boats,
+canoes, etc., and during their vacations go everywhere
+and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give
+full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild
+animals and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a
+canoe, how to swim, etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The Golden Cup Mystery.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:1em; font-weight:bold;'>12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH SERIES</p>
+<p>By GRAHAM B. FORBES</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Never was there a cleaner, brighter, more manly boy
+than Frank Allen, the hero of this series of boys&#8217; tales, and
+never was there a better crowd of lads to associate with than
+the students of the School. All boys will read these stories
+with deep interest. The rivalry between the towns along the
+river was of the keenest, and plots and counterplots to win
+the champions, at baseball, at football, at boat racing, at
+track athletics, and at ice hockey, were without number.
+Any lad reading one volume of this series will surely want
+the others.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The All Around Rivals of the School</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE DIAMOND</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Winning Out by Pluck</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE RIVER</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The Boat Race Plot that Failed</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE GRIDIRON</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or The Struggle for the Silver Cup</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE ICE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Out for the Hockey Championship</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH IN TRACK ATHLETICS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or A Long Run that Won</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH IN WINTER SPORTS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>Or Stirring Doings on Skates and Iceboats</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:1em; font-weight:bold;'>12mo. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in cloth, with cover design and wrappers in colors.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>SERIES</p>
+<p>BY VICTOR APPLETON</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-weight:bold;'>UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over,
+and in this line of books the reader is given a full description
+of how the films are made&mdash;the scenes of little dramas, indoors
+and out, trick pictures to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures
+of city affairs, life in the Wild West, among the cowboys
+and Indians, thrilling rescues along the seacoast, the daring of
+picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts, and the
+great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes.
+The volumes teem with adventures and will be found
+interesting from first chapter to last.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE WAR FRONT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON FRENCH BATTLEFIELDS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>MOVING PICTURE BOYS&#8217; FIRST SHOWHOUSE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT SEASIDE PARK</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON BROADWAY</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS&#8217; OUTDOOR EXHIBITION</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS&#8217; NEW IDEA</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>THE FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES</p>
+<p>BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD</p>
+<p>(Edward Stratemeyer)</p>
+<div style='margin-top:1em'></div>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-weight:bold;'>Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers.</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; font-weight:bold;'>Every Volume Complete in Itself.</p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; font-variant:small-caps;'>The Putnam Hall Stories</p>
+<p><b>Companion Stories to the Famous Rover Boys Series</b></p>
+<p>By ARTHUR M. WINFIELD</p>
+<p>(Edward Stratemeyer)</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Being the adventures of lively young fellows at a Military Academy. Open
+air sports have always been popular with boys and these stories that
+mingle adventure with fact will appeal to every manly boy.
+</p>
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>THE MYSTERY OF PUTNAM HALL</b></p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Or The School Chums&#8217; Strange Discovery</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The particulars of the mystery and the solution of it are very interesting
+reading.
+</p>
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL</b></p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Or The Secret of the Old Mill</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>A story full of vim and vigor, telling what the cadets did during the
+summer encampment, including a visit to a mysterious old mill, said to be
+haunted. The book has a wealth of fun in it.
+</p>
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL</b></p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Or The Rival Runaways</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The boys had good reasons for running away during Captain Putnam&#8217;s
+absence. They had plenty of fun and several queer adventures.
+</p>
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL</b></p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Or Bound to Win Out</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In this volume the Cadets of Putnam Hall show what they can do in various
+keen rivalries on the athletic field and elsewhere. There is one victory
+which leads to a most unlooked-for discovery.
+</p>
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL</b></p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Or Good Times in School and Out</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The cadets are lively, flesh-and-blood fellows, bound to make friends from
+the start. There are some keen rivalries, in school and out, and something
+is told of a remarkable midnight feast and a hazing with an unexpected
+ending.
+</p>
+<div class='la'>
+<p><b>THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL</b></p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Or Fun and Sport Afloat and Ashore</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is a lively, rattling, breezy story of school life in this country,
+written by one who knows all about its pleasures and its perplexities, its
+glorious excitements, and its chilling disappointments.
+</p>
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Grosset &amp; Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>The Railroad Series</p>
+<p>By ALLEN CHAPMAN</p>
+<p>Author of the Radio Boys, Etc.</p>
+<p>Illustrated. Handsomely Bound in Cloth.</p>
+<p>Every Volume Complete in Itself.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In this line of books there is revealed the whole workings of a great
+American railroad system. There are adventures in abundance&mdash;railroad
+wrecks, dashes through forest fires, the pursuit of a &#8220;wildcat&#8221;
+locomotive, the disappearance of a pay car with a large sum of money on
+board&mdash;but there is much more than this&mdash;the intense rivalry among
+railroads and railroad men, the working out of running schedules, the
+getting through &#8220;on time&#8221; in spite of all obstacles, and the manipulation
+of railroad securities by evil men who wish to rule or ruin.
+</p>
+<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH OF THE ROUND HOUSE;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, Clearing the Track.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH ON THE ENGINE;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, The Mystery of the Pay Car.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, The Young Railroader&#8217;s Most Daring Exploit.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley.</p>
+<br />
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 0em;'>RALPH AND THE MISSING MAIL POUCH;</p>
+<p  style='margin: 0 0 0 2em;'>Or, The Stolen Government Bonds.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="pg" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 25858-h.txt or 25858-h.zip *******</p>
+<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br />
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/5/25858">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/8/5/25858</a></p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice, by Allen
+Chapman
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice
+       or, Solving a Wireless Mystery
+
+
+Author: Allen Chapman
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 20, 2008  [eBook #25858]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustration.
+      See 25858-h.htm or 25858-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/5/25858/25858-h/25858-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/8/5/25858/25858-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+The Radio Boys Series
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE
+
+Or
+
+Solving a Wireless Mystery
+
+by
+
+ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+Author of
+The Radio Boys' First Wireless
+The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass
+Ralph of The Roundhouse
+Ralph on the Army Train, Etc.
+
+With Foreword by Jack Binns
+
+Illustrated
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN WAS EVIDENTLY RECEIVING A MESSAGE.
+The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice. Page 153]
+
+
+
+New York
+Grosset & Dunlap
+Publishers
+
+Made in the United States of America
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+BOOKS FOR BOYS
+BY ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS SERIES
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS
+Or Winning the Ferberton Prize
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT
+Or The Message that Saved the Ship
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION
+Or Making Good in the Wireless Room
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS
+Or The Midnight Call for Assistance
+
+THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE
+Or Solving a Wireless Mystery
+
+THE RAILROAD SERIES
+
+RALPH OF THE ROUNDHOUSE
+Or Bound to Become a Railroad Man
+
+RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER
+Or Clearing the Track
+
+RALPH ON THE ENGINE
+Or The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail
+
+RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS
+Or The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer
+
+RALPH THE TRAIN DESPATCHER
+Or The Mystery of the Pay Car
+
+RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN
+Or The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York
+
+Copyright, 1922, By
+GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+BY JACK BINNS
+
+Within a comparatively short time after this volume is published the
+human voice will be thrown across the Atlantic Ocean under conditions
+that will lead immediately to the establishment of permanent telephone
+communication with Europe by means of radio.
+
+Under the circumstances therefore the various uses of radio which are so
+aptly outlined in it will give the reader an idea of the tremendous
+strides that have been made in the art of communicating without wires
+during the past few months.
+
+Of these one of the most important, which by the way is dealt with to a
+large extent in the present volume, is that of running down crooks. It
+must not be forgotten that criminals, and those criminally intent are
+not slow to utilize the latest developments of the genius of man, and
+radio is useful to them also. However, the forces of law and order
+inevitably prevail, and radio therefore is going to be increasingly
+useful in our general police work.
+
+Another important use, as outlined in this volume, is in the detection
+of forest fires, and in fact generally protecting forest areas in
+conjunction with aircraft. With these two means hundreds of thousands of
+acres can now be patrolled in a single day more efficiently than a few
+acres were previously covered.
+
+Radio is an ideal boy's hobby, but it is not limited to youth.
+Nevertheless it offers a wonderful scope for the unquenchable enthusiasm
+that always accompanies the application of youthful endeavor, and it is
+a fact that the majority of the wonderful inventions and improvements
+that have been made in radio have been produced by young men.
+
+Since this book was written there has been produced in this country the
+most powerful vacuum tube in the world. In size it is small, but in
+output it is capable of producing 100 kilowatts of electrical power.
+Three such tubes will cast the human voice across the Atlantic Ocean
+under any conditions, and transmit across the same vast space the
+world's grandest music. Ten of these tubes joined in parallel at any of
+the giant transmitting wireless telegraph stations would send telegraph
+code messages practically around the world.
+
+[Illustration: author's signature "Jack Binns"]
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    I.  Splintering Glass                 9
+   II.  In a Dilemma                     20
+  III.  The Stuttering Voice             31
+   IV.  A Puzzling Mystery               43
+    V.  Marvels of Wireless              51
+   VI.  The Forest Ranger                61
+  VII.  Radio and the Fire Fiend         70
+ VIII.  Near Disaster                    77
+   IX.  A Happy Inspiration              83
+    X.  The Escaped Convict              91
+   XI.  Down the Trap Door               99
+  XII.  Groping in Darkness             106
+ XIII.  Cunning Scoundrels              112
+  XIV.  A Daring Holdup                 119
+   XV.  Off to the Woods                127
+  XVI.  Put to the Test                 136
+ XVII.  The Bully Gets a Ducking        143
+XVIII.  A Startling Discovery           151
+  XIX.  The Robbers' Code               160
+   XX.  On the Trail                    168
+  XXI.  The Glimpse Through the Window  177
+ XXII.  A Nefarious Plot                185
+XXIII.  Preparing an Ambush             193
+ XXIV.  Lying in Wait                   202
+  XXV.  An Exciting Struggle            208
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SPLINTERING GLASS
+
+
+"You fellows want to be sure to come round to my house to-night and
+listen in on the radio concert," said Bob Layton to a group of his
+chums, as they were walking along the main street of Clintonia one day
+in the early spring.
+
+"I'll be there with bells on," replied Joe Atwood, as he kicked a piece
+of ice from his path. "Trust me not to overlook anything when it comes
+to radio. I'm getting to be more and more of a fan with every day that
+passes. Mother insists that I talk of it in my sleep, but I guess she's
+only fooling."
+
+"Count on yours truly too," chimed in Herb Fennington. "I got stirred up
+about radio a little later than the rest of you fellows, but now I'm
+making up for lost time. Slow but sure is my motto."
+
+"Slow is right," chaffed Jimmy Plummer. "But what on earth are you sure
+of?"
+
+"I'm sure," replied Herb, as he deftly slipped a bit of ice down Jimmy's
+back, "that in a minute you'll be dancing about like a howling dervish."
+
+His prophecy was correct, for Jimmy both howled and danced as he tried
+vainly to extricate the icy fragment that was sliding down his spine.
+His contortions were so ludicrous that the boys broke into roars of
+laughter.
+
+"Great joke, isn't it?" snorted Jimmy, as he bent nearly double. "If you
+had a heart you'd lend a hand and get this out."
+
+"Let's stand him on his head," suggested Joe. "That's the only thing I
+can think of. Then it'll slide out."
+
+Hands were outstretched in ready compliance, but Jimmy concluded that
+the remedy was worse than the presence of the ice and managed to keep
+out of reach.
+
+"Never mind, Jimmy," said Bob consolingly. "It'll melt pretty soon,
+anyhow."
+
+"Yes, and it'll be a good thing for Jimmy to grin and bear it," added
+Herb brightly. "It's things like that that develop one's character."
+
+"'It's easy enough to be pleasant, when life moves along like a song,
+but the man that's worth while, is the man who can smile when
+everything's going dead wrong,'" quoted Joe.
+
+Jimmy, not at all comforted by these noble maxims, glared at his
+tormentors, and at last Bob came to his relief, and, putting his hand
+inside his collar, reached down his back and brought up the piece of
+ice, now greatly reduced in size.
+
+"Let's have it," demanded Jimmy, as Bob was about to throw it away.
+
+"What do you want it for?" asked Bob. "I should think you'd seen enough
+of it."
+
+"On the same principle that a man likes to look at his aching tooth
+after the dentist has pulled it out," grinned Joe.
+
+"Don't give it to him!" exclaimed Herb, edging away out of reach, justly
+fearing that he might feel the vengeance of the outraged Jimmy.
+
+"You gave it to him first, so it's his," decided Bob, with the wisdom of
+a Solomon, as he handed it over to the victim.
+
+Jimmy took it and started for Herb, but just then Mr. Preston, the
+principal of the high school, came along and Jimmy felt compelled to
+defer his revenge.
+
+"How are you, boys?" said Mr. Preston, with a smile. "You seem to be
+having a good time."
+
+"Jimmy is," returned Herb, and Jimmy covertly shook his fist at him.
+"We're making the most of the snow and ice while it lasts."
+
+"Well, I don't think it will last much longer," surmised Mr. Preston, as
+he walked along with them. "As a matter of fact, winter is 'lingering in
+the lap of spring' a good deal longer than usual this year."
+
+"I suppose you had a pleasant time in Washington?" remarked Joe
+inquiringly, referring to a trip from which the principal had returned
+only a few days before.
+
+"I did, indeed," was the reply. "To my mind it's the most interesting
+city in the country. I've been there a number of times, and yet I always
+leave there with regret. There's the Capitol, the noblest building on
+this continent and to my mind the finest in the world. Then there's the
+Congressional Library, only second to it in beauty, and the Washington
+Monument soaring into the air to a height of five hundred and fifty-five
+feet, and the superb Lincoln Memorial, and a host of other things
+scarcely less wonderful.
+
+"But the pleasantest recollection I have of the trip," he went on, "was
+the speech I heard the President make just before I came away. It was
+simply magnificent."
+
+"It sure was," replied Bob enthusiastically. "Every word of it was worth
+remembering. He certainly knows how to put things."
+
+"I suppose you read it in the newspaper the next day," said Mr. Preston,
+glancing at him.
+
+"Better than that," responded Bob, with a smile. "We all heard it over
+the radio while he was making it."
+
+"Indeed!" replied the principal. "Then you boys heard it even before I
+did."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Joe, in some bewilderment. "I understood that
+you were in the crowd that listened to him."
+
+"So I was," Mr. Preston answered, in evident enjoyment of their
+mystification. "I sat right before him while he was speaking, not more
+than a hundred feet away, saw the motion of his lips as the words fell
+from them and noted the changing expression of his features. And yet I
+say again that you boys heard him before I did."
+
+"I don't quite see," said Herb, in great perplexity. "You were only a
+hundred feet away and we were hundreds of miles away."
+
+"And if you had been thousands of miles away, what I said would still be
+true," affirmed Mr. Preston. "No doubt there were farmers out on the
+Western plains who heard him before I did.
+
+"You see it's like this," the schoolmaster went on to explain. "Sound
+travels through the air to a distance of a little over a hundred feet in
+the tenth part of a second. But in that same tenth of a second that it
+took the President's voice to reach me in the open air radio could have
+carried it eighteen thousand six hundred miles."
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Jimmy. "Eighteen thousand six hundred miles! Not feet,
+fellows, but miles!"
+
+"That's right," said Bob thoughtfully. "Though I never thought of it in
+just that way before. But it's a fact that radio travels at the rate of
+one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles a second."
+
+"Equal to about seven and a half times around the earth," observed the
+principal, smiling. "In other words, the people who were actually
+sitting in the presence of the President were the very last to hear what
+he said.
+
+"Put it in still another way. Suppose the President were speaking
+through a megaphone in addition to the radio and by the use of the
+megaphone the voice was carried to people in the audience a third of a
+mile away. By the time those persons heard it, the man in the moon could
+have heard it too--that is," he added, with a laugh, "supposing there
+really were a man in the moon and that he had a radio receiving set."
+
+"It surely sounds like fairyland," murmured Joe.
+
+"Radio is the fairyland of science," replied Mr. Preston, with
+enthusiasm, "in the sense that it is full of wonder and romance. But
+there the similarity ceases. Fairyland is a creation of the fancy or the
+imagination. Radio is based upon the solid rock of scientific truth. Its
+principles are as certain as those of mathematics. Its problems can be
+demonstrated as exactly as that two and two make four. But it's full of
+what seem to be miracles until they are shown to be facts. And there's
+scarcely a day that passes without a new one of these 'miracles' coming
+to light."
+
+He had reached his corner by this time, and with a pleasant wave of his
+hand he left them.
+
+"He sure is a thirty-third degree radio fan," mused Joe, as they watched
+his retreating figure.
+
+"Just as most all bright men are becoming," declared Bob. "The time is
+coming when a man who doesn't know about radio or isn't interested in it
+will be looked on as a man without intelligence."
+
+"Look here!" exclaimed Jimmy suddenly. "What's become of my piece of
+ice?"
+
+He opened his hand, which was red and wet and dripping.
+
+"That's one on you, Jimmy, old boy," chuckled Joe. "It melted away while
+you were listening to the prof."
+
+"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," said Herb complacently.
+"Jimmy meant to put that down my back."
+
+"Oh, there are plenty of other pieces," said Jimmy, as he picked one up
+and started for Herb.
+
+Herb started to run, but slipped and fell on the icy sidewalk.
+
+"You know what the Good Book says," chaffed Joe. "The wicked stand on
+slippery places."
+
+"Yes, I see they do," replied Herb, as quick as a flash, looking up at
+him. "But I can't."
+
+The laugh was on Joe, and Herb felt so good over the retort that he did
+not mind the fall, though it had jarred him considerably. He scrambled
+to his feet and brushed off his clothes, while Jimmy, feeling that his
+comrade had been punished enough, magnanimously threw away the piece of
+ice that was to have been the instrument of his vengeance.
+
+"The reason why I wanted you fellows to be sure to be on hand to-night,"
+resumed Bob, as they walked along, "was that I saw in the program of the
+Newark station in the newspaper this morning that Larry Bartlett was
+down for an entirely new stunt. You know what a hit he made with his
+imitations of birds."
+
+"He sure did," agreed Joe. "To my mind he had it all over the birds
+themselves. I never got tired listening to him."
+
+"He certainly was a dabster at it," chimed in Jimmy.
+
+"Now he's going in to imitate animals," explained Bob. "I understand
+that he's been haunting the Zoo for weeks in every minute of his spare
+time studying the bears and lions and tigers and elephants and snakes,
+and getting their roars and growls and trumpeting and hisses down to a
+fine point. I bet he'll be a riot when he gives them to us over the
+radio."
+
+"He sure will," assented Herb. "He's got the natural gift in the first
+place, and then he practices and practices until he's got everything
+down to perfection."
+
+"He's a natural entertainer," affirmed Bob. "I tell you, fellows, we
+never did a better day's work than when we got Larry that job at the
+sending station. Not only was it a good thing for Larry himself when he
+was down and out, but think of the pleasure he's been able to give to
+hundreds of thousands of people. I'll bet there's no feature on the
+program that is waited for more eagerly than his."
+
+By this time the boys had reached the business portion of the town and
+the short spring day was drawing to a close. Already lights were
+beginning to twinkle in the stores that lined both sides of the street.
+
+"Getting near supper time," remarked Bob. "Guess we'd better be getting
+along home. Don't forget to come--Gee whiz!"
+
+The ejaculation was wrung from him by a snowball that hit him squarely
+in the breast, staggering him for a moment.
+
+Bang! and another snowball found a target in Joe. It struck his shoulder
+and spattered all over his face and neck.
+
+"That felt as though it came from a gun!" he exclaimed. "It's the
+hardest slam I ever got."
+
+"Who did it?" demanded Bob, peering about him in the gathering darkness.
+
+Halfway up the block they saw a group of dark figures darting into an
+alleyway.
+
+"It's Buck Looker and his crowd!" cried Jimmy. "I saw them when they ran
+under that arc light."
+
+"Just like that crowd to take us unawares," said Bob. "But if they're
+looking for a tussle we can accommodate them. Get busy, fellows, and let
+them have something in return for these two sockdolagers."
+
+They hastily gathered up several snowballs apiece, which were easily
+made because the snow was soft and packed readily, and ran toward the
+alleyway just in time to see Buck and his crowd emerging from their
+hiding place.
+
+There was a spirited battle for a few minutes, each side making and
+receiving some smashing hits. Buck's gang had the advantage in that they
+had a large number of missiles already prepared, and even in the
+excitement of the fight the radio boys noticed how unusually hard they
+were.
+
+"Must have been soaking them in water until they froze," grunted Jimmy,
+as one of them caught him close to the neck and made him wince.
+
+As soon as their extra ammunition was exhausted and the contending
+forces in this respect were placed more on a footing of equality, Buck
+and his cronies began to give ground before the better aim and greater
+determination of Bob and his comrades.
+
+"Give it to them, fellows!" shouted Bob, as the retreat of their
+opponents was rapidly becoming a rout.
+
+At the moment he called out, the progress of the fight had brought the
+radio boys directly in front of the windows of one of the largest
+drygoods stores in the town.
+
+In the light that came from the windows Bob saw a snowball coming
+directly for his head. He dodged, and----
+
+Crash! There was the sound of splintering glass, and the snowy missile
+whizzed through the plate glass window!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN A DILEMMA
+
+
+There was a moment of stupor and paralysis as the meaning of the crash
+dawned upon the radio boys.
+
+Buck and his crowd had vanished and were footing it up the fast-darkening
+street at the top of their speed.
+
+The first impulse of the radio boys was to follow their example. They
+knew that none of them was responsible for the disaster, and they were
+of no mind to be sacrificed on behalf of the gang that had attacked
+them. And they knew that in affairs of that kind the ones on the ground
+were apt to suffer the more severely.
+
+They actually started to run away, but had got only a few feet from the
+scene of the smash when Bob, who had been thinking quickly, called a
+halt.
+
+"None of this stuff for us, fellows," he declared. "We've got to face
+the music. I'm not going to have a hunted feeling, even if we succeeded
+in getting away. We know we didn't do it and we'll tell the plain truth.
+If that doesn't serve, why so much the worse for us. But at any rate we
+won't be despising ourselves as cowards."
+
+As usual, his comrades accorded him the leadership and fell in with his
+plan, although it was not without many misgivings that they awaited the
+coming of the angry proprietor of the place, who had already started in
+pursuit of them, accompanied by many others who had been attracted by
+the crash and whose numbers were being rapidly augmented.
+
+"Here are the fellows that smashed my window!" cried Mr. Larsen, the
+proprietor of the drygoods store, rushing up to them and shaking his
+fist in their faces. "Where are the police?" he shouted, looking around
+him. "I'll have them arrested for malicious damage."
+
+And while he faced them, gesticulating wildly, his face purple with
+anger and excitement, it may be well for the benefit of those who have
+not read the preceding volumes of this series to tell briefly who the
+radio boys are and what had been their adventures before the time this
+story opens.
+
+The acknowledged leader of the boys was Bob Layton, son of a prosperous
+chemist of Clintonia, in which town Bob had been born and brought up.
+Mr. Layton was a respected citizen of the town and foremost in its civic
+activities. Clintonia was a thriving little city of about ten thousand
+population, situated on the Shagary River, about seventy-five miles from
+the city of New York.
+
+Bob at the beginning of this story was about sixteen years old, tall and
+stalwart and a clean-cut specimen of upstanding American youth. He was
+of rather dark complexion and had a pair of eyes that looked straight at
+one. Those eyes were usually merry, but could flash with indignation
+when circumstances required it. He was never on the lookout for trouble,
+but was always ready to meet it half way, and his courageous character
+together with his vigorous physique had made him prominent in the sports
+of the boys of his own age. He was a crack baseball player and one of
+the chief factors of the high school football eleven. No one in
+Clintonia was held in better liking.
+
+Bob's special chum was Joe Atwood, son of the leading physician of the
+town. Joe was fair in complexion and sturdy in makeup. He and Bob had
+been for many years almost inseparable companions, Bob usually acting as
+captain in anything in which they might be engaged, while Joe served as
+first mate. The latter had a hot temper, and his impulsiveness sometimes
+got him into trouble and would have involved him in scrapes oftener if
+it had not been for the cooler head and steadying influence of Bob.
+
+Two other friends of the boys who were almost always in their company
+were Herb Fennington, whose father kept a large general store in the
+town, and Jimmy Plummer, son of a respected carpenter and contractor.
+Herb was of a rather indolent disposition, but was jolly and
+good-natured and always full of jokes, some of them good, others poor,
+which he frequently sought to spring on his companions.
+
+Jimmy was a trifle younger than his mates, fat and round and excessively
+fond of the good things of life. His liking for that special dainty had
+gained him the nickname of "Doughnuts," and few of such nicknames were
+ever more fittingly bestowed.
+
+Apart from the liking that drew them together, the boys had another link
+in their common interest in radio. From the time that this wonderful new
+science had begun to spread over the country with such amazing rapidity,
+they had been among the most ardent "fans." Everything that they could
+read or learn on the subject was devoured with avidity, and they were
+almost constantly at the home of one or the other, listening in on their
+radio sets and, lately, sending messages, in the latter of which they
+had now attained an unusual degree of proficiency.
+
+In decided contrast to Bob and his friends was another group of
+Clintonia youth, between whom and the radio boys there was a pronounced
+antipathy. The leader of this group was Buck Looker, a big overgrown,
+hulking boy, dull in his studies and a bully in character. His two
+special cronies were Carl Lutz, a boy of about his own age, and Terry
+Mooney, both of them noted for their mean and sneaking dispositions.
+Buck lorded it over them, and as his father was one of the richest men
+in the town they cringed before him and were always ready to back him up
+in any piece of meanness and mischief.
+
+The enthusiasm of Bob and his friends for radio was fostered by the help
+and advice of the Reverend Doctor Dale, the clergyman in charge of the
+Old First Church of Clintonia, who, in addition to being an eloquent
+preacher, was keenly interested in all latter-day developments of
+science, especially radio. Whenever the boys got into trouble with their
+sets they knew that all they had to do was to go to the genial doctor
+and be helped out of their perplexities.
+
+An incident that gave a great impetus to their interest in the subject
+was the offering of prizes by Mr. Ferberton, the member of Congress for
+their district, for the best radio sets turned out by the boys of his
+congressional district by their own endeavors. Bob, Joe, and Jimmy
+entered into this competition with great zest. Herb with his habitual
+indolence kept out of it.
+
+While the boys were engrossed with their radio experiments an incident
+happened in town that led them into many unexpected adventures. An
+automobile run by a visitor in town, a Miss Nellie Berwick, got out of
+her control and dashed through the window of a store. Bob and Joe, who
+happened to be at hand, rescued the girl from imminent peril, while Herb
+and Jimmy did good work in curbing the fire that followed the accident.
+
+How the boys learned of the orphan girl's story, got on the track of the
+rascal who had tried to swindle her and forced him to make restitution;
+what part the radio played in bringing the fellow to terms; how they
+detected and thwarted the plans of Buck Looker and his cronies to wreck
+their sets; are told in the first volume of this series entitled: "The
+Radio Boys' First Wireless; Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize."
+
+That summer the chums went to Ocean Point on the seashore, where many of
+the Clintonia folks had established a little bungalow colony of their
+own. What adventures they met with there; what strides they made in the
+practical work of radio; how they were enabled by their knowledge and
+quick application of it to save a storm-tossed ship on which members of
+their own families were voyaging; how they ran down and captured the
+scoundrel Cassey who had knocked out with a blackjack the operator at
+the sending station and looted his safe--these and many more incidents
+are narrated in the second volume of this series entitled: "The Radio
+Boys at Ocean Point; Or, The Message That Saved the Ship."
+
+While the summer season was yet at its height, the boys had occasion to
+rescue the occupants of a rowboat that had been run down by men in a
+stolen motor boat. The two rescued youths proved to be vaudeville
+actors, and the boys grew very friendly with them. The injury that
+crippled one of them, Larry Bartlett; the false accusation brought
+against him by Buck Looker; the way in which the boys succeeded in
+getting work for Larry at the sending station, where his remarkable gift
+of mimicry received recognition; how they themselves were placed on the
+broadcasting program, and the clever way in which they trapped the
+motor-boat thieves; are told in the third volume of the series,
+entitled: "The Radio Boys at the Sending Station; Or, Making Good in the
+Wireless Room."
+
+The coming of fall brought the boys back to Clintonia, where, however,
+the usual course of their studies was interrupted by an epidemic that
+made necessary for a time the closing of the schools. This gave the
+radio boys an opportunity to make a trip to Mountain Pass, a popular
+resort in the hills. Here they came in contact with a group of plotters
+who were trying to put through a nefarious deal and were able to thwart
+the rascals through the use of radio. By that same beneficent science
+too they were able to save a life when other means of communication were
+blocked. And not the least satisfactory feature was the utter
+discomfiture they were able to visit upon Buck Looker and his gang.
+These and many other adventures are told in the fourth volume of the
+series, entitled: "The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass; Or, The Midnight
+Call for Assistance."
+
+And now to return to the radio boys as they stood facing the angry
+storekeeper amid a constantly growing throng of curious onlookers. They
+had been in many tighter fixes in their life but none that was more
+embarrassing.
+
+"I'll have them arrested!" the storekeeper repeated, his voice rising to
+a shrill treble.
+
+"Now look here," replied Bob. "Suppose you cut out this talk of having
+us arrested. In the first place, we didn't break your window. In the
+second place, if we had it wouldn't be a matter of arrest but of making
+good the damage."
+
+"All right then," said Mr. Larsen eagerly, catching at the last word.
+"Make good the damage. It will cost at least two hundred dollars to
+replace that window."
+
+"I think you're a little high," returned Bob. "But that doesn't matter.
+I didn't say that we'd make the damage good. I said that if we'd broken
+it, it would be a matter of making good. But we didn't break it, and
+that lets us out I'll say."
+
+"It's easy to say that," sneered the merchant. "How do I know that you
+didn't break it? It would of course be natural for you to try to lie out
+of it."
+
+"It wouldn't be natural for us to lie out of it," replied Bob,
+controlling his temper with difficulty. "That isn't our way of doing
+things. Why do you suppose we stayed here when it would have been
+perfectly easy for us to get away? It wasn't a snowball we threw that
+broke your window. It was one thrown by the fellows we were fighting
+with."
+
+"Always the other fellow that does it!" replied the storekeeper angrily.
+"Who was that other fellow or fellows then? Tell me that. Come on now,
+tell me that."
+
+Bob kept silent. He had no love for Buck Looker and his gang, who had
+always tried to injure him, but he was not going to inform.
+
+"See," said Mr. Larsen, misunderstanding his silence. "When I ask you,
+you can't tell me. You're the fellows that did it, all right, and you'll
+pay me for it or I'll have you put in jail, that's what I'll do."
+
+"I saw the fellows who were firing snowballs in this direction," spoke
+up Mr. Talley, a caterer, pushing his way through the throng. "I nearly
+bumped into them as they were running away. Buck Looker was one of them.
+I saw his face plainly and can't be mistaken. The others I'm not so sure
+of, but I think they were Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney.
+
+"For my part, Mr. Larsen," he continued, "I don't see how a snowball
+could break that heavy plate-glass window, anyway. My windows are no
+heavier, and they've often had snowballs come against them without doing
+any harm. Are you sure it wasn't something else that smashed the glass?"
+
+"Dead sure," replied Larsen. "Come inside and see for yourself."
+
+He led the way into his store, and Mr. Talley, the boys, and a number of
+others crowded in after him.
+
+"Look," said Larsen, pointing to a piece of dress goods that had been
+hanging in the window. "See where the snow has splashed against it?
+There's no question that a snowball did it. You can see the bits of snow
+around here yet if you'll only look."
+
+This was true and the evidence seemed conclusive. But just then Bob's
+keen eyes detected something else. He stooped down and brought up quite
+a large sharp-edged stone which still had some fragments of snow
+adhering to it and held it up for all to see.
+
+"Here's the answer," he said. "This stone was packed in the snowball,
+and that is why it smashed the window!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE STUTTERING VOICE
+
+
+There was a stir of interest and exclamations of surprise as those in
+the store crowded closer to get a better view.
+
+"That explains it," said Mr. Talley, as he examined the missile. "I was
+sure that no mere ball of snow could break that heavy window. To put
+such a stone in a snowball was little less than criminal," he went on
+gravely. "If that had hit any one on the temple it would almost
+certainly have killed him."
+
+"It was coming straight for my head when I dodged," said Bob.
+
+"That's another proof that it wasn't any ball we threw that broke the
+window," put in Joe. "Each one of us is willing to swear that there was
+no stone in any ball that we threw."
+
+"Not only then but at any time," put in Herb. "Only a mean coward would
+do a thing like that. None of us has done it any time in his life."
+
+"I believe that," replied Mr. Talley. "I've known all you boys ever
+since you were little kids and I know you wouldn't be capable of it."
+
+"That's all very well," said Mr. Larsen. "But that doesn't pay for my
+window. Whether any of you boys threw the ball or not you can't deny
+that you were engaged in a snowball fight right in front of my windows.
+If the fight hadn't been going on the window wouldn't have been
+smashed."
+
+There was a certain amount of justice in this, and the boys were fair
+enough to acknowledge it.
+
+"I suppose you are right there, Mr. Larsen," said Bob regretfully. "We
+ought to have kept out of range of the windows, but in the excitement we
+forgot all about that. Then, too, we never would have supposed that any
+ordinary snowball would have broken the window. Perhaps that was in the
+back of our minds, if we thought of it at all."
+
+"Is the window insured?" queried Mr. Talley.
+
+"Yes, it is," answered the storekeeper.
+
+"Well, then, that lets you out," remarked Mr. Talley, with a note of
+relief in his voice. "That puts the matter up to the insurance company.
+If they want to take any legal steps they can; and of course they ought
+to be compensated by the parents of the boy who may be found guilty of
+having thrown the ball with a stone in it. For my part, I doubt very
+much that it can ever be proved, unless the boy himself owns up to it."
+
+"Think of Buck Looker ever owning up to anything!" muttered Jimmy.
+
+"As for these boys," continued Mr. Talley, "I am perfectly sure in my
+own mind that they are telling the truth. You'll have to look for the
+culprit in the other crowd, and I've already told you who they are, or
+who one of them is, at least."
+
+"Well," said the storekeeper, who by this time had cooled down
+considerably, "that, I suppose, will be something for the insurance
+company to settle. But by the terms of my contract with them I'll have
+to help them all I can to find out the responsible party, and I'll have
+to give them the names of all the boys concerned in the fight."
+
+"That's all right," responded Bob. "You know our folks and you know that
+they're good for any judgment that may be found against them. But I'm
+sure it will be somebody else that will have to pay the bill."
+
+There was nothing more to be done for the present, and the boys filed
+out of the store, after having expressed their thanks to Mr. Talley for
+the way he had championed their cause.
+
+"Gee!" murmured Joe, as they went up the street toward their homes, "I
+know how a fellow feels now after he's been put through the third
+degree."
+
+"It was rather a hot session," agreed Bob. "But I'm glad we had it out
+with him instead of running away. It's always best to take the bull by
+the horns. And you can't blame Mr. Larsen for feeling sore about it. Any
+one of us would probably have felt the same way."
+
+"Sure thing," admitted Herb. "But think of that dirty trick of Buck
+Looker in putting stones in snowballs! It wasn't only that one that went
+through the window. Every time I got hit it made me jump."
+
+"Same here," said Jimmy. "I was thinking all the time that they were the
+hardest snowballs I ever felt, but it never came into my mind that there
+were stones in them."
+
+"Trust Buck to be up to every mean trick that any one ever thought of,"
+returned Bob. "He hasn't got over the way we showed him up at Mountain
+Pass. He thought he had us dead to rights in the matter of that burned
+cottage, and it made him wild to see the way we came out on top. He and
+his gang would do anything to get even."
+
+"It will be interesting to see what he'll say when this matter of the
+window is put up to him and his pals," remarked Herb.
+
+"Not a doubt in the world what he'll say," replied Joe. "He'll swear
+till he's blue in the face that he never dreamed of using a stone in the
+snowballs. Do you remember how he told us that he'd lie in court to keep
+us from putting anything over on him? Any one that expects to get the
+truth out of Buck is barking up the wrong tree. I guess the insurance
+company would better kiss their money good-by."
+
+"I'm afraid so," returned Bob. "It was dark and there probably weren't
+any witnesses who saw them put the stones in, and it is likely that the
+company will have to let the matter drop."
+
+The lads had reached Bob's gate by this time, and they separated with a
+promise to come over and listen in on the radio later on.
+
+Bob told the whole story to his parents at the supper table that night,
+and his father and mother listened with great interest and some concern.
+
+"I'm sorry you were mixed up in the thing at all, Bob," his father
+remarked thoughtfully. "Being in it, however, you acted just as you
+should have done. Just how far you and your friends may be held
+responsible, in case they can't find the one who actually threw the ball
+that broke the window, I'm not lawyer enough to say. It's barely
+possible that there may be some ground for action on the score of
+culpable carelessness in taking part in a snowball fight in front of
+store windows, and of course you were wrong in doing that. But the total
+amount involved is not very great after all, and it would be divided up
+among the parents of the four of you, so there's nothing much to worry
+about. It would gall me though to have to pay for damages that were
+really caused by that cub of Looker's."
+
+"I'm sorry, Dad," said Bob. "I'm hoping yet that something may develop
+that will put the thing up to Buck, or whoever it was of his gang that
+actually threw the ball."
+
+"Let's hope so," returned Mr. Layton, though without much conviction in
+his voice, and dismissed the subject.
+
+A little while afterward the other three boys came over to Bob's house
+to listen in on the radio concert. So much time, however, had been taken
+up in discussing the afternoon's adventure that they missed Larry's
+offering, which was among the first on the program. This was a keen
+disappointment, which was tempered, however, by the probability that
+they could hear him some evening later in the week.
+
+"Sorry," remarked Joe. "But it only means that we still have a treat in
+store when the old boy begins to roar and growl and hiss so as to make
+us think that a whole menagerie has broken loose and is chasing us. In
+the meantime we can fix up that aerial so as to get a little better
+results."
+
+"Funny thing I noticed the other day," remarked Bob, as they embarked
+upon some experiments.
+
+"All sorts of funny things in the radio game," observed Joe. "Something
+new turns up every day. Things in your set that you think you can't do
+without you find you can do without and get results just about as
+usual."
+
+"Just what I was going to tell you," returned Bob. "You must be
+something of a prophet."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't go quite so far as to say that," replied Joe, with mock
+modesty.
+
+"Isn't he the shrinking violet?" chaffed Jimmy.
+
+"Stop your kidding, you boobs, and let a regular fellow talk," chided
+Bob. "What I was going to say was that while I was tinkering with the
+set I disconnected the ground wire. Of course I thought that would put
+the receiver out of business for the time, and I was almost knocked
+silly when I found that I could hear the concert that was going on just
+about as well as though the wire had been connected. How do you account
+for that?"
+
+"Don't account for it at all," replied Herb. "Probably just a freak, and
+might not happen again in a thousand times. Likely it was one of the
+unexplainable things that happen once in a while. Maybe there was a
+ground connection of some kind, if not by the wire. I wouldn't bank on
+it."
+
+"It's queer, too, how many kinds of things can be used as aerials," put
+in Joe. "I heard the other day of a man in an apartment house where the
+owner objected to aerials, who used the clothesline for that purpose.
+The wire ran through the rope, which covered it so that it couldn't be
+seen. It didn't prevent its use as a clothesline either, for he could
+hear perfectly when the wash was hanging on it."
+
+"Oh, almost anything will do as an aerial," chimed in Jimmy. "The rib of
+an umbrella, the rainspout at the side of the house, the springs of a
+bed give good results. And that's one of the mighty good things about
+radio. People that have to count the pennies don't have to buy a lot of
+expensive materials. They can put a set together with almost any old
+thing that happens to be knocking around the house."
+
+Bob had been working steadily, and, as the room was warm, his hands were
+moist with perspiration. He had unhooked an insulated copper wire that
+led to his outside aerial. His head phones were on, as he had been
+listening to the radio concert while he worked.
+
+"I'll have to miss the rest of that selection, I guess," he remarked
+regretfully, as he unhooked the wire. "It's a pity, too, for that's one
+of the finest violin solos I ever heard. Great Scott! What does that
+mean?"
+
+The ejaculation was wrenched from him by the fact that although he had
+disconnected the wire he still heard the music--a little fainter than
+before but still with every note distinct.
+
+He could scarcely believe his ears and looked at his friends in great
+bewilderment.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Joe, jumping to his feet. "Get a shock?"
+
+"Not in the sense you mean, but in another way, yes," replied Bob, still
+holding the exposed end of the copper wire in his fingers. "What do you
+think of that, fellows? I'm an aerial!"
+
+"Come out of your trance," adjured Herb unbelievingly. "They talk that
+way in the insane asylums."
+
+"Clap on your headphones," cried Bob, too intent on his discovery to pay
+any attention to the gibe.
+
+They did so, and were amazed at hearing the selection as plainly as did
+Bob himself.
+
+The latter had been holding the disconnected wire so that his fingers
+just touched the uncovered copper portion at the end. Now he hastily
+scraped off several inches of the insulation and grasped the copper wire
+with his hand. Instantly the volume of sound grew perceptibly greater.
+
+Hardly knowing what to make of it, he scraped off still more of the
+insulation.
+
+"Here, you fellows," he shouted. "Each of you take hold of this."
+
+Joe was the first to respond, and the sound became louder. Then Herb and
+Jimmy followed suit, and it was evident that they served as amplifiers,
+for with each additional hand the music swelled to greater volume.
+
+The boys looked at each other as if asking whether this was all real or
+if they had suddenly been transferred to some realm of fancy. They would
+not have been greatly surprised to wake up suddenly and find that they
+had been dreaming.
+
+But there was no delusion about it and they listened without saying
+another word until, in a glorious strain of melody, the selection came
+to an end. Nor did they break the silence until a band orchestra was
+announced and crashed into a brilliant overture.
+
+While it was still in full swing, Bob had an inspiration. He took off
+his headphones and clamped them on to the phonograph that stood on a
+table near by. Instantly the music became intensified and filled the
+room. When all their hands were on the wire, it became so loud that they
+had to close the doors of the phonograph.
+
+"Well," gasped Bob, when the last strain had died away and the
+demonstration was complete, "that's something new on me."
+
+"Never dreamed of anything like it," said Joe, sinking back in his
+chair. "Of course we know that the human body has electrical capacity
+and that operators sometimes have to use metal shields to protect the
+tube from the influence of the hand. And in our loop aerial at Ocean
+Point you noticed that the receptivity of the tube was modified when we
+touched it with our fingers."
+
+"Of course, in theory," observed Bob thoughtfully, "the human body
+possesses inductance as well as capacity, and so might serve as an
+antenna. But I never thought of demonstrating it in practice."
+
+"So Bob is an aerial," grinned Herb. "I always knew he was a 'live
+wire,' but I never figured him out as an antenna."
+
+"And don't forget that if Bob is an aerial we're amplifiers," put in
+Jimmy.
+
+"There's glory enough for all," laughed Joe. "We'll have to tell Doctor
+Dale and Frank Brandon about this. We've got so many tips from them that
+it's about time we made it the other way around."
+
+They were so excited about this new development which they had stumbled
+upon purely through accident that they sat talking about it for a long
+time until Bob chanced to look at his watch.
+
+"Just have time for the last selection," he remarked, as he reconnected
+the aerial. "We'll wind up in the regular way this time. It's an aria
+from Lucia and I don't want to miss it."
+
+He had some difficulty in making his adjustment, as there was a lot of
+interference at the moment.
+
+"Raft of amateurs horning in," he muttered. "All of them seem to have
+chosen just this time to do it. I wonder----"
+
+He stopped as though he had been shot, and listened intently. Then he
+beckoned to the others to adjust their headphones.
+
+Into the receiver was coming a succession of stuttering sounds that
+eventually succeeded in framing intelligible words. Ordinarily this
+might have provoked laughter, but not now. They had heard that voice
+before.
+
+It was the voice of Dan Cassey!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A PUZZLING MYSTERY
+
+
+For the second time that evening the radio boys thought they must be
+dreaming.
+
+Cassey! Cassey the swindler, whom they had compelled to make restitution
+to the victim he had wronged. Cassey the thug, whom they had captured in
+that wild chase after he had looted the safe and nearly killed the
+operator in the sending station. Cassey the convict, who, to their
+certain knowledge, had been sentenced to a long term in prison.
+
+What was Cassey doing over the radio? That it was that scoundrel they
+had no doubt. The stuttering, the tones of the voice, the occasional
+whistle which he indulged in in order to go on--all these things they
+recognized perfectly. It was the wildest kind of improbability that he
+had a double anywhere who could reproduce him so perfectly.
+
+Gone now was any thought of the aria from Lucia. Bob motioned
+frantically to Jimmy to hand him a pencil and a sheet of paper. Then he
+jotted down the words, as after great efforts they fell one by one from
+the stutterer's lips. As Bob did this he bent over the paper in frowning
+perplexity. The words themselves were intelligible, but they did not
+seem to make sense, nor was there anywhere a connected sentence.
+
+Finally the stammering voice ceased, and after they had waited several
+minutes longer to make sure that it would not resume, the boys took off
+their headphones and gazed at each other in utter bewilderment.
+
+"Well, I'll be blessed!" exclaimed Joe. "That villain Cassey, of all men
+on the face of the earth! What do you make of it, Bob?"
+
+"I don't know what to make of it," confessed Bob. "It has simply knocked
+me endways. I never thought to hear of that rascal again for the rest of
+my life. Yet here he is, less than a year after he's been sentenced,
+talking over the radio."
+
+"Perhaps he's received a pardon," hazarded Jimmy.
+
+"Not at all likely," answered Bob. "It isn't as though he were a first
+offender. He's old in crime. You remember the raking over the judge gave
+him when he sentenced him. Told him if he had it in his power he'd give
+him more than he actually did. No, I think we can dismiss that idea."
+
+"Isn't it possible," suggested Herb, "that he's employed as radio
+operator in the prison? He understands sending and receiving all right."
+
+"That doesn't strike me hard either," Bob objected. "Likely enough the
+prison is equipped with a wireless set, but it isn't probable that
+they'd let a prisoner operate it. It would give him too good a chance to
+get in touch with confederates outside the jail. Then, too, his
+stuttering would make him a laughing stock.
+
+"The only explanation that I can see," he went on, "is that he's
+escaped, and he's sending this message on his own hook. Though what the
+message is about is beyond me."
+
+"Just what did you get down?" asked Jimmy curiously. "I caught a few
+words, but I don't remember them all."
+
+"It's a regular hodgepodge," replied Bob, spreading out the sheet of
+paper, while they all crowded around to read.
+
+"Corn--hay--six--paint--water--slow--sick--jelly," read Joe aloud.
+"Sounds to me like the ravings of a delirium patient."
+
+"And yet I'm sure that I got all the words down right," said Bob
+perplexedly. "It must be a code of some kind. We can't understand it,
+and Cassey didn't mean that any one should except some one person whose
+ear was glued to a radiophone. But you can bet that that person
+understood it all right."
+
+"I wonder if we couldn't make it out," suggested Herb.
+
+"No harm in trying," said Joe, "though compared to this a Chinese puzzle
+is as simple as A B C. Let's take a hack at it, anyhow. We'll each take
+a separate sheet of paper and try to get something out of it that makes
+sense."
+
+For nearly an hour the boys did their best. They put the words in
+different orders, read them forward and backward. But the ideas conveyed
+by the separate words were so utterly dissimilar that they could frame
+nothing that had the slightest glimmering of sense and they were finally
+compelled to give it up.
+
+"If time were money, we'd spend enough on this stuff to make us
+bankrupt," Joe remarked, in vast disgust, as he rose to get his cap.
+"Dan Cassey was foxy when he made this up. We'll have to give the rascal
+credit for that."
+
+"Yes," admitted Herb, "it's the best kind of a code. Any one of those
+words might mean any one of a hundred thousand things. A man might spend
+a lifetime on it and be no nearer success at the end than he was when he
+started. The only way it can be unraveled is by finding the key that
+tells what the words stand for. And even that may not exist in written
+form. The fellows may simply have committed them to memory.
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do!" Bob exclaimed. "I'll get the prison
+to-morrow on the long distance 'phone and ask them about Cassey. I'll
+tell them all about this radio message, and it may be a valuable tip to
+them. They may be able to locate the station from which the messages
+come, if there are any more of them. You remember how Mr. Brandon
+located Cassey's sending station the first time."
+
+Bob was as good as his word, and got in communication with the prison
+just before school time. The warden was gruff and inclined to be
+uncommunicative at first, but his manner changed remarkably after he
+heard of the radio message and he inquired eagerly for the slightest
+details.
+
+"Yes, Cassey has escaped," he told Bob. "He got away about two months
+ago. He had behaved himself well for the first six months of his
+imprisonment, and we made him a trusty. In that capacity he had access
+to various parts of the prison and occasionally to my own quarters,
+which are in a wing connected with the prison. In some way that hasn't
+yet been discovered he got possession of clothes to cover his prison
+uniform and got away one day from the yard in which he was working.
+Probably with his help, two others got away at the same time. Their
+names are Jake Raff and Toppy Gillen, both of them desperate criminals
+and in for long terms. Likely enough the three of them are operating
+together somewhere. We made a careful search for them and have sent out
+descriptions of them to the police of all the important cities in the
+United States. But this clue of yours is the only one we have, and it
+may prove a most important one. I'll see that the Federal radio
+authorities are notified at once. Keep in touch with me and let me know
+if you come across anything else that seems to point to Cassey. His
+escape is a sore point with me, and I'd be glad to have him once more
+behind the bars. You can be sure he'll never get away again until he's
+served out the last day of his sentence."
+
+With a warm expression of thanks the warden hung up his telephone
+receiver, and Bob hurried off to school to tell his comrades of what he
+had learned.
+
+There was no chance for this, however, before recess, as he had been
+kept so long at the telephone that he was barely able to reach the
+school before the bell rang.
+
+When at last he told them of his talk with the warden, they listened
+with spellbound interest.
+
+"So the villain managed to escape, did he?" ruminated Joe. "That's a
+black mark against the warden, and it's no wonder he's anxious to get
+him back. I'd hate to be in Cassey's shoes if the prison gates ever
+close on him again."
+
+"You'd think it would be a comparatively easy matter to capture him,"
+suggested Herb. "The fact that he stutters so badly makes him a marked
+man."
+
+"You can bet that he doesn't do any more talking than he can help,"
+replied Joe. "And, for that matter, I suppose there are a good many
+thousand stutterers in the United States. Almost every town has one or
+more. Of course it's against him, but it doesn't by any means make it a
+sure thing that he'll be nabbed."
+
+Buck Looker and his cronies happened to pass them in the yard just at
+that moment and caught the last word. Buck whispered something to Carl
+Lutz, and the latter broke out into uproarious laughter.
+
+It was so obviously directed against Joe that his impulsive temper took
+fire at once. He stepped up to the trio, despite Bob's outstretched hand
+that tried to restrain him.
+
+"Were you fellows laughing at me?" he asked of the three, though his
+eyes were fastened directly on Buck's.
+
+"Not especially at you," returned Buck insolently. "But at something you
+said."
+
+"And what was that?" asked Joe, coming a step nearer, at which Buck
+stepped back a trifle.
+
+"About getting nabbed," he said. "It made me think of some fellows I
+know that were nabbed last night for breaking windows."
+
+"Oh, that was it!" remarked Joe, with dangerous calmness while his fist
+clenched. "Now let me tell you what it reminds me of. It makes me think
+of three cowards who smashed a window last night with a stone packed in
+a snowball and then ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.
+Perhaps you'd like me to tell you their names?"
+
+"I don't know what you're talking about," retorted Buck, changing color.
+
+"Oh, yes, you do," replied Joe. "And while I'm about it, I'll add that
+the fellows who smashed the window were not only cowards, but worse. And
+their names are Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney."
+
+"What's that?" cried Buck, bristling up, while an angry growl arose from
+his cronies.
+
+"You heard me the first time," replied Joe; "but to get it into your
+thick heads I'll say it again. The cowards, and worse, I referred to are
+named Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MARVELS OF WIRELESS
+
+
+"That's fighting talk," blustered Buck, as he made a pretense of getting
+ready to throw off his coat.
+
+"That's precisely what I want it to be," declared Joe, as he tore off
+his coat and threw it to the ground.
+
+By this time most of the boys in the school yard had sensed the
+tenseness of the situation and had gathered around Joe and Buck, forming
+a ring many lines deep.
+
+"A fight!" was the cry.
+
+"Go in, Joe!"
+
+"Soak him, Buck!"
+
+Before Joe's determined attitude and flashing eyes, Buck wavered. He
+fingered his coat uncertainly and glanced toward the school windows.
+
+"There's one of the teachers looking out," he declared. "And it's
+against the rules to fight on the school grounds. If it wasn't for that
+I'd beat you up."
+
+There was a general snicker from the boys at Buck Looker's sudden regard
+for the rules of the school.
+
+"Any other place you can think of where you'd like to beat me up?" said
+Joe sarcastically. "How about this afternoon after school down by the
+river?"
+
+"I----I've got to go out of town this afternoon," Buck stammered. "But
+don't you worry. I'll give you all the fight you're looking for the
+first chance I get."
+
+Murmurs of derision arose from the crowd, and the flush on the bully's
+sour face grew much deeper.
+
+"You're just a yellow dog, Buck!" exclaimed Joe, in disgust. "Have I got
+to pull your nose to make you stand up to me?"
+
+He advanced toward him, and Buck retreated. What would have happened
+next will never be known, for just at that moment one of the teachers
+emerged from the school and came toward the ring. Hostilities at the
+moment were out of the question, and the boys began to scatter. Buck
+heaved a sigh of evident relief, and now that he felt himself safe, all
+his old bluster came back to him.
+
+"It's mighty lucky for you that Bixby came out just then," he declared.
+"I was just getting ready to thrash you within an inch of your life."
+
+Joe laughed sarcastically.
+
+"The trouble with you, Buck, is that you spend so much time getting
+ready that you never have any time for real fighting," he remarked. "It
+took you an awfully long time to get your coat unbuttoned."
+
+"They laugh best who laugh last," growled Buck. "And don't forget that
+you fellows have got to pay for that glass you broke."
+
+"You've got another guess coming," replied Joe. "You or one of your gang
+broke that glass and we can prove it."
+
+"I wasn't downtown that night at all," said Buck glibly.
+
+"Don't add any more lies to your score," said Joe scornfully. "We've got
+you! You and your gang are the only fellows in town who would put stones
+in snowballs, anyway."
+
+"If that's all the evidence you've got, it wouldn't go far in a court of
+law," sneered Buck. "Any judge would see that you were trying to back
+out of it by putting it up to somebody else."
+
+"Perhaps you don't know that Mr. Talley bumped into you while you were
+running away," remarked Joe.
+
+This shot told, for Buck had banked on the darkness and had forgotten
+all about his encounter with Mr. Talley. He had been nursing the
+comfortable assurance that all he had to do was to deny. Now his house
+of cards had come tumbling about his ears. Mr. Talley was a respected
+citizen, and his word would be accepted by everybody.
+
+Joe saw the effect of his remark and smiled drily.
+
+"Want to revise that statement of yours that you weren't downtown at all
+last night?" he asked, with affected politeness.
+
+"He--he was mistaken," stammered Buck weakly, as he walked away,
+followed by his discomfited cronies.
+
+"I guess that will hold him for a while," chuckled Jimmy, as the radio
+boys watched his retreating figure.
+
+Two or three days passed without special developments. The broken pane
+of glass had been restored and the parents of the boys had been formally
+notified by the insurance company that they would be held responsible
+jointly for the damages. A similar notice had been sent to the fathers
+of Buck and his mates.
+
+Mr. Looker replied, denying that his son was at all implicated in the
+matter and refusing to pay. Mr. Layton admitted that his son had been
+throwing snowballs in front of the store on the night in question, but
+he stated that he had not thrown the ball with a stone in it that broke
+the window. He added that any further communication regarding the matter
+could be sent to his lawyer.
+
+Of the others involved, some had taken similar positions and others had
+ignored the matter altogether, leaving it to the insurance company to
+make the next move. And there for the time the matter rested.
+
+The radio boys had missed Larry's performance on the night that he had
+opened with his new repertoire, but they were bound not to be cheated of
+the second, which took place only a few nights later.
+
+They crowded eagerly about the radio set when their friend's turn was
+announced, and listened with a breathless interest, that was intensified
+by their warm personal regard for the performer, to the rendition of the
+cries of various animals with which Larry regaled them.
+
+The imitations were so lifelike that the boys might well have imagined
+they were in a zoological garden. Lions, tigers, bears, elephants,
+snakes, moose, and other specimens of the animal and the reptile tribes
+were imitated with a fidelity that was amazing. In addition, the
+renditions were interspersed with droll and lively comments by Larry
+that added immensely to the humor of the performance. When at last it
+was over, the boys broke out into enthusiastic hand-clapping that would
+have warmed Larry's heart, had he been able to hear it.
+
+"The old boy is all there!" chortled Bob enthusiastically.
+
+"He's a wonder!" ejaculated Joe. "No question there of a square peg in a
+round hole. He's found exactly the work in life he's specially fitted
+for."
+
+"And think of the audience he has," put in Jimmy. "At this very minute
+there are probably hundreds of thousands of people who have been tickled
+to death at his performance. Just suppose those people all clapped their
+hands at once just as we have done and we could hear it. Why, it would
+be like a young earthquake."
+
+At this moment the doorbell rang, and Dr. Dale was announced. He spent a
+few minutes with Mr. and Mrs. Layton, and then came up to have a little
+chat with the boys. This was one thing he never overlooked. His interest
+in and sympathy with the young were unbounded, and accounted largely for
+the influence that he exerted in the community.
+
+The radio boys greeted the minister warmly and gladly made room for him
+around the table. His coming was never felt by them to be an
+interruption. They regarded him almost as one of themselves. Apart, too,
+from the thorough liking they had for him as a man, they were
+exceedingly grateful to him for the help he had been to them in radio
+matters. He was their mentor, guide and friend.
+
+"I knew I'd find you busy with the radio," he said, with a genial smile.
+
+"We can't be torn away from it," replied Bob. "We think it's just the
+greatest thing that ever happened. Just now we've been listening to
+Larry Bartlett give his imitations of animals. You remember Larry?"
+
+"I certainly do," replied Dr. Dale. "And I remember how you boys helped
+him get his present position. It was one of the best things you ever
+did. He's certainly a finished artist. I heard him on his opening night,
+and I've laughed thinking of it many times since. He's a most amusing
+entertainer."
+
+It was the first opportunity the boys had had to tell the doctor of the
+night when Bob found that he was a human aerial, and he listened to the
+many details of the experiment with absorbed interest.
+
+"It's something new to me," he said. "You boys have reason to be
+gratified at having had a novel experience. That's the beauty of radio.
+Something new is always cropping up. Many of the other sciences have
+been more or less fully explored, and while none of them will ever be
+exhausted, their limits have been to some extent indicated. But in radio
+we're standing just on the threshold of a science whose infinite
+possibilities have not even been guessed. One discovery crowds so
+closely on the heels of another that we have all we can do to keep track
+of them.
+
+"I've just got back from a little trip up in New York State," he went
+on, as he settled himself more comfortably in his chair, "and I stopped
+off at Schenectady to look over the big radio station there. By great
+good luck, Marconi happened to be there on the same day----"
+
+"Marconi!" breathed Bob. "The father of wireless!"
+
+"Yes," smiled Dr. Dale. "Or if you want to put it in another way, the
+Christopher Columbus who discovered the New World of radio. I counted it
+a special privilege to get a glimpse of him. But what attracted my
+special attention in the little while I could spend there was a small
+tube about eighteen inches long and two inches in diameter which many
+radio experts think will completely revolutionize long distance radio
+communication."
+
+"You mean the Langmuir tube," said Joe. "I was reading of it the other
+day, and it seems to be a dandy."
+
+"It's a wonderful thing," replied the doctor. "Likely enough it will
+take the place of the great transatlantic plants which require so much
+room and such enormous machinery. It's practically noiseless. Direct
+current is sent into the wire through a complicated wire system and
+generates a high frequency current of tremendous power. I saw it working
+when it was connected with an apparatus carrying about fifteen thousand
+volts of electricity in a direct current. A small blue flame shot
+through the tube with scarcely a particle of noise. The broken impulse
+from the electrical generators behind the tube was sent through the tube
+to be flung off from the antenna into space in the dots and dashes of
+the international code. That little tube was not much bigger than a
+stick of dynamite, but was infinitely more powerful. I was so fascinated
+by it and all that it meant that it was hard work to tear myself away
+from it. It marks a great step forward in the field of radio."
+
+"It must have been wonderfully interesting," remarked Bob. "And yet I
+suppose that in a year or two something new will be invented that will
+put even that out of date."
+
+"It's practically certain that there will be," assented the doctor. "The
+miracles of to-day become the commonplaces of to-morrow. That
+fifty-kilowatt tube that develops twelve horsepower within its narrow
+walls of glass, wonderful as it is, is bound to be superseded by
+something better, and the inventor himself would be the first one to
+admit it. Some of the finest scientific brains in the country are
+working on the problem, and he would be a bold prophet and probably a
+false prophet that would set any bounds to its possibilities.
+
+"Radio is yet in its infancy," the doctor concluded, as he rose to go.
+"But one thing is certain. In the lifetime of those who witnessed its
+birth it will become a giant--but a benevolent giant who, instead of
+destroying will re-create our civilization."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE FOREST RANGER
+
+
+Some days later Bob and Herb and Joe were on their way to Bob's house to
+do a little experimenting on the latter's set, when they were surprised
+at the alacrity with which Jimmy turned a corner and came puffing up to
+them.
+
+"Say, fellows!" he yelled, as he came within earshot, "I've got some
+mighty interesting news for you."
+
+"Let's have it," said Bob.
+
+"It's about the snowball Buck fired through the window," panted Jimmy,
+falling into step beside them. "I met a man who's staying up at the
+Sterling House. He says Buck's the boy who did it, all right."
+
+"How does he know?" all of the others asked with interest.
+
+"Saw Buck pick up a stone and pack the snow hard around it," said Jimmy
+importantly. "He saw it himself, so we've got one witness for our side,
+all right."
+
+"That's good," said Bob, adding, with a glint in his eye: "Say, wouldn't
+I like to get my hands on Buck, just for about five minutes!"
+
+"Well, you won't have a chance," said Jimmy, enjoying being the bearer
+of so much news. "Buck's gone with his father to a lumber camp up in
+Braxton woods."
+
+"How do you know all this?" inquired Herb curiously. "You seem to be
+chock full of information to-day."
+
+"Oh, a little bird told me," said Jimmy, looking mysterious. However, as
+Herb made a threatening motion toward him, he hurried to explain. "I met
+Terry Mooney," he said. "I told him I knew all about who put the stone
+in the snowball and I told him that our crowd was going to make his look
+like two cents. He laughed and said swell chance we'd have. Said Buck
+had gone to the lumber camp with his father and that he and Carl Lutz
+were going to join him in a day or two. Just like Buck to run away when
+he knows there's a good licking coming to him!" added Jimmy, with a
+sneer.
+
+"Oh, well, what do we care?" said Joe. "At least we sha'n't have those
+fellows around spoiling all the fun."
+
+"I'm glad you found out about the snowball just the same," said Bob
+thoughtfully. "Every little bit helps when we have to fight against that
+crooked gang of Buck's."
+
+"Here's hoping," said Herb fervently, "that they stay away all the rest
+of the spring."
+
+By this time the lads had reached Bob's house. It was Saturday
+afternoon, and as the boys crowded noisily into the hall Bob noticed
+that his father was in the library and that he seemed to have company.
+
+He was starting upstairs with the other lads when his father came out of
+the library and called to him.
+
+"Come on in for a few minutes, boys," he said. "I have a friend here who
+is a man after your own hearts," and his eyes twinkled. "He's interested
+in radio."
+
+The boys needed no second invitation, for they never missed an
+opportunity of meeting any one who could tell them something about the
+wonders of radio.
+
+Mr. Layton's guest was lounging in one of the great chairs in the
+library, and from the moment the boys laid eyes on him they knew they
+were going to hear something of more than usual interest.
+
+The stranger was big, over six feet, and his face and hands were like a
+Cuban's, they were so dark. Even his fair hair seemed to have been burnt
+a darker hue by the sun. There was a tang of the great out-of-doors
+about him, a hint of open spaces and adventure that fascinated the radio
+boys.
+
+"This is my son, Mr. Bentley," said Mr. Layton to the lounging stranger,
+still with a twinkle in his eye. "And the other boys are his inseparable
+companions. Also I think they are almost as crazy about radio as you
+are."
+
+The stranger laughed and turned to Bob.
+
+"I've been upstairs to see your set," he said, adding heartily: "It's
+fine. I've seldom seen better amateur equipment."
+
+If Bob had liked this stranger before, it was nothing to what he felt
+for him now. To the radio boys, if any one praised their radio sets,
+this person, no matter who it was, promptly became their friend for
+life.
+
+"I'm glad you think it's pretty good," Bob said modestly. "We fellows
+have surely worked hard enough over it."
+
+"This gentleman here," said Mr. Layton to the boys, "ought to know quite
+a bit about radio. He operates an airplane in the service of our
+Government Forestry."
+
+"In the United States Forest Service?" cried Bob, breathlessly, eyeing
+the stranger with increasing interest. "And is your airplane equipped
+with radio?"
+
+"Very much so," replied Mr. Bentley. "It seems almost a fairy tale--what
+radio has done for the Forest Service."
+
+"I've read a lot about the fighting of forest fires," broke in Joe
+eagerly. "But I didn't know radio had anything to do with it."
+
+"It hadn't until the last few years," the visitor answered, adding, with
+a laugh: "But now it's pretty near the whole service!"
+
+"Won't you tell us something about what you do?" asked Bob.
+
+Mr. Bentley waved a deprecating hand while Mr. Layton leaned back in his
+chair with the air of one who is enjoying himself.
+
+"It isn't so much what I do," protested this interesting newcomer, while
+the boys hung upon his every word. "It is what radio has done in the
+fighting of forest fires that is the marvelous, the almost unbelievable,
+thing. The man who first conceived the idea of bringing radio into the
+wilderness had to meet and overcome the same discouragements that fall
+to the lot of every pioneer.
+
+"The government declared that the cost of carrying and setting up the
+radio apparatus would be greater than the loss occasioned every season
+by the terribly destructive forest fires. But there was a fellow named
+Adams who thought he knew better."
+
+"Adams!" repeated Bob breathlessly. "Wasn't he the fellow who had charge
+of the Mud Creek ranger station at Montana?"
+
+The visitor nodded and gazed at Bob with interest. "How did you know?"
+he asked.
+
+"Oh, I read something about him a while ago," answered Bob vaguely. He
+was chiefly interested in having Mr. Bentley go on.
+
+"I should think," said Herb, "that it would be pretty hard work carrying
+delicate radio apparatus into the lumber country."
+
+"You bet your life it is," replied Mr. Bentley. "The only way the
+apparatus can be carried is by means of pack horses, and as each horse
+can't carry more than a hundred and fifty pounds you see it takes quite
+a few of the animals to lug even an ordinary amount of apparatus.
+
+"The hardest part of the whole thing," he went on, warming to his
+recital as the boys were so evidently interested, "was packing the
+cumbersome storage batteries. These batteries were often lost in
+transit, too. If a pack horse happened to slip from the trail, its pack
+became loosened and went tumbling down the mountain side----"
+
+"That's the life!" interrupted Jimmy gleefully, and the visitor smiled
+at him.
+
+"You might not think so if you happened to be the one detailed to travel
+back over the almost impassable trails for the missing apparatus,"
+observed Mr. Bentley ruefully. "It wasn't all fun, that pioneer
+installation of radio. Not by any means."
+
+"But radio turned the trick just the same," said Bob slangily. "I've
+read that a message that used to take two days to pass between ranger
+stations can be sent now in a few seconds."
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Mr. Bentley, his eyes glinting. "In a little while
+the saving in the cost of forest fires will more than pay for the
+installation of radio. We nose out a fire and send word by wireless to
+the nearest station, before the fire fairly knows it's started."
+
+"But just what is it that you do?" asked Joe, with flattering eagerness.
+
+"I do scout work," was the reply. "I help patrol the fire line in cases
+of bad fires. The men fighting the fire generally carry a portable
+receiving apparatus along with them, and by that means, I, in my
+airplane, can report the progress of a fire and direct the distribution
+of the men."
+
+"It must be exciting work," said Herb enviously. "That's just the kind
+of life I'd like--plenty of adventure, something doing every minute."
+
+"There's usually plenty doing," agreed Mr. Bentley, with a likable grin.
+"We can't complain that our life is slow."
+
+"I should think," said Bob slowly, "that it might be dangerous,
+installing sets right there in the heavy timber."
+
+"That's what lots of radio engineers thought also," agreed Mr. Bentley.
+"But no such trouble has developed so far, and I guess it isn't likely
+to now."
+
+"Didn't they have some trouble in getting power enough for their sets?"
+asked Joe, with interest.
+
+"Yes, that was a serious drawback in the beginning," came the answer.
+"They had to design a special equipment--a sort of gasoline charging
+plant. In this way they were able to secure enough power for the
+charging of the storage batteries."
+
+Bob drew a long breath.
+
+"Wouldn't I have liked to be the one to fit up that first wireless
+station!" he cried enthusiastically. "Just think how that Mr. Adams must
+have felt when he received his first message through the air."
+
+"It wasn't all fun," the interesting visitor reminded the boys. "The
+station was of the crudest sort, you know. The first operator had a box
+to sit on and another box served as the support for his apparatus."
+
+"So much the better," retorted Bob stoutly. "A radio fan doesn't know or
+care, half the time, what he's sitting on."
+
+"Which proves," said Mr. Bentley, laughing, "that you are a real one!"
+And at this all the lads grinned.
+
+"But say," interrupted Joe, going back to the problem of power, "weren't
+the engineers able to think up something to take the place of the
+gasoline charging stations?"
+
+"Oh, yes. But not without a good deal of experimenting. Now they are
+using two hundred and seventy number two Burgess dry batteries. These,
+connecting in series, secure the required three hundred and fifty-volt
+plate current."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+RADIO AND THE FIRE FIEND
+
+
+"Well, I hope that the boys know what you're talking about," interrupted
+Mr. Layton at this point, his eyes twinkling, "for I'm sure I don't."
+
+"They know what I'm talking about all right," returned his guest,
+admiration in his laughing eyes as he looked at the boys. "Unless I miss
+my guess, these fellows are the stuff of which radio experts are made. I
+bet they'll do great things yet."
+
+"Won't you tell us more about your experiences?" begged Herb, while the
+other boys tried not to look too pleased at the praise. "It isn't often
+we have a chance to hear of adventures like yours first hand."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Bentley, modestly, "I don't know that there's much to
+tell. All we scouts do is to patrol the country and watch for fires. Of
+course, in case of a big fire, our duties are more exciting. I remember
+one fire," he leaned back in his chair reminiscently and the boys
+listened eagerly, hanging on every word. "It was a beauty of its kind,
+covering pretty nearly fourteen miles. Thousands of dollars' worth of
+valuable timber was menaced. It looked for a time as if it would get the
+better of us, at that.
+
+"Men were scarce and there was a high wind to urge the fire on. A
+receiving set was rushed to the fire line, some of the apparatus in a
+truck and some carried by truck horses. My plane was detailed to patrol
+the fire line and give directions to the men who were fighting the
+fire."
+
+He paused, and the boys waited impatiently for him to go on.
+
+"The good old plane was equipped for both sending and receiving, and I
+tell you we patrolled that fourteen miles of flaming forest, sometimes
+coming so close to the tree tops that we almost seemed to brush them.
+
+"My duty, of course, was to report the progress of the fire. Controlled
+at one point, it broke out at another, and it was through the messages
+from my 'plane to the ground set stationed just behind the fire line
+that the men were moved from one danger point to the next.
+
+"Finally, the fire seeming nearly out along one side of the ridge, I
+sent the men to fighting it on the other side, where it had been left to
+rage uncontrolled. No sooner had the men scattered for the danger point
+than the brooding fire broke out again and it was necessary to recall
+half the men.
+
+"It was a long fight and a hard one, but with the aid of the blessed old
+wireless, we finally won out. As a matter of fact, the wireless-equipped
+airplane has become as necessary to the Forest Service as ships are to
+the navy.
+
+"In the old days," he went on, seeing that the boys were still deeply
+interested, "when they depended upon the ordinary telephone to convey
+warnings of fires they were surely leaning upon a broken reed.
+
+"Often, just when they needed the means of communication most, the fire
+would sweep through the woods, destroying trees to which the telephone
+wires were fastened, and melting the wires themselves. So the eyes of
+the Forest Service were put out and they were forced to work in the
+dark."
+
+"But I should think," protested Bob, "that there would be times when
+even wireless would be put out of the job. Suppose the fire were to
+reach one of the stations equipped with wireless. What then?"
+
+Mr. Bentley laughed as though amused at something.
+
+"I can tell you an interesting incident connected with that," he said.
+"And one that shows the pluck and common sense of radio operators in
+general--don't think that I'm throwing bouquets at myself, now, for
+first and last, I am a pilot, even if sometimes I find it necessary to
+employ radio.
+
+"Well, anyway, this operator that I am speaking of, found himself in a
+perilous position. A fire had been raging for days, and now it was so
+close to his station that the station itself was threatened.
+
+"One morning when he got up the smoke from the burning forest was
+swirling about the open space in front of the station and he knew that
+before long he would be seeing flame instead of smoke. The fire fighters
+had been working ceaselessly, fighting gallantly, but the elements were
+against them. The air was almost as dry and brittle as the wood which
+the flames lapped up and there was a steady wind that drove the fire on
+and on.
+
+"If only there might come a fog or the wind change its direction! But
+the radio man had no intention of waiting on the elements. I don't
+believe he gave more than a passing thought to his own safety--his chief
+interest was for the safety of his beloved apparatus.
+
+"He decided to dismantle the set, build a raft and set himself and the
+apparatus adrift upon the water in the attempt to save it.
+
+"And so he worked feverishly, while the fire came closer and he could
+hear the men who were fighting the fire shouting to each other. Finally
+he succeeded in dismantling the set and got it down to the water's edge.
+
+"Here he built a rough raft, piled the apparatus upon it, jumped after
+it, and drifted out into the middle of the lake."
+
+"Did the station burn down?" asked Jimmy excitedly.
+
+"No, fortunately. The wind died down in the nick of time, giving the men
+a chance to control the blaze. When it was evident the danger was past,
+the operator set up his apparatus again and prepared to continue his
+duties, as though nothing had happened.
+
+"There you have the tremendous advantage of radio. There were no wires
+to be destroyed. Only a radio set which could be dismantled and taken to
+safety while the fire raged."
+
+"That operator sure had his nerve with him, all right," said Bob
+admiringly.
+
+"More nerve than common sense perhaps," chuckled Mr. Bentley. "But you
+certainly can't help admiring him. He was right there when it came to
+grit."
+
+After a while they began to discuss technicalities, and the boys learned
+a great many things they had never known before. The pilot happening to
+mention that there were sometimes a number of airplanes equipped with
+radio operating within a restricted district, Joe wanted to know if they
+did not have a good deal of trouble with interference.
+
+"No. There was at first some interference by amateurs, but these soon
+learned to refrain from using their instruments during patrol periods.
+
+"You see," he explained, "we use a special type of transmitting outfit
+aboard our fire-detection craft. It's called the SCR-Seventy-three. The
+equipment obtains its power from a self-excited inductor type
+alternator. This is propelled by a fixed wooden-blade air fan. In the
+steam-line casing of the alternator the rotary spark gap, alternator,
+potential transformer, condenser and oscillation transformer are
+self-contained. Usually the alternator is mounted on the underside of
+the fuselage where the propeller spends its force in the form of an air
+stream. The telegraph sending keys, field and battery switch, dry
+battery, variometer and antenna reel are the only units included inside
+the fuselage.
+
+"The type of transmitter is a simple rotary gap, indirectly excited
+spark and provided with nine taps on the inductance coil of the closed
+oscillating circuit. Five varying toothed discs for the rotary spark gap
+yield five different signal tones and nine different wave lengths are
+possible.
+
+"So," he finished, looking around at their absorbed faces, "you see it
+is quite possible to press into service a number of airplanes without
+being bothered by interference."
+
+"It sounds complete," said Bob. "I'd like a chance to see one of those
+sets at close range sometime."
+
+The time passed so quickly that finally the visitor rose with an apology
+for staying so late. The radio boys were sorry to see him go. They could
+have sat for hours more, listening to him.
+
+"That fellow sure has had some experiences!" said Joe, as, a little
+later, the boys mounted the stairs to Bob's room. "It was mighty lucky
+we happened along while he was here."
+
+"You bet your life," said Herb. "I wouldn't have missed meeting him for
+a lot."
+
+"Say, fellows," Jimmy announced from the head of the stairs, "I know now
+what I'm going to do when I'm through school. It's me for the tall
+timber. I'm going to pilot an airplane in the service of my country."
+
+"Ain't he noble?" demanded Herb, grinning, as the boys crowded into
+Bob's room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+NEAR DISASTER
+
+
+Several days later while the radio boys were experimenting with their
+big set and talking over their interesting meeting with the Forest
+Service ranger, Herb displayed an immense horseshoe magnet.
+
+"Look what he's got for luck," chortled Jimmy. "The superstitious nut!"
+
+"Superstitious nothing!" snorted Herb. "If I'd wanted it for luck I
+wouldn't have got a magnet, would I? Any old common horseshoe would have
+done for luck."
+
+"Well, what's the big idea?" asked Bob, looking up from the audion tube
+he was experimenting with. "Or is there any?" he added, with a grin.
+
+"You bet your life there is!" returned Herb. "It's got to do with that
+very audion tube you're fussing with."
+
+"Ah, go on," jeered Joe, good-naturedly. "What's a magnet got to do with
+an audion tube, I'd like to know!"
+
+"Poor old Herb," added Jimmy, with a commiserating shake of the head.
+
+"Say, look here, all you fellows! Don't you go wasting any pity on me,"
+cried Herb hotly. "If you don't look out, I won't show you my experiment
+at all."
+
+"Go on, Herb," said Bob consolingly. "I'm listening."
+
+"Well, I'm glad there's one sensible member of this bunch!" cried Herb,
+and from then on addressed himself solely to Bob. "Look here," he said.
+"You can make the audion tube ever so much more sensitive to vibration
+if you put this magnet near it."
+
+"Who says so?" asked Bob, with interest.
+
+"I do. Here, put on the headphones and listen. I'll prove it to you."
+
+Bob obeyed and tuned in to the nearest broadcasting station where a
+concert was scheduled. As soon as he signified by a nod of his head that
+the connection was satisfactory Herb placed the big horseshoe magnet in
+such a position that the poles of the magnet were on each side of the
+tube.
+
+Sure enough, Bob was amazed at the almost magical improvement in the
+sound. It was clearer, more distinct, altogether more satisfactory. He
+listened in for another moment then wonderingly took off the headphones
+while Herb grinned at him in triumph.
+
+"Well, what do you think?" asked the latter while Joe and Jimmy looked
+at them curiously.
+
+"Think?" repeated Bob, still wonderingly. "Why, there's only one thing
+to think, of course. That fool horseshoe of yours, Herb, is one
+wonderful improvement. I don't know how it works, but it surely is a
+marvel."
+
+Herb glanced at Jimmy and Joe in triumph.
+
+"What did I tell you?" he said. "Perhaps now you'll believe that my idea
+wasn't such a fool one after all."
+
+"But what did it do, Bob?" asked Joe, mystified.
+
+"It increased the sensitivity of that old audion tube, that's what it
+did," replied Bob, absently, his mind already busy with inventive
+thoughts. "I can't see yet just how it accomplished it, but the
+connection with the station was certainly clearer and more distinct than
+usual."
+
+"But how can a magnet increase the sensitivity of a vacuum tube?" asked
+Jimmy, not yet wholly convinced. "It doesn't make sense."
+
+"Well, I don't see why not," contradicted Joe slowly. "I suppose the
+improvement is due to the magnetic effect of the magnet upon the
+electrons flowing from the filament to the plate. I don't exactly see
+why it should be an improvement, but if it is, then there must be some
+reason for it."
+
+"I wish we could find the reason!" cried Bob excitedly. "If we could
+make some improvement upon the vacuum tube----"
+
+"Don't wake him up, he is dreaming!" cried Herb. "If you don't look out,
+old boy, you'll have us all millionaires."
+
+"Well, there are worse things," retorted Bob, taking the magnet from
+Herb's hand and placing it near the tube. "This has given us something
+to think about, anyway."
+
+For a while they puzzled over the mystery, trying to find some way in
+which the discovery might be made to serve a practical purpose--all
+except Herb, who retired to one corner of the "lab" to fuss with some
+chemicals which he fondly hoped might be used in the construction of a
+battery.
+
+So engrossed were the boys in the problem of the magnet and vacuum tube
+that they forgot all about Herb and his experiments. So what happened
+took them completely off their guard.
+
+There was a sudden cry from Herb, followed closely by an explosion that
+knocked them off their feet. For a moment they lay there, a bit dazed by
+the shock. Then they scrambled to their feet and looked about them.
+Herb, being the nearest to the explosion, had got the worst of it. His
+face and hands were black and he was shaking a little from the shock. He
+gazed at the boys sheepishly.
+
+"Wh-what happened?" asked Jimmy dazedly.
+
+"An earthquake, I guess," replied Bob, as he looked about him to see
+what damage had been done.
+
+Some doughnuts, which their namesake had recently fetched from the
+store, lay scattered upon the floor, together with some rather
+dilapidated-looking pieces of candy, but aside from this, nothing seemed
+to have been damaged seriously.
+
+Jimmy's followed Bob's gaze, and, finding his precious sweets upon the
+floor, began gathering them up hastily, stuffing a doughnut in his mouth
+to help him hurry. What mattered it to Jimmy that the floor was none too
+clean?
+
+"Say, what's the big idea, anyway," Joe demanded of the blackened Herb.
+"Trying to start a Fourth of July celebration, or something?"
+
+"I was just mixing some chemicals, and the result was a flare-up,"
+explained Herb sulkily. "Now, stop rubbing it into a fellow, will you?
+You might know I didn't do it on purpose."
+
+Bob began to laugh.
+
+"Better get in connection with some soap and water, Herb," he said.
+"Just now you look like the lead for a minstrel show."
+
+"Never mind, Herb," Joe flung after the disconsolate scientist as he
+made for the door. "As long as you don't hurt anything but Jimmy's
+doughnuts, we don't care. You can have as many explosions as you like."
+
+"Humph, that's all right for you," retorted Jimmy. "But I'll have you
+know I spent my last nickel for those doughnuts."
+
+"Just the same," said Bob soberly, as they returned to the problem of
+the vacuum tube, "we're mighty lucky to have come off with so little
+damage. Mixing chemicals is a pretty dangerous business unless you know
+just what you're doing."
+
+"And even then it is," added Joe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A HAPPY INSPIRATION
+
+
+The days passed by, the boys becoming more and more engrossed in the
+fascination of radio all the time. They continued to work on their sets,
+sometimes with the most gratifying results, at others seeming to make
+little headway.
+
+But in spite of occasional discouragements they worked on, cheered by
+the knowledge that they were making steady, if sometimes slow, progress.
+
+There were so many really worth-while improvements being perfected each
+day that they really found it difficult to keep up with them all.
+
+"Wish we could hear Cassey's voice again," said Herb, one day when they
+had tuned in on several more or less interesting personal messages.
+
+"I don't know what good it would do us," grumbled Joe. "If he speaks
+always in code he could keep us guessing till doomsday."
+
+"He's up to some sort of mischief, anyway," said Bob; "and I, for one,
+would enjoy catching him at it again."
+
+"We would be more comfortable to have Dan Cassey in jail, where he
+belongs," observed Jimmy.
+
+But just at present the trailing of that stuttering voice seemed an
+impossible feat even for the radio boys. If they could only get some
+tangible clue to work on!
+
+They saw nothing of Buck Looker or his cronies about town, and concluded
+that they were still at the lumber camp.
+
+"Can't stay away too long to suit me," Bob said cheerfully.
+
+It was about that time that Bob found out about Adam McNulty. Adam
+McNulty was the blind father of the washerwoman who served the four
+families of the boys.
+
+Bob went to the McNulty cabin, buried in the most squalid district of
+the town, bearing a message from his mother. When he got there he found
+that Mr. McNulty was the only one at home.
+
+The old fellow, smoking a black pipe in the bare kitchen of the house,
+seemed so pathetically glad to see some one--or, rather, to hear some
+one--that Bob yielded to his invitation to sit down and talk to him.
+
+And, someway, even after Bob reached home, he could not shake off the
+memory of the lonesome old blind man with nothing to do all day long but
+sit in a chair smoking his pipe, waiting for some chance word from a
+passer-by.
+
+It did not seem fair that he, Bob, should have all the good things of
+life while that old man should have nothing--nothing, at all.
+
+He spoke to his chums about it, but, though they were sympathetic, they
+did not see anything they could do.
+
+"We can't give him back his eyesight, you know," said Joe absently,
+already deep in a new scheme of improvement for the set.
+
+"No," said Bob. "But we might give him something that would do nearly as
+well."
+
+"What do you mean?" they asked, puzzled.
+
+"Radio," said Bob, and laid his hand lovingly on the apparatus. "If it
+means a lot to us, just think how much more it would mean to some one
+who hasn't a thing to do all day but sit and think. Why, I don't suppose
+any of us who can see can begin to realize what it would mean not to be
+able even to read the daily newspaper."
+
+The others stared at Bob, and slowly his meaning sank home.
+
+"I get you," said Joe slowly. "And say, let me tell you, it's a great
+idea, Bob. It wouldn't be so bad to be blind if you could have the daily
+news read to you every day----"
+
+"And listen to the latest on crops," added Jimmy.
+
+"To say nothing of the latest jazz," finished Herb, with a grin.
+
+"Well, why doesn't this blind man get himself a set?" asked Jimmy
+practically. "I should think every blind person in the country would
+want to own one."
+
+"I suppose every one of them does," said Bob. "And Doctor Dale said the
+other day that he thought the time would come when charities for the
+blind would install radio as a matter of humanity, and that prices of
+individual sets would be so low that all the blind could afford them.
+The blind are many of them old, you know, and pretty poor."
+
+"You mean," said Herb slowly, "that most of the blind folks who really
+need radio more than anybody else can't afford it? Say, that doesn't
+seem fair, does it?"
+
+"It isn't fair!" cried Bob, adding, eagerly: "I tell you what I thought
+we could do. There's that old set of mine! It doesn't seem much to us
+now, beside our big one, but I bet that McNulty would think it was a
+gold mine."
+
+"Hooray for Bob!" cried Herb irrepressibly. "Once in a while he really
+does get a good idea in his head. When do we start installing this set
+in the McNulty mansion, boys?"
+
+"As soon as you like," answered Bob. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so we could
+start early in the morning. It will probably take us some time to rig up
+the antenna."
+
+The boys were enthusiastic about the idea, and they wasted no time
+putting it into execution. That very night they looked up the old set,
+examining it to make sure it was in working order.
+
+When they told their families what they proposed to do, their parents
+were greatly pleased.
+
+"It does my heart good," said Mr. Layton to his wife, after Bob had gone
+up to bed, "to see that those boys are interested in making some one
+besides themselves happy."
+
+"They're going to make fine men, some day," answered Mrs. Layton softly.
+
+The boys arrived at the McNulty cottage so early the next morning that
+they met Maggie McNulty on her way to collect the day's wash.
+
+When they told her what they were going to do she was at first too
+astonished to speak and then threatened to fall upon their necks in her
+gratitude.
+
+"Shure, if ye can bring some sunshine into my poor old father's dark
+life," she told them in her rich brogue, tears in her eyes, "then ye'll
+shure win the undyin' gratitude uv Maggie McNulty."
+
+It was a whole day's job, and the boys worked steadily, only stopping
+long enough to rush home for a bit of lunch.
+
+They had tried to explain what they were doing to Adam McNulty, but the
+old man seemed almost childishly mystified. It was with a feeling of
+dismay that the boys realized that, in all probability, this was the
+first time the blind man had ever heard the word radio. It seemed
+incredible to them that there could be anybody in the world who did not
+know about radio.
+
+However, if Adam McNulty was mystified, he was also delightedly,
+pitifully excited. He followed the boys out to the cluttered back yard
+where they were rigging up the aerial, listening eagerly to their
+chatter and putting in a funny word now and then that made them roar
+with laughter.
+
+Bob brought him an empty soap box for a seat and there the old man sat
+hour after hour, despite the fact that there was a chill in the air,
+blissfully happy in their companionship. He had been made to understand
+that something pleasant was being done for him, but it is doubtful if he
+could have asked for any greater happiness than just to sit there with
+somebody to talk to and crack his jokes with.
+
+They were good jokes too, full of real Irish wit, and long before the
+set was ready for action the boys had become fond of the old fellow.
+
+"He's a dead game sport," Joe said to Bob, in that brief interval when
+they had raced home for lunch. "I bet I'd be a regular old crab, blind
+like that."
+
+Mrs. Layton put up an appetizing lunch for the blind man, topping it off
+with a delicious homemade lemon pie and a thermos bottle full of
+steaming coffee.
+
+The way the old man ate that food was amazing even to Jimmy. Maggie was
+too busy earning enough to keep them alive to bother much with dainties.
+At any rate, Adam ate the entire lemon pie, not leaving so much as a
+crumb.
+
+"I thought I was pretty good on feeding," whispered Joe, in a delighted
+aside, "but I never could go that old bird. He's got me beat a mile."
+
+"Well," said Jimmy complacently, "I bet I'd tie with him."
+
+If the boys had wanted any reward for that day of strenuous work, they
+would have had it when, placing the earphones upon his white head, they
+watched the expression of McNulty's face change from mystification to
+wonder, then to beatific enjoyment.
+
+He listened motionless while the exquisite music flooded his starved old
+soul. Toward the end he closed his eyes and tears trickled from beneath
+the lids down his wrinkled face. He brushed them off impatiently and the
+boys noticed that his hand was trembling.
+
+It was a long, long time before he seemed to be aware that there was any
+one in the room with him. He seemed to have completely forgotten the
+boys who had bestowed this rare gift upon him.
+
+After a while, coming out of his dream, the old man began fumbling with
+the headphones as if he wanted to take them off, and Bob helped him. The
+man tried to speak, but made hard work of it. Emotion choked him.
+
+"Shure, an' I don't know what to make of it at all, at all," he said at
+last, in a quivering voice. "Shure an' I thought the age of miracles was
+passed. I'm only an ignorant old man, with no eyes at all; but you lads
+have given me something that's near as good. Shure an' it's an old
+sinner I am, for shure. Many's the day I've sat here, prayin' the Lord
+would give me wan more minute o' sight before I died, an' it was
+unanswered my prayers wuz, I thought. It's grateful I am to yez, lads.
+It's old Adam McNulty's blessin' ye'll always have. An' now will yez put
+them things in my ears? It's heaven's own angels I'd like to be hearin'
+agin. That's the lad--ah!"
+
+And while the beatific expression stole once more over his blind old
+face the boys stole silently out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE ESCAPED CONVICT
+
+
+The boys saw a good deal of Adam McNulty in the days that followed, and
+the change in the old man was nothing short of miraculous.
+
+He no longer sat in the bare kitchen rocking and smoking his pipe,
+dependent upon some passer-by for his sole amusement. He had radio now,
+and under the instruction of the boys he had become quite expert in
+managing the apparatus. Although he had no eyes, his fingers were
+extraordinarily sensitive and they soon learned to handle the set
+intelligently.
+
+His daughter Maggie, whose gratitude to the boys knew no bounds, looked
+up the radio program in the paper each day and carefully instructed her
+father as to just when the news reports were given out, the story
+reading, concerts, and so forth.
+
+And so the old blind man lived in a new world--or rather, the old world
+which he had ceased to live in when he became blind--and he seemed
+actually to grow younger day by day. For radio had become his eyes.
+
+Doctor Dale heard of this act of kindness on the part of the boys and he
+was warm in his praise.
+
+"Radio," he told the boys one day when he met them on the street, "is a
+wonderful thing for those of us that can see, but for the blind it is a
+miracle. You boys have done an admirable thing in your kindness to Adam
+McNulty, and I hope that, not only individuals, but the government
+itself will see the possibilities of so great a charity and follow your
+example."
+
+The boys glowed with pride at the doctor's praise, and then and there
+made the resolve that whenever they came across a blind person that
+person should immediately possess a radio set if it lay within their
+power to give it to him.
+
+On this particular day when so many things happened the boys were
+walking down Main Street, talking as usual of their sets and the
+marvelous progress of radio.
+
+Although it was still early spring, the air was as warm almost as it
+would be two months later. There was a smell of damp earth and pushing
+grass in the air, and the boys, sniffing hungrily, longed suddenly for
+the freedom of the open country.
+
+"Buck and his bunch have it all their own way," said Herb discontentedly.
+"I wouldn't mind being up in a lumber camp myself just now."
+
+"Too early for the country yet," said Jimmy philosophically. "Probably
+be below zero to-morrow."
+
+"What you thinking about, Bob?" asked Joe, noticing that his chum had
+been quiet for some time.
+
+"I was thinking," said Bob, coming out of his reverie, "of the
+difference there has been in generators since the early days of
+Marconi's spark coil. First we had the spark transmitters and then we
+graduated to transformers----"
+
+"And they still gave us the spark," added Joe, taking up the theme.
+"Then came the rotary spark gap and later the Goldsmith generator----"
+
+"And then," Jimmy continued cheerfully, "the Goldsmith generator was
+knocked into a cocked hat by the Alexanderson generator."
+
+"They'll have an improvement on that before long, too," prophesied Herb.
+
+"They have already," Bob took him up quickly. "Don't you remember what
+Doctor Dale told us of the new power vacuum tube where one tube can take
+care of fifty K. W.?"
+
+"Gee," breathed Herb admiringly, "I'll say that's some energy."
+
+"Those same vacuum tubes are being built right now," went on Bob
+enthusiastically. "They are made of quartz and are much cheaper than the
+alternators we're using now."
+
+"They are small too, compared to our present-day generators," added Joe.
+
+"You bet!" agreed Bob, adding, as his eyes narrowed dreamily: "All the
+apparatus seems to be growing smaller these days, anyway. I bet before
+we fellows are twenty years older, engineers will have done away
+altogether with large power plants and cumbersome machinery."
+
+"I read the other day," said Joe, "that before long all the apparatus
+needed, even for transatlantic stations, can be contained in a small
+room about twenty-five feet by twenty-five."
+
+"But what shall we do for power?" protested Herb. "We'll always have to
+have generators."
+
+"There isn't any such word as 'always' in radio," returned Bob. "I
+shouldn't wonder if in the next twenty or thirty years we shall be able,
+by means of appliances like this new power vacuum tube, to get our power
+from the ordinary lighting circuit."
+
+"And that would do away entirely with generators," added Joe
+triumphantly.
+
+"Well, I wouldn't say anything was impossible," said Herb doubtfully.
+"But that seems to me like a pretty large order."
+
+"It is a large order," agreed Bob, adding with conviction: "But it isn't
+too large for radio to fill."
+
+"Speaking of lodging all apparatus in one fair-sized room," Joe went on.
+"I don't see why that can't really be done in a few years. Why, they say
+that this new power vacuum tube which handles fifty K. W. is not any
+larger than a desk drawer."
+
+"I see the day of the vest-pocket radio set coming nearer and nearer,
+according to you fellows," announced Herb. "Pretty soon we'll be getting
+our apparatus so small we'll need a microscope to see it."
+
+"Laugh if you want to," said Bob. "But I bet in the next few years we're
+going to see greater things done in radio than have been accomplished
+yet."
+
+"And that's saying something!" exclaimed Joe, with a laugh.
+
+"I guess," said Jimmy thoughtfully, "that there have been more changes
+in a short time in radio than in any other science."
+
+"I should say so!" Herb took him up. "Look at telephone and telegraph
+and electric lighting systems. There have been changes in them, of
+course, but beside the rapid-fire changes of radio, they seem to have
+been standing still."
+
+"There haven't been any changes to speak of in the electric lighting
+systems for the last fifteen years or more," said Bob. "And the
+telephone has stayed just about the same, too."
+
+"There's no doubt about it," said Joe. "Radio has got 'em all beat as
+far as a field for experiment is concerned. Say," he added fervently,
+"aren't you glad you weren't born a hundred years ago?"
+
+The boys stopped in at Adam McNulty's cabin to see how the old fellow
+was getting along. They found him in the best of spirits and, after
+"listening in" with him for a while and laughing at some of his Irish
+jokes, they started toward home.
+
+"I wish," said Bob, "that we could have gotten a line on Dan Cassey. It
+seems strange that we haven't been able to pick up some real clue in all
+this time."
+
+For, although the boys had caught several other mysterious messages
+uttered in the stuttering voice of Dan Cassey, they had not been able to
+make head nor tail of them. The lads liked mysteries, but they liked
+them chiefly for the fun of solving them. And they seemed no nearer to
+solving this one than they had been in the beginning.
+
+"I know it's a fool idea," said Herb sheepishly. "But since we were the
+ones that got Cassey his jail sentence before, I kind of feel as if we
+were responsible for him."
+
+"It's pretty lucky for us we're not," remarked Joe. "We certainly would
+be up against it."
+
+On and on the boys went. Presently Joe began to whistle and all joined
+in until suddenly Jimmy uttered a cry and went down on his face.
+
+"Hello, what's wrong?" questioned Bob, leaping to his chum's side.
+
+"Tripped on a tree root," growled Doughnuts, rising slowly. "Gosh! what
+a spill I had."
+
+"Better look where you are going," suggested Herb.
+
+"I don't see why they can't chop off some of these roots, so it's better
+walking."
+
+"All right--you come down and do the chopping," returned Joe, lightly.
+
+"Not much! The folks that own the woods can do that."
+
+"Don't find fault, Jimmy. Remember, some of these very roots have
+furnished us with shinny sticks."
+
+"Well, not the one I tripped over."
+
+It was some time later that the boys noticed that they had tramped
+further than they had intended. They were on the very outskirts of the
+town, and before them the heavily-wooded region stretched invitingly.
+
+Jimmy, who, on account of his plumpness, was not as good a hiker as the
+other boys, was for turning back, but the other three wanted to go on.
+And, being three against one, Jimmy had not the shadow of a chance of
+getting his own way.
+
+It was cool in the shadows of the woods, and the boys were reminded that
+it was still early in the season. It was good to be in the woods, just
+the same, and they tramped on for a long way before they finally decided
+it was time to turn back.
+
+They were just about to turn around when voices on the path ahead of
+them made them hesitate. As they paused three men came into full view,
+and the boys stood, staring.
+
+Two of the men they had never seen before, but the other they knew well.
+It was the man whose voice they had been trailing all these weeks--Dan
+Cassey, the stutterer!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DOWN THE TRAP DOOR
+
+
+It seemed that in the semi-darkness of the woods Cassey did not at once
+recognize the radio boys. He was talking excitedly to his companions in
+his stuttering tongue and he was almost upon the boys before he realized
+who they were.
+
+He stopped still, eyes and mouth wide open. Then, with a stuttered
+imprecation, he turned and fled. The men with him stayed not to
+question, but darted furtively into the woods.
+
+"Come on, fellows!" cried Bob, with a whoop of delight. "Here's where we
+nail Dan Cassey, sure."
+
+The boys, except poor Jimmy, were unusually fleet, and they soon
+overtook Cassey. Bob's hand was almost upon him when the man doubled
+suddenly in his tracks and darted off into the thick underbrush.
+
+Bob, with Herb and Joe close at his heels, was after him in a minute. He
+reached a clearing just in time to see Cassey dash into an old barn
+which had been hidden by the trees.
+
+The boys plunged into the barn with Jimmy pantingly bringing up the
+rear. In Bob's heart was a wild exultation. They had Cassey cornered.
+Once more they would bring this criminal to justice.
+
+"You guard the door," he called in a low tone to Joe. "See that Cassey
+doesn't get out that way, and Herb and I will get after him in here."
+
+The barn was so dark that they could hardly see to move around. There
+was a window high up in the side wall, but this was so covered with dirt
+and cobwebs that it was almost as though there was none.
+
+However, Cassey must be lurking in one of those dark corners, and if
+they moved carefully they were sure to capture him!
+
+There was a loft to the barn, but if there had been a ladder leading up
+to it it had long since rotted and dropped away, so that Bob was
+reasonably sure the man could not be up there.
+
+It was eery business, groping about in the musty darkness of the old
+barn for a man who would go to almost any lengths of villainy to keep
+from being caught.
+
+Suddenly Bob saw something move, and, with an exultant yell, jumped
+toward it. Once more he almost had his hand upon Cassey when--something
+happened.
+
+The floor of the barn seemed to open and let him through, and his chums
+with him. As he fell through the hole into blackness he had confused
+thoughts of an earthquake. Then he struck bottom with a solid thump that
+almost made him see stars.
+
+He heard similar thumps about him and realized that Herb and Jimmy had
+followed him. Whatever it was they had shot through had evidently
+magically closed up again, for they were in absolute darkness.
+
+"Well," came in a voice which Bob recognized as Jimmy's, "I must say,
+this is a nice note!"
+
+"We've been pushed off the end of the world, I guess," said Herb, with a
+sorry attempt at humor. "Who all's in this party anyway? Are we all
+here?"
+
+"I guess so," said Joe, and at the sound of his voice Bob jumped.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were going to guard
+the door."
+
+"That's what I should have done, but I played the big idiot," retorted
+Joe bitterly. "I couldn't resist coming after you fellows to be in on
+the big fight. I suppose while I was trailing you boys somebody sneaked
+in the door and signed our finish."
+
+"Looks like it," said Bob, feeling himself to make sure there were no
+bones broken. "And now, instead of delivering Cassey to justice we're
+prisoners ourselves. Say, I bet the old boy isn't laughing at us or
+anything just now."
+
+"I'm awful sorry, Bob," said Joe penitently. "I thought if I kept my eye
+on the door----"
+
+"Oh, it's all right," said Bob generously. "Accidents will happen and
+there's no use crying over spilled milk. I suppose the most sensible
+thing for us to do right now is to hustle around and find a way out of
+this place."
+
+"Maybe there isn't any," said Jimmy dolefully. "Then what'll we do?"
+
+"Stay here and let the rats eat us, I guess," said Herb cheerfully, and
+Jimmy groaned.
+
+"Gosh, don't talk about eating, old boy," he pleaded. "I'm just about
+starved this minute."
+
+"You'll probably stay starved for some little time longer," said Bob
+unfeelingly. He had risen cautiously to his feet, and finding that their
+prison was at least high enough for them to stand up in, reached his
+hands tentatively above his head.
+
+As, even by standing on tiptoe, his fingers encountered nothing but air,
+he decided that they must have dropped further than he had thought at
+the time.
+
+A hand reached out and took hold of him and he realized that Joe was
+standing beside him.
+
+"Must have been some sort of trap door opening inward, I guess," said
+the latter. "You didn't see anything, did you, Bob?"
+
+"No. It happened too suddenly. One minute I was reaching forward to grab
+hold of Cassey and the next moment I found myself flying through space."
+
+"Humph," grunted Joe. "It was lucky for Cassey that we all happened to
+be in a bunch," he said. "He couldn't have gotten rid of us so quickly
+if we'd been scattered about----"
+
+"As we should have been," added Bob. "Just the same," he added, after a
+minute, "I don't suppose it would have done any good if one of us had
+been left up there. It must have been the men who were with Cassey who
+sprang the trap on us; and if that's so, the fight would have been three
+to one."
+
+"I'd like to have tried it just the same," said Joe belligerently. "I
+bet Cassey would have got a black eye out of it, anyway."
+
+For some time they groped around the black hole of their prison, hoping
+to find some way of escape, but without success. They were beginning to
+get tired and discouraged, and they sat down on the floor to talk the
+situation over.
+
+The queer thing about this hole in the ground was that it possessed a
+flooring where one would have expected to find merely packed-down dirt.
+The flooring consisted of rough boards laid side by side, and when the
+boys moved upon it it sounded like the rattling of some rickety old
+bridge.
+
+"There's some mystery about this place," said Bob. "I bet this is a
+regular meeting place for Cassey and whoever his confederates may be. In
+case of pursuit all they would have to do would be to hide in this hole
+and they'd be practically safe from discovery."
+
+"I wonder," said Herb, "why Cassey didn't do that now."
+
+"Probably didn't have time," said Bob. "I was right on his heels, you
+know, and probably he didn't dare stop for anything."
+
+"And so they turned the trick on us," said Joe. "And it sure was a neat
+job."
+
+"Too neat, if we don't get out of here soon," groaned Jimmy. "I bet
+they've just left us here to starve!"
+
+"I wouldn't put it beyond Cassey," said Herb gloomily. "It would be just
+the kind of thing he'd love to do. He's got a grudge against us, anyway,
+for doing him out of Miss Berwick's money and landing him in jail, and
+this would be a fine way to get even."
+
+"Well, if that's his game, he's got another guess coming," said Bob,
+adding excitedly: "Say, fellows, if that was a trap door that let us
+down into this hole, and it must have been something of that sort, we'll
+probably be able to get out the same way."
+
+"But it's above our heads," protested Herb.
+
+"What difference does that make?" returned Bob impatiently. "One of us
+can stand on the other's back, and we can haul the last fellow out by
+his hands."
+
+"Simple when you say it quick," said Joe gloomily. "But I bet that trap
+door is bolted on the outside. You don't think Cassey's going to let us
+off that easy, do you?"
+
+"Well, we could see anyway," returned Bob. "Anything's better than just
+sitting here. Come on, let's find that trap door."
+
+This feat, in itself, was no easy one. They had wandered about in the
+dark so much that they had become completely confused.
+
+Since Herb was the slightest, he was hoisted up on Bob's shoulders and
+they began the stumbling tour of their prison. It seemed ages before
+Herb's glad cry announced a discovery of some sort.
+
+"I've found a handle," he said. "Steady there, Bob, till I give it a
+pull."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GROPING IN DARKNESS
+
+
+Herb tugged gently and gave another yell of delight when whatever was
+attached to the handle yielded grudgingly to the pull.
+
+"It's the trap door, fellows!" he cried. "Move over a bit, Bob, till I
+pull the thing down."
+
+Bob, who, about this time, was finding Herb's weight not any too
+comfortable, moved over, and, in doing so, stumbled, nearly pitching
+himself and Herb to the floor.
+
+As it was, Herb lost his balance and leaped wildly. He landed on his
+feet and reached out a hand to find Bob.
+
+"Of all the tough luck," he groaned. "There I had the thing in my hand
+and now we've gone and lost it again."
+
+"Sorry. But stop your groaning and get busy," Bob commanded him. "I
+haven't moved from this spot, so if you get up on my shoulders again you
+ought to be able to get hold of the handle easily enough."
+
+So, hoisted and pushed by Joe and Jimmy, Herb finally regained his perch
+and felt for the handle. He found it, and this time pulled the door so
+far open that the boys could see through the opening in the barn floor.
+
+"If somebody can hold that door," panted Herb, "I think I can get
+through this hole. Grab hold, boy. It sure is heavy."
+
+So Joe caught the door as it swung downward and Herb scrambled through
+the aperture. Bob gave a grunt of relief as the weight was taken from
+his shoulders.
+
+"You're next, Joe," Bob was saying when Jimmy came stumbling up,
+carrying something that banged against Bob's legs.
+
+"I've got it," he panted. "Had an idea I might find something like it.
+Trust your Uncle Jimmy----"
+
+"For the love of butter, what are you raving about?" interrupted Joe,
+and Jimmy proudly exhibited his prize.
+
+"A soap box," he said. "And a good big one, too. If we stand on that we
+can reach the opening easily."
+
+"Good for you, Doughnuts," cried Bob, joyfully seizing upon the soap
+box. "This beats playing the human footstool all hollow. Jump up on it,
+Jimmy, and see how quick you can get out of here."
+
+Jimmy needed no second invitation. He scrambled up on the tall box, and
+by stretching up on tip toe could just manage to get his fingers over
+the edge of the flooring above.
+
+"Give me a boost, some one," he commanded, and Bob obligingly
+administered the boost.
+
+Joe was next. Bob went last, holding the trap door with his foot to keep
+it from closing too quickly. Once upon the floor of the barn he took his
+foot away and the door banged to with a snap, being balanced by a rope
+and weight above.
+
+"Well, there's that!" exclaimed Bob, eyeing the closed door with
+satisfaction. "If Cassey thought he was going to fool us long, he sure
+was mistaken."
+
+"Maybe he's hiding around here somewhere," suggested Herb, lowering his
+voice to a whisper.
+
+"No such luck," replied Bob. "I'd be willing to wager that the moment we
+struck bottom there, Cassey and his friends beat it away from here as
+fast as their legs could take them."
+
+"Don't you think we'd better look around a little bit, anyway?"
+suggested Joe.
+
+"It wouldn't do any harm," agreed Bob. "But first let's have a look
+outside. We don't want to overlook any clues."
+
+The boys thrashed around the bushes about the barn until they were
+satisfied no one was hiding there and then returned to the barn. They
+were curious to find out just how they had been shot through that trap
+door.
+
+They thought at first that it was perhaps worked by some sort of
+apparatus, but they found that this was not the case. They found by
+experimenting that the trap door yielded easily to their weight, and
+decided that it had been their combined rush upon Cassey that had done
+the trick. The weight of the four of them upon it had shot the door down
+so rapidly that they had not had time even to know what was happening to
+them, much less scramble to safety. Then it had shut on them.
+
+"It couldn't have worked better for them," said Herb, as they turned
+toward the door of the barn. "I bet they're laughing yet at the way they
+put things over."
+
+"Let 'em laugh," said Bob, adding fiercely: "But I bet you anything that
+the last laugh will be ours!"
+
+"I wonder what Cassey was doing here, anyway," said Jimmy, as they
+walked slowly homeward. "It was lucky, wasn't it, that we happened along
+when we did?"
+
+"I don't see where it's so lucky," grumbled Joe. "We're no nearer
+catching him now than we ever were."
+
+"Except that we know he's around this locality," put in Bob. "I guess
+the police will be glad to know that."
+
+"Oh! are you going to tell the police?" asked Jimmy, whose thoughts had
+been upon what he was going to get for dinner.
+
+"Of course," said Bob. "He's an escaped criminal, and it's up to us to
+tell the police all we know about him."
+
+"I only wish we knew more to tell," said Joe disconsolately.
+
+Since they had been flung through the trap door, Joe had called himself
+every unpleasant name he could think of for his carelessness. If he had
+stayed at the door where he belonged, there would have been one of them
+left to grapple with Dan Cassey. Probably the two men who had been with
+Cassey when they had surprised him had not been anywhere around. They
+belonged to the type of criminal that always thinks of its own safety
+first. Probably they had not been anywhere near the barn. And if it had
+been only Dan Cassey and himself, well, he, Joe, could at least have
+given the scoundrel a black eye--maybe captured him.
+
+He said something of this to his chums, but they laughed at him.
+
+"Stop your grouching," said Bob. "Haven't we already agreed that there's
+no use crying over spilled milk? And, anyway, you just watch out. We'll
+get Cassey yet."
+
+As soon as the boys reached town they went straight to the police
+station and told the story of their encounter with Cassey to the
+grizzled old chief, who nodded his head grimly and thanked them for the
+information.
+
+"I'll send some men out right away," he told them. "If there's a
+criminal in those woods, they're sure to get him before dark. It's too
+bad you lads couldn't have got him yourselves. It would sure have been a
+feather in your caps!"
+
+"Why doesn't he rub it in?" grumbled Joe, as they turned at last toward
+home and dinner. "He ought to know we feel mad enough about it."
+
+"Well," said Bob, "if the police round him up, because of our
+information, it will be almost as good as though we'd caught him
+ourselves. I wouldn't," he added, with a glint in his eye, "exactly like
+to be in Cassey's shoes, now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+CUNNING SCOUNDRELS
+
+
+But, contrary to the expectations of the radio boys, the police were not
+able to locate Cassey nor any of the rest of the gang. They searched the
+woods for miles around the old barn about which the boys had told them,
+even carrying their search into the neighboring townships, but without
+any result. It seemed as though the earth had opened and swallowed up
+Cassey together with his rascally companions. If such a thing had
+actually happened, their disappearance could not have been more
+complete.
+
+"They must be experts in the art of hiding," grumbled Bob, upon
+returning from a visit to the chief of police. "I was certain they would
+be rounded up before this."
+
+"Guess they must have made a break for the tall timber," said Joe.
+
+"Decided, maybe, it isn't just healthy around here," added Herb, with a
+grin.
+
+And then, just when they had decided that Cassey and his gang had made a
+masterly getaway, the radio boys got on their trail once again.
+
+That very evening, when tuning in for the concert, they caught another
+of those mysterious, stuttering messages in the unmistakable voice of
+Dan Cassey!
+
+"Rice, rats, make hay," was the substance of this message, and the boys
+would have laughed if they had not been so dumbfounded.
+
+"What do you know about that?" gasped Jimmy. "That old boy sure has his
+nerve with him."
+
+"They're still hanging around here somewhere!" cried Bob excitedly.
+"They've probably got a hiding place that even the police can't find."
+
+"Oh, if we could only make sense of this!" exclaimed Herb, staring at
+the apparently senseless message which he had written down. "If we only
+had their code the whole thing would be simple."
+
+"Oh, yes, if we only had a million dollars, we'd be millionaires!"
+retorted Jimmy scornfully. "Where do you get that stuff, anyway?"
+
+"Well," said Bob, temporarily giving up the problem, "as far as I can
+see, all there is for us to do is to keep our eyes and ears open and
+trust to luck. Now what do you say we listen in on the concert for a
+little while?"
+
+In the days that followed Cassey's voice came to them several times out
+of the ether, and always in that same cryptic form that, try as they
+would, they could not make out.
+
+It was exasperating, that familiar voice coming to them out of the air
+day after day without giving them the slightest clue to the whereabouts
+of the speaker.
+
+And then, while they were in town one day, they quite unexpectedly ran
+into their old friend, Frank Brandon, the wireless inspector, whose work
+for some time had taken him into another district.
+
+However, he was to stay in Clintonia for a few days on business now, and
+since he had nothing particular to do that day, Bob enthusiastically
+invited him up to his home for a visit.
+
+"Maybe you can give us some tips on our set," Bob added, as Mr. Brandon
+readily accepted the invitation. "We're not altogether satisfied with
+our batteries. For some reason or other they burn out too quickly."
+
+"Yes, I'll take a look at it," agreed Mr. Brandon good-naturedly.
+"Although I imagine you boys are such experts by this time I can't tell
+you very much. What have you been doing with yourselves since we last
+met?"
+
+The boys told him something of their experiences, in which he showed
+intense interest, and in return he told them some interesting things
+that had happened to him.
+
+And when he spoke of catching mysterious messages in the stuttering
+voice of Dan Cassey, Bob broke in upon him eagerly.
+
+"We've caught a good many such messages too," he said. "Have you managed
+to make anything of them?"
+
+"Not a thing," said Mr. Brandon, shaking his head. "If it is a criminal
+code, and I am about assured that it is, then it is a remarkably clever
+one and one that it is almost impossible to decipher without a key. I've
+just about given up trying."
+
+Then the boys told of their encounter with Cassey in the woods and their
+adventure in the old barn, and Frank Brandon was immensely excited.
+
+"By Jove," he said, "the man is up to his old tricks again! I'd like to
+get hold of him before he does any serious harm. That sort of criminal
+is a menace to the community.
+
+"The funny part of it," he continued, as they turned the corner into
+Bob's block, "is that these messages are not all in Cassey's voice. Have
+you noticed that?"
+
+It was the boys' turn to be surprised.
+
+"That's a new one on us," Bob confessed. "The only messages we have
+caught so far have been in Cassey's voice."
+
+Frank Brandon slowly shook his head.
+
+"No," he said, "I have caught a couple in a strange voice, a voice I
+never heard before."
+
+"The same kind of message?" asked Herb eagerly.
+
+"The same kind of message," Brandon affirmed. "I have taken it for
+granted that the owner of the strange voice is a confederate of
+Cassey's."
+
+"Maybe one of the fellows who was with him in the woods," said Jimmy,
+and Mr. Brandon nodded gravely.
+
+"It's possible," he said. "I don't know, of course, but I imagine that
+there are several in Cassey's gang."
+
+By this time they had reached Bob's home, and as it was nearly lunch
+time, Mrs. Layton insisted that they all stay to lunch. The boys, not
+liking to make her trouble, said they would go home and come back later,
+but the lady of the house would have none of it.
+
+"Sit down, all of you," she commanded, in her cheerful, hospitable way.
+"I know you're starved--all but Jimmy--" this last with a smile, "and
+there's plenty to eat."
+
+Frank Brandon was very entertaining all during the meal and kept them in
+gales of laughter. Mrs. Layton found him as amusing as did the boys.
+
+At last the lunch came to an end and Mr. Brandon professed himself ready
+to talk shop.
+
+He was enthusiastic over the radio set the boys showed him and declared
+that he could see very little improvement to suggest.
+
+"You surely have kept up with the march," he said admiringly. "You have
+pretty nearly all the latest appliances, haven't you? Good work, boys.
+Keep it up and you'll be experts in earnest."
+
+"If we could only find some way to lengthen the life of our storage
+batteries," said Bob, not without a pardonable touch of pride, "we
+wouldn't have much to complain about. But that battery does puzzle us."
+
+"Keep your battery filled with water and see if it doesn't last you
+about twice as long," suggested the radio expert. "Don't add any acid to
+your battery, for it's only the water that evaporates."
+
+"Will that really do the trick?" asked Joe, wondering. "I don't just see
+how----"
+
+"It does just the same," Brandon interrupted confidently. "All you have
+to do is to try it to find out. Don't use ordinary water though. It
+needs to be distilled."
+
+"That's a new one on me, all right," said Bob, adding gratefully: "But
+we're obliged for the information. If distilled water will lengthen the
+life of our battery, then distilled water it shall have."
+
+"It seems queer," said Mr. Brandon reflectively, "how apparently simple
+things will work immense improvement. Marconi, for instance, by merely
+shortening his wave length, is discovering wonderful things. We cannot
+even begin to calculate what marvelous things are in store for us when
+we begin to send out radio waves of a few centimeters, perhaps less. We
+have not yet explored the low wave lengths, and when we do I believe we
+are in for some great surprises."
+
+"Go on," said Joe, as he paused. "Tell us more about these low wave
+lengths."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A DARING HOLDUP
+
+
+Frank Brandon shook his head and smiled.
+
+"I'm afraid I don't know much more to tell," he said. "As I have said,
+what will happen when we materially decrease the wave length, is still
+in the land of conjecture. But I tell you," he added, with sudden
+enthusiasm, "I'm mighty glad to be living in this good old age. What we
+have already seen accomplished is nothing to what we are going to see.
+Why," he added, "some scientists, Steinmetz, for instance, are even
+beginning to claim that ether isn't the real medium for the propagation
+of radio waves."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Bob, with interest. "Is it some sort
+of joke?"
+
+"Joke, nothing!" replied Frank Brandon. "As a matter of fact, I fully
+believe that electro-magnetic waves can as easily be hurled through a
+void as through ether."
+
+The boys were silent for a moment, thinking this over. It sounded
+revolutionary, but they had great respect for Frank Brandon's judgment.
+
+"There's the Rogers underground aerial," Bob suggested tentatively, and
+Brandon took him up quickly.
+
+"Exactly!" he said. "That leans in the direction of what I say. Why, I
+believe the day is coming--and it isn't so very far in the future,
+either--when no aerial will be used.
+
+"Why, I believe," he added, becoming more and more enthusiastic as he
+continued, "that ten years from now we shall simply attach our receiving
+outfits to the ground and shall be able to receive even more
+satisfactorily than we do to-day." He laughed and added lightly:
+
+"But who am I to assume the role of prophet? Perhaps, like a good many
+prophets, I see too much in the future that never will come true."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Bob. "I shouldn't wonder if all your prophesy
+will come true in a few years."
+
+"Well," said Herb, with a grin, "it will be a relief not to get any more
+broken shins putting up aerials."
+
+Mr. Brandon laughed.
+
+"I'm with you," he said. "I've been there myself."
+
+"Have you read about that radio-controlled tank?" Joe asked. "The one
+that was exhibited in Dayton, I mean?"
+
+"I not only read about it, I saw it," Mr. Brandon answered, and the boys
+stared at him in surprise. "I happened to be there on business," he
+said; "and you can better believe I was on hand when they rolled that
+tank through the traffic."
+
+"What did it look like?" asked Jimmy eagerly.
+
+"The car was about eight feet long and three feet high," responded
+Brandon. "It was furnished with a motor and storage batteries, and I
+guess its speed was about five or six miles an hour."
+
+"And was it really controlled by radio?" put in Herb, wishing that he
+had been on the spot.
+
+"Absolutely," returned Brandon. "An automobile followed along behind it
+and controlled it entirely by wireless signals. The apparatus that does
+all the work is called the selector, and it's only about the size of a
+saucer. It decodes the dots and dashes and obeys the command in an
+inconceivably short time--about a quarter of a second."
+
+"It can be controlled by an airplane, too, can't it?" asked Bob, and the
+radio inspector nodded.
+
+"In case of war," he said slowly, "I imagine these airplane-controlled
+tanks could do considerable damage."
+
+Their guest left soon after that, and, of course, the boys were sorry to
+have him go. His last words to them were about Cassey.
+
+"Keep your eyes open for that scoundrel," he said, "and we'll find out
+what he's up to yet."
+
+But in the next few days so many alarming things happened that the boys
+had little time to think about Dan Cassey. The alarming happenings
+consisted of a series of automobile robberies in neighboring towns,
+robberies committed so skillfully that no hint nor clue was given of the
+identity of the robbers.
+
+And then the robberies came nearer home, even into Clintonia itself. The
+president of one of the banks left his machine outside the bank for half
+an hour, and when he came out again it was gone. No one could remember
+seeing any suspicious characters around.
+
+Then Raymond Johnston, a prominent business man of the town, had his car
+taken in the same mysterious manner from in front of his home. As
+before, no one could give the slightest clue as to the identity of the
+thieves.
+
+The entire community was aroused and the police were active, and yet the
+mystery remained as dark as ever.
+
+Then, one day, Herb came dashing over to Bob's home in a state of wild
+excitement. Joe and Jimmy were already there, and Herb stopped not even
+for a greeting before he sprang his news.
+
+"Say, fellows!" he cried, sprawling in a chair and panting after his
+run, "it's time somebody caught those auto thieves. They are getting a
+little too personal."
+
+"What's up?" they demanded.
+
+"One of dad's trucks has been held up!" gasped Herb. "In broad daylight,
+too!"
+
+"Was anything taken?" asked Joe.
+
+"Anything? Well, I should say! They looted the truck of everything. It's
+a wonder they didn't steal the machinery."
+
+"That's a pretty big loss for your dad, isn't it?" said Bob gravely.
+
+"It is!" replied Herb, running his fingers through his hair. "He's all
+cut up about it and vows he'll catch the ruffians. Though he'll have to
+be a pretty clever man if he does, I'll say."
+
+"They do seem to be pretty slick," agreed Bob.
+
+"I wonder if the same gang is responsible for all the robberies," put in
+Joe.
+
+"It looks that way," said Jimmy. "It looks as if there were a crook at
+the head of the bunch who has pretty good brains."
+
+"A regular master criminal, Doughnuts?" gibed Herb, then sobered again
+as he thought of his father's loss.
+
+"It's bad enough," he said gloomily, "to hear of other people's property
+being stolen, but when it comes right down to your own family, it's
+getting a little too close for comfort."
+
+"What is your dad going to do about it?" asked Bob.
+
+Herb shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture.
+
+"What can he do?" he asked. "Except what everybody else has done--inform
+the police and hope the rascals will be caught. And even if they are
+caught," he added, still more gloomily, "it won't do dad much good,
+except that he'll get revenge. The crooks will probably have disposed of
+all their stolen property before they're caught."
+
+"Well, I don't know," said Bob hopefully. "Those fellows are getting a
+little bit too daring for their own good. Some day they'll go too far
+and get caught."
+
+"I hope so. But crooks like that are pretty foxy," returned Herb,
+refusing to be cheered. "They're apt to get away with murder before
+they're caught."
+
+The lads were silent for a moment, trying to think things out, and when
+Bob spoke he unconsciously put into words something of what his comrades
+were thinking.
+
+"It seems as if radio ought to be able to help out in a case like this,"
+he said, with a puzzled frown. "But I must say I don't see how it can."
+
+"It can't," returned Herb. "If some one had been lucky enough to get a
+glimpse of one of the thieves, then good old radio would have its
+chance. We could wireless the description all over the country and
+before long somebody would make a capture."
+
+Bob nodded.
+
+"That's where the cunning of these rascals comes in," he said. "Either
+nobody sees them at all, or when they do the thieves are so well
+disguised by masks that a useful description isn't possible."
+
+"Were the fellows who held up your father's truck masked?" asked Jimmy
+with interest.
+
+Herb nodded.
+
+"From all I can hear," he said. "It was a regular highway robbery
+affair--masks, guns, and all complete. The driver of the truck said
+there were only two of them, but since they had guns and he was unarmed,
+there wasn't anything he could do.
+
+"They made him get down off the truck, and then they bound his hands
+behind him and hid him behind some bushes that bordered the road. He
+would probably be there yet if he hadn't managed to get the gag out of
+his mouth and hail some people passing in an automobile. Poor fellow!"
+he added. "Any one might have thought he had robbed the truck from the
+way he looked. He was afraid to face dad."
+
+"Well, it wasn't his fault," said Joe. "No man without a weapon is a
+match for two armed rascals."
+
+"Didn't he say what the robbers looked like?" insisted Jimmy. "He must
+have known whether they were short or tall or fat or skinny."
+
+"He said they were about medium height, both of them," returned Herb.
+"He said they were both about the same build--rather thin, if anything.
+But their faces were so well covered--the upper part by a mask and the
+lower by bandana handkerchiefs--that he couldn't give any description of
+them at all."
+
+"I bet," Bob spoke up suddenly, "that whoever is at the head of that
+rascally gang knows the danger of radio to him and his plans. That's why
+his men are so careful to escape recognition."
+
+The boys stared at him for a minute and then suddenly the full force of
+what he intimated struck them.
+
+At the same instant the name of the same man came into their minds--the
+name of a man who used radio for the exchange of criminal codes, a man
+who stuttered painfully.
+
+"Cassey!" they said together, and Herb added, thoughtfully:
+
+"I wonder!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OFF TO THE WOODS
+
+
+For days the town hummed with the excitement that followed the daring
+robbery of the truck belonging to Mr. Fennington, but as time passed and
+there seemed little prospect of bringing the robbers to justice,
+interest died down. But the radio boys never abated their resolve to do
+all in their power to recover the stolen merchandise, although at that
+time they were kept so busy in high school, preparing for a stiff
+examination, that they had little time for anything else.
+
+"It's getting so bad lately that I don't even get time to enjoy my
+meals," grumbled Jimmy, one sunny spring afternoon. "Swinging an oar a
+la Ben Hur would be just a little restful exercise after the way we've
+been drilling the last week."
+
+"Get out!" exclaimed Joe. "Why, you wouldn't last two hours in one of
+those galleys, Doughnuts. They'd heave you over the side as excess
+baggage once they got wise to you."
+
+"After two hours of rowing in one of those old galleys, he'd be glad to
+get heaved overboard, I'll bet," put in Herb, grinning. "I think Jimmy
+would rather drown any day than work that hard."
+
+"Huh! I don't see where you fellows get off to criticize," retorted the
+harassed youth. "I never saw any of you win gold medals for hard and
+earnest work."
+
+"Lots of people deserve medals who never get them," Bob pointed out.
+
+"Yes. But, likewise, lots of people don't deserve 'em who don't get
+'em," retorted Jimmy, and for once appeared to have won an argument.
+
+"I guess you're right at that," conceded Bob. "But, anyway, I'm going to
+pass those examinations no matter how hard I have to work. It will
+pretty near break my heart, but it can't be helped."
+
+The others were equally determined, and they dug into the mysteries of
+Horace and Euclid to such good effect that they all passed the
+examinations with flying colors. After that came a breathing space, and
+just at that time a golden opportunity presented itself.
+
+Mr. Fennington, Herbert's father, had become interested, together with
+several other business men of Clintonia, in a timber deal comprising
+many acres of almost virgin forest in the northern part of the state. He
+was going to look over the ground personally, and when Herb learned of
+this, he urged his father to take him and the other radio boys along for
+a brief outing over the Easter holiday. When his father seemed extremely
+dubious over this plan, Herb reminded him that Mr. Layton had taken them
+all to Mountain Pass the previous autumn, and that it would be only fair
+to reciprocate.
+
+"But the Lookers are up in that part of the country, too," said Mr.
+Fennington. "Aren't you fellows scared to go where Buck Looker is?" he
+added, with a smile lurking about his mouth.
+
+"Oh, yes, we're terribly afraid of that!" answered Herb sarcastically.
+"We'll take our chances, though, if you'll only let us go with you."
+
+"Well, well, I'll see," said his father, and Herb knew that this was
+practically equivalent to surrender. Accordingly he hunted up his chums
+and broached the project to them.
+
+"Herb, your words are as welcome as the flowers in May," Bob told him,
+with a hearty slap on the back. "If this trip actually works out, we'll
+forgive you all last winter's jokes, won't we, fellows?"
+
+"It's an awful lot to ask of a fellow, but I suppose we can manage it,"
+said Joe, and Jimmy, after pretending to think the matter over very
+seriously, finally said the same.
+
+They were all overjoyed at the prospect of such a trip, and had little
+difficulty in getting the consent of their parents. Mr. Fennington
+eventually consented to take the radio boys with him, and there ensued
+several days of bustle and excited packing. At length all was ready, and
+they found themselves, one bright spring morning, installed in a big
+seven-passenger touring car _en route_ for Braxton Woods, as the strip
+of timberland was called.
+
+"This is the life!" chortled Jimmy, as the miles rolled away behind.
+"Fresh air, bright sun, the song of birds, and--doughnuts!" and he
+produced a bulging paper bag full of his favorite dainty.
+
+"How do you get that way?" asked Joe severely, although he eyed the bag
+hungrily. "The 'song of doughnuts!' You're the only Doughnut that I ever
+heard of that could sing, and you're no great shakes at it."
+
+"Oh, you know what I meant!" exclaimed Jimmy. "At least, you're thicker
+than usual if you don't."
+
+"Do you hear that, Joe?" laughed Bob. "The boy's telling you that you're
+thick. Are you going to stand for that?"
+
+"He knows it's true. And, anyway, he doesn't dare talk back for fear I
+won't give him one of these delicious little morsels," said Jimmy
+placidly. "How about it, Joe?"
+
+"That's taking mean advantage of a poor fellow who's practically dying
+of starvation," said Joe. "Give me a doughnut, and I won't talk
+back--until after I've eaten it, anyway."
+
+"That's all right then," said his plump friend. "After you've eaten one,
+you'll feel so grateful to me that you'll regret all the low-down things
+you've ever said about me."
+
+"Oh, you're the finest pal any fellow ever had," declared Joe. "How many
+doughnuts have you left, Jimmy?"
+
+"Something tells me that you don't mean all you say," said Jimmy
+suspiciously. "Just the same, I'll take a chance and give you another
+one. They won't last long at the rate they're going; I can tell that
+without half trying."
+
+"Well, a short life but a merry one," said Bob. "Come across with
+another, Jimmy, will you?"
+
+"You know I love you too much to refuse you anything, Bob," said Jimmy.
+"Just the same, I'm going to hold out another for myself, and then you
+big panhandlers can finish them up. I've just had four, but I suppose
+those will have to last me for the present."
+
+"Say, that's tough--only four!" exclaimed Herb, in mock sympathy. "What
+will you ever do until lunch time, I wonder?"
+
+"I'm wondering the same thing myself; but I'm used to suffering whenever
+I'm with you fellows, so I suppose I'll have to grin and bear it
+somehow."
+
+"I don't see why you didn't bring some more, while you were about it,"
+complained Bob. "You might have known that wouldn't be half enough."
+
+"It will be a long time before I buy any more for you Indians, you can
+bet your last dollar on that," said Jimmy, in an aggrieved voice.
+"You've been going to school a number of years, now, but you still don't
+know what 'gratitude' means."
+
+"The only one that should be grateful is yourself, Doughnuts," Joe
+assured him. "You know if you had eaten that whole bag full of doughnuts
+that you'd have been heading a funeral to-morrow or next day. It's lucky
+you have us around to save you from yourself."
+
+While Jimmy was still framing an indignant reply to this there was a
+loud report, and the driver quickly brought the big car to a halt.
+
+"Blowout," he remarked laconically, walking around to view a shoe that
+was flat beyond the possibility of doubt. It was not an unmixed evil to
+the boys, however, for they welcomed the chance to get out and stretch
+their cramped muscles. They helped the driver jack up the wheel and
+change shoes, and in a short time they were ready to proceed.
+
+Back they climbed into their places, and with a rasp of changing gears
+they were on their way once more.
+
+Braxton Woods lay something over a hundred miles from Clintonia, but the
+roads were good most of the way, and they had planned to reach their
+destination that evening. When they had covered sixty miles of the
+distance, Mr. Fennington consented to stop for the lunch for which the
+boys had been clamoring for some time. They took their time over the
+meal, building a fire and cooking steak and frying potatoes.
+
+"Gee, this was a feast fit for a king!" exclaimed Jimmy, when it was
+over.
+
+The boys lay down on the newly sprouted grass, but had hardly got
+settled when the driver, who appeared restless, summoned them to
+proceed.
+
+"We've got a long way to go yet," he said, "and the last fifteen miles
+are worse than all the rest of the trip put together. The road is mostly
+clay and rocks, and at this time of year it's apt to be pretty wet. I
+don't want to have to drive it after dark."
+
+Mr. Fennington was also anxious to get on, so their rest was a brief
+one, and they were soon on their way again.
+
+The radio boys laughed and sang, cracked jokes, and waved to passing
+cars, while the mileage record on the speedometer mounted steadily up.
+The sun was still quite a way above the western horizon when they
+reached the place where the forest road branched off from the main
+highway. The driver tackled this road cautiously, and they soon found
+that his description of it had not been overdrawn. It was a narrow
+trail, in most places not wide enough for two cars to pass, and they
+wondered what would happen should they meet another car going in the
+opposite direction. But in the whole fifteen miles they met only one
+other motor, and fortunately that was at a wide place in the road.
+
+The scent of spring and growing things was strong in the air, and
+compensated somewhat for the atrocious road. The boys were often tossed
+high in the air as the car bumped over logs and stones, or came up with
+a lurch out of some deep hole. But they hung on to each other, or
+whatever else was most convenient, and little minded the rough going.
+
+After one particularly vicious lunge, however, the heavy car came down
+with a slam, and there was a sharp noise of snapping steel. With a
+muttered exclamation the driver brought his car to a halt and climbed
+out.
+
+"Just as I thought!" he exclaimed. "A spring busted, and the nearest
+garage twenty miles away. Now we're up against it for fair!"
+
+"Do you mean that we can't go on?" asked Mr. Fennington anxiously. "It
+will be dark in another hour."
+
+"I know it will," replied the chauffeur. "But what can we do about it?"
+
+"Can't we make a temporary repair?" suggested Bob. "We can't have much
+further to go now."
+
+"Well, I'm open to suggestions, young fellow," growled the driver. "If
+you can tell me how to fix this boiler up, go to it. It's more than I
+can do."
+
+Bob and the others made a thorough examination of the damage, and they
+were not long in concocting a plan. Bob had brought with him a small but
+very keen-edged ax, and it was the work of only a few minutes to cut a
+stout limb about six inches in diameter from a tree.
+
+With this, and a coil of heavy rope that was carried in the car for
+emergencies, they proceeded to make the temporary repair.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PUT TO THE TEST
+
+
+First of all the boys trimmed the branch to a length slightly greater
+than the distance between axle and axle of the car. Then, near each end,
+they cut a notch about two inches deep, one to fit over the front and
+one over the rear axle. Next they placed the branch in position, and
+with the heavy rope lashed it securely into position. Thus the front and
+rear axles were kept at the proper distance from each other, and,
+moreover, the side of the car that was over the broken spring could rest
+on the stout pole.
+
+The driver, who at first had watched their efforts with a derisive grin,
+took their plan more seriously as he realized the scheme, and now he
+examined the completed job with an air of surprised respect.
+
+"I've got to admit that that looks as though it might do the trick," he
+admitted, at length. "I've seen a lot of roadside repairs in my time,
+but blest if that hasn't got 'em all beat. I'll take it at slow speed
+the rest of the way, and we'll see if it will stand up long enough to
+get us in."
+
+And get them in it did, in spite of much creaking and groaning and
+bumping.
+
+The automobile drew up before a long one-story building, constructed
+roughly but substantially of unpainted boards. Supper was being served,
+and they were just in time to partake of a typical lumber camp meal. The
+big table was laden with huge joints of meat, platters of biscuits and
+vegetables, while strong, black coffee was served in abundance. After
+this plates of doughnuts were passed around, greatly to Jimmy's delight,
+and for once he could eat all he wanted with nobody to criticize, for
+the lumbermen were no tyros at this sort of thing, and packed away food
+in quantities and at a speed that made the boys gape.
+
+"Gee!" exclaimed Bob, after they had emerged into the balmy spring air
+outside, "I used to think that Jimmy could eat; but he can't even make
+the qualifying heats with this crowd. You're outclassed, Doughnuts,
+beyond the chance of argument."
+
+"I don't see but what I'll have to admit it," sighed his rotund friend.
+"But I don't care. It seems like Heaven to be in a place where they
+serve doughnuts like that. There's none of this 'do-have-a-doughnut'
+business. Some big husky passes you a platter with about a hundred on it
+and says, 'dig in, young feller.' Those are what I call sweet sounding
+words."
+
+"And you dug, all right," remarked Joe, grinning. "I saw you clean one
+platter off all by your lonesome--at least, you came pretty near it," he
+qualified, with some last lingering regard for the truth.
+
+"I didn't anything of the kind! But I only wish I could," lamented
+Jimmy.
+
+"Never mind, Doughnuts, nobody can deny that you did your best," laughed
+Herb. "After you've had a little practice with this crowd, I'll back you
+against their champion eater any day."
+
+"So would I," said Bob. "We've often talked about entering Jimmy in a
+pie-eating contest, but I never before thought we could find anybody who
+would even stand a chance with him. Up here, though, there's some
+likely-looking material. Judging from some of those huskies we saw
+to-night, they might crowd our champion pretty hard."
+
+"You can enter me any time you want to," said Jimmy. "Even if I didn't
+win, I'd have a lot of fun trying. I never really got enough pie at one
+time yet, and that would be the chance of a lifetime."
+
+At first the boys were more than half joking, but after they had been at
+the camp a few days and had begun to get acquainted, they let drop hints
+regarding Jimmy's prowess that aroused the interest of the lumbermen. He
+was covertly watched at meal times, and as the bracing woodland air and
+long hikes combined to give an added edge to his appetite, his ability
+began to command attention. There were several among the woodsmen who
+had a reputation for large capacity, but it was soon evident that Jimmy
+was not to be easily outdistanced in his own particular department.
+
+At length interest became so keen that it was decided to stage a real
+old-fashioned pie-eating contest, to determine whether the champions of
+the camp were to be outdistanced by a visitor from the city. The cook
+was approached, and agreed to make all the pies that, in all human
+probability, would be needed.
+
+"Jimmy, you're in for it now!" exclaimed Herb, dancing ecstatically
+about his plump friend. "Here's your chance to make good on all the
+claims we've ever advanced for you. You're up against a strong field,
+but my confidence in you is unshaken."
+
+"It simply isn't possible that our own Jimmy could lose," grinned Bob.
+"I've seen him wade into pies before this, and I know what he can do."
+
+"I appreciate your confidence, believe me," said Jimmy. "But I don't
+care much whether I win or not. I know I'll get enough pie for once in
+my life, and that's the main thing."
+
+The time for the contest was set for the following evening, the third of
+their stay. Five lumbermen had been put forward to uphold the reputation
+of the camp, and they and Jimmy ate no supper that night, waiting until
+the others had finished. Then the board was cleared, and the cook and
+his helper entered, bringing in several dozen big pies of all varieties.
+One of these was placed before each of the contestants, and they could
+help themselves to as many more as their capacity would admit.
+
+The cook, as having the best knowledge of matters culinary, was
+appointed judge, and was provided with a pad and pencil to check up each
+contestant. A time limit of two hours was set, the one having consumed
+the greatest amount of pie in that time to be declared the winner.
+
+The cook gave the signal to start, and the contest was on.
+
+The lumbermen started off at high speed, and at first wrought tremendous
+havoc among the pies, while Jimmy ate in his usual calm and placid
+manner, evidently enjoying himself immensely. Each of the lumbermen had
+his following, who cheered him on and urged him to fresh endeavors. Bob
+and Joe and Herb said little, for they had observed Jimmy's prowess over
+a period of several years, and knew his staying qualities.
+
+At the end of the first half hour their friend was badly outdistanced,
+but the other contestants had slowed up noticeably, while Jimmy still
+ate calmly on, no faster and no slower than when he had started. He was
+only starting on his second pie when all the others were finishing
+theirs, but the confidence of his three comrades remained unshaken. They
+observed that the lumbermen chose their third pies very carefully, and
+started to eat them in a languid way. They were only about half through
+when Jimmy disposed of his second one, and started on a third.
+
+"How do you feel, Jimmy?" asked Herb, with a grin. "Are you still
+hungry?"
+
+"No, not exactly hungry, but it still tastes good," replied Jimmy
+calmly. "You sure can make good pies, Cook."
+
+The other contestants essayed feeble grins, but it was easy to see that
+their pies no longer tasted good to them. More and more slowly they ate,
+while Jimmy kept placidly on, his original gait hardly slackened. He
+finished the third pie and started nonchalantly on a fourth. At sight of
+this, and his confident bearing, two of the other contestants threw up
+their hands and admitted themselves beaten.
+
+"I used to like pie," groaned one, "but now I hope never to see one
+again. That youngster must be made of rubber."
+
+"I've often said the same thing myself," chortled Bob. "Just look at
+him! I believe he's good for a couple more yet."
+
+Excitement ran high when two of the remaining lumbermen were forced out
+toward the middle of their fourth pie, leaving only Jimmy and a jolly
+man of large girth, who before the start had been picked by his
+companions as the undoubted winner.
+
+"Go to it, Jack!" the lumbermen shouted now. "Don't let the youngster
+beat you out. He's pretty near his limit now."
+
+It was true that flaky pie crust and luscious filling had lost their
+charm for Jimmy, but his opponent was in even worse plight. He managed
+to finish his fourth pie, but when the cook handed him a fifth, the task
+proved to be beyond him.
+
+"I've reached my limit, fellers," he declared. "If the youngster can go
+pie number five, he'll be champion of the camp."
+
+Excitement ran high as Jimmy slowly finished the last crumbs of his
+fourth pie, and the cook handed him a fifth. Would he take it, or would
+the contest prove to be a draw?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE BULLY GETS A DUCKING
+
+
+"Our man doesn't have to eat another whole pie," protested Bob. "If he
+just eats some of it he'll win, Mr. Judge."
+
+"That's right," nodded the cook. "How about you, young feller? Are you
+able to tackle it?"
+
+"Sure thing," responded Jimmy. "Hand it over."
+
+He forced himself to cut and eat a small piece, and when he had
+finished, pandemonium broke loose. The judge declared him undisputed
+champion of the camp, and he was caught up and elevated to broad
+shoulders while an impromptu triumphal procession was organized that
+circled the camp with much laughter and many jokes at the expense of the
+defeated aspirants for the title.
+
+After this was over, the boys held a little private jubilation of their
+own in the little cabin where they were quartered with Mr. Fennington.
+He had been away during the contest, but he returned shortly afterward,
+and laughingly congratulated Jimmy on his newly won honors.
+
+"How do you feel?" he inquired. "Do you think you could manage another
+piece of pie? I'll see that you have a large piece if you think you
+can."
+
+"No, sir! I've had enough pie to last me for a good while to come,"
+declared Jimmy positively. "I'll be ashamed to look a pie in the face.
+For the next week or so I'll have to stick to my favorite doughnuts for
+dessert."
+
+"Well, you did nobly, Doughnuts, and I love you more than ever,"
+declared Bob. "You were up against a field that anybody might be proud
+to beat."
+
+"And the best part of it, to me, is the feeling that our confidence in
+Jimmy's eating powers was justified," declared Joe. "After all the
+wonderful exhibitions he's given in the past, it would have been
+terrible if he hadn't come up to scratch to-night."
+
+"The way that fellow they call Jack started off, I never thought you had
+a chance, Jimmy," confessed Herb.
+
+"If he could have held that pace, I wouldn't have had a look-in,"
+admitted Jimmy. "I figured he'd have to slow down pretty soon, though.
+'Slow but sure' is my motto."
+
+"How would you like to take a nice three-mile sprint now?" asked Herb
+mischievously.
+
+"Three mile nothing!" exclaimed Jimmy scornfully. "I couldn't run three
+yards right now. I think I'll lie down and give my digestion a chance,"
+and in a few minutes he was peacefully snoring.
+
+The next morning he showed no ill effects from the prodigious feast, but
+ate his usual hearty breakfast. The others were forced to the conclusion
+that his table ability was even greater than they had suspected, and
+from that time on they firmly believed him to be invincible in his
+particular department.
+
+By this time they were thoroughly familiar with the camp, and decided to
+make an excursion into the woods the following day, taking lunch with
+them and making it a day's outing. The cook so far departed from his
+usual iron-clad rules as to make them up a fine lunch, making due
+allowance for Jimmy's proven capacity.
+
+They started out immediately after breakfast. Not being particular as to
+direction, they followed the first old logging road that they came to.
+It led them deeper and deeper into the forest that was alive with the
+sounds and scents of spring. Last year's fallen leaves made a springy
+carpet underfoot, while robins sang their spring song in the budding
+branches overhead.
+
+For some time the boys tramped in silence, breathing deeply of the
+exhilarating pine and balsam atmosphere and at peace with all the world.
+Soon there was a glint of water through the trees, and the boys, with
+one accord, diverged from the faint trail that they had been following
+and were a few minutes later standing at the water's edge.
+
+They found themselves on the shore of a large lake. It was ringed about
+with big trees, many of which leaned far out over it as though to gaze
+at their reflections in the water. The ripples lapped gently on a
+sloping sandy beach, and the invitation to swim proved irresistible to
+all but Jimmy.
+
+"I know what lake water is like at this time of year," he said. "You
+fellows can go in and freeze yourselves all you like, but I'll stay
+right here and look after the things. Just dive right in and enjoy
+yourselves."
+
+"Well, we won't coax you," said Bob. "But that water looks too good to
+miss. It is pretty cold, but I guess that won't kill us."
+
+Off came their clothes, and with shouts and laughter they splashed
+through the shallow water and struck out manfully. The icy water made
+them gasp at first, but soon the reaction came, and they thoroughly
+enjoyed their swim. They tried to coax Jimmy in, but he lay flat on his
+back under a tree and was adamant to all their pleadings.
+
+The others did not stay in very long, but emerged glowing from the
+effects of exercise and the cold water. As they were getting into their
+clothes they heard voices coming toward them, and they had hardly
+finished dressing when the voices' owners came crashing through the
+underbrush close to where the boys were standing.
+
+The two groups stared in astonishment for a few moments, for the
+newcomers were none other than Carl Lutz, Buck Looker, Terry Mooney, and
+another older fellow, who was a stranger to the radio boys.
+
+Buck's expression of surprise quickly gave place to an ugly sneer, and
+he turned to his friends.
+
+"Look who's here!" he cried, in a nasty tone. "I wonder what they're up
+to now, Carl?"
+
+"We're not hiding from the cops because we broke a plate glass window
+and were afraid to own up to it," Bob told him.
+
+"Who broke a window?" demanded Buck. "You can't prove that it wasn't a
+snowball that one of your own bunch threw that broke that window."
+
+"We don't throw that kind of snowballs," said Joe.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Buck.
+
+"Are you trying to say that we put stones in our snowballs?"
+
+"I don't have to say it," retorted Joe. "You just said it yourself."
+
+Too late Buck realized his mistake, and his coarse red face grew purple
+as Herb and Jimmy grinned at him in maddening fashion.
+
+"Don't you laugh at me, Jimmy Plummer!" he exclaimed, picking on Jimmy
+as being the least warlike of the radio boys. "I'll make you laugh out
+of the other side of your mouth in a minute," and he started to dash
+past Bob to reach his victim.
+
+But to do so he had to pass between Bob and the bank of the lake, which
+just at this point was a foot or so above the water.
+
+As he rushed past, Bob adroitly shot out a muscular arm and his elbow
+caught the bully fair in the side. Buck staggered, made a wild effort to
+regain his balance, and with a prodigious splash disappeared in the icy
+waters of the lake.
+
+For a few seconds friend and enemy gazed anxiously at the spot where he
+had gone under, but he soon came to the surface, and, sputtering and
+fuming, struck out for the shore and dragged himself out on to dry land.
+
+He made such a ludicrous figure that even his cronies could not forbear
+laughing, but he turned on them furiously and their laughter suddenly
+ceased. Then he turned to Bob.
+
+"If I didn't have these wet clothes on, I'd make you pay for that right
+now, Bob Layton," he sputtered. "I'll make you sorry for that before
+you're much older."
+
+"Why not settle it right now?" offered Bob. "Your clothes will dry soon
+enough, don't worry about that."
+
+"Yes, I know you'd like nothing better than to see me get pneumonia,"
+said Buck. "You wait here till I go home and get dry clothes on, and
+I'll come and give you the licking that you deserve."
+
+"That's only a bluff, and you know it," said Bob contemptuously. "But if
+any of your friends would like to take your place, why, here I am. How
+about you, Lutz?"
+
+But Carl muttered something unintelligible, and backed away. The others
+likewise seemed discouraged by the mischance to their leader, for they
+turned and followed his retreating form without another word.
+
+"Some sports!" commented Joe.
+
+"Game as a mouse," supplemented Herb.
+
+"That was a swell ducking you gave Buck," chuckled Jimmy. "Just when he
+was going to pick on me, too. I owe you something for that, Bob."
+
+"Pay me when you get rich and famous," laughed his friend. "You don't
+owe me anything, anyway. It was a pleasure to shove Buck into the lake.
+I'm perfectly willing to do it again any time I get the chance."
+
+"Oh, it's my turn next time," said Joe. "I can't let you hog all the
+fun, Bob."
+
+"All right," replied his friend. "If we run into him again, I'll leave
+him to your tender mercies. But I don't imagine he or his friends will
+bother us any more to-day, so why not have lunch?"
+
+"I was thinking the same thing," remarked Jimmy, and they forthwith set
+to work to prepare what Jimmy termed a "bang-up lunch."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A STARTLING DISCOVERY
+
+
+The cook had supplied the radio boys with a lavish hand, but their long
+walk and the swim had given them ravenous appetites, and by the time
+they finished there was little left of the lunch. Even this little was
+soon disposed of by the bright-eyed birds that ventured close in pursuit
+of the tempting bits. By sitting as still as statues the boys succeeded
+in enticing the little fellows almost within arm's length, and derived
+no little amusement at the evident struggle between greed and caution.
+
+But soon the last crumb was gone, and after a short rest the lads began
+to think of returning to camp. They did not want to go back by the same
+road over which they had come, however, so decided to follow the shores
+of the lake until they should find some other path. This was, of course,
+a roundabout way of getting home, but they had the better part of the
+afternoon before them, and were in no particular hurry.
+
+"Come on over to the north," suggested Joe. "I think there is another
+trail in that direction."
+
+"Yes, and I imagine the walking is better," put in Herb.
+
+"Say, you don't want to go too far out of the way," came hastily from
+Jimmy. "We've got to walk back remember."
+
+"Forward it is!" cried Bob. "Come on, Jimmy, you've got to walk off that
+big lunch you stowed away."
+
+"Gee, if I walk too far I'll be hungry again before I get home," sighed
+the stout youth.
+
+"Wow! hear Jimmy complain," burst out Joe. "He hardly has one meal down
+than he's thinking of another."
+
+To find another trail was not as simple a matter as it had seemed, and
+they must have traveled over two miles before Bob's keen eyes detected a
+slight break in the dry underbrush that might denote a path such as they
+sought. They found a dim trail leading in the general direction in which
+they wished to go, and set out at a brisk pace, even Jimmy being willing
+to hurry as visions of the loaded supper table floated before him.
+
+Gradually the path widened out, as others ran into it, until it became a
+fairly well-defined woods road. It was thickly strewn with last year's
+soft and rotting leaves, and the boys made little sound in spite of the
+rapidity of their pace. Bob and Joe and Herb were striding along in a
+group, Jimmy having dropped behind while he fixed a refractory shoe
+lace, when suddenly Bob halted abruptly and held up a warning hand. The
+others, scenting something amiss, stopped likewise, looking inquiringly
+at Bob.
+
+Silently he pointed to a spot slightly ahead of them and several paces
+off the road. Even as the others gazed wonderingly, Bob beckoned them to
+follow and slipped silently into the brush that lined the road.
+
+On the other side stood a big tree, its trunk and branches sharply
+outlined against the clear sky. At the base of this tree, with his back
+toward them, stood a man. Now, the surprising part of it all, and that
+which had caused the boys to proceed so cautiously, was the fact that
+the man wore headphones and was evidently receiving a message of some
+kind. Fastened to the tree was a box, which evidently contained
+telephonic apparatus. At first the boys thought he must be listening at
+an ordinary telephone, but the fact that he had no transmitter indicated
+that he was listening in on a radio receiving set.
+
+The boys had hardly reached their place of concealment when the man
+turned sharply about, darting furtive glances here and there, evidently
+in search of possible intruders. The boys crouched lower behind the
+bushes and prayed fervently that Jimmy would not arrive before the man
+had gone. The fellow was of fair size, with a deeply tanned face, and
+wore a moustache. Fortunately, after they had been watching him a few
+minutes, he removed the earphones, placed them in the box, and, after
+locking it, started into the woods, following a dimly marked footpath.
+
+It was well that he left when he did, for not two minutes later Jimmy
+came puffing along, looking anxiously for the others. He stopped in
+amazement when he saw his friends emerge from the bushes, and was about
+to raise his voice in vehement questionings when Bob leaped at him and
+clapped a hand over his mouth.
+
+"Be quiet!" he hissed into his ear. "There's some funny work going on
+here, and we want to find out what it is."
+
+Thus admonished, Jimmy was released, and in low tones the others told
+him of what they had seen and showed him the box fastened to the tree.
+While they were about it, they made a hasty search for the antenna, and
+found it strung close to the trunk of the tree, extending from the top
+almost to the roots. After this discovery they hurried after the man
+with the moustache, fearful lest they should lose his trail.
+
+It was no easy matter to follow the dimly marked path, for it passed at
+times over stony ground and big boulders, where often it took much
+searching here and there before they picked up its continuation.
+
+"We may be taking all this trouble for nothing," said Bob, after one of
+these searches. "Maybe he's just a lumberman receiving instruction by
+wireless from his employers. Big business firms are using radio more and
+more for such purposes."
+
+"I didn't like the way he kept looking about him, as though he had
+something to conceal," objected Joe. "It can't do any harm to see where
+he goes, anyway. We may find out something important."
+
+"His hands weren't those of a lumberman," observed Herb. "Those hands
+never saw rough work nor, judging from the man's face and manner, honest
+work. Come on, fellows."
+
+Accordingly the boys followed the difficult trail with untiring
+patience, and at last their perseverance was rewarded. The path widened
+out into a little clearing, and at the further side of this was a rough
+log cabin. The little shack had two small windows, and with infinite
+caution the boys approached until they could see into the nearest one.
+
+The interior was rudely furnished with a heavy table and two crudely
+fashioned chairs, while in the corner furthest from them two bunks had
+been built, one above the other. In another corner was a compact radio
+transmitting set.
+
+At the table was seated the man with the moustache, intently studying a
+notebook propped up before him. From this he made notes on a sheet of
+paper, scowling at times like one engaged in a difficult task. At length
+he shoved back his chair, rose to his feet, and, striding across the
+little shack, carefully placed the notebook under a board on a shelf.
+Luckily he was so absorbed in what he was doing that he did not even
+glance toward the window where the radio boys were observing his every
+motion.
+
+But Bob now judged that they had seen enough, and he wished to run no
+unnecessary risk of detection. At a signal from him they made for the
+underbrush at the edge of the clearing, where they could command a view
+of the door, and waited to see if the mysterious stranger would emerge.
+
+In a few minutes the door opened and the man stepped out, stopping to
+fasten it securely behind him. Then, with a quick glance about the
+little clearing, he made for the path leading to the main road and in a
+short time the sound of his going died away.
+
+The boys waited a few minutes, thinking that possibly he might return
+for something forgotten, but no further sound came from the path. At
+length they ventured to approach the deserted cabin.
+
+The door had been fastened with a heavy padlock, but this was not
+sufficient to deter the radio boys. Searching through their pockets for
+some implement with which they could undo the lock, Jimmy discovered a
+stout fish-hook, and after they had ground off the barbs against a flat
+stone this made an ideal tool. With it Bob probed about in the interior
+of the padlock, and at length, with a sharp click, it sprung open.
+Ordinarily he would not have done this, but he had every reason to
+believe that he was dealing with a criminal and that he was justified in
+the interest of law and order in taking steps that would prevent any
+further depredations against society.
+
+"More ways than one of killing a cat," remarked Bob, as he pushed open
+the heavy door and entered the cabin. "We've got to know what's in that
+notebook before we leave this place. Let's have a look."
+
+The boys quickly brought the book from its place of concealment and
+carried it to the table, where they bent eagerly over it as Bob turned
+the pages.
+
+"It doesn't look like sense to me," complained Jimmy. "I never saw such
+a lot of fool words jumbled together."
+
+"Yes, but something tells me there's method in this madness," said Bob,
+his brows knit as he concentrated on the problem before him. "Say,
+fellows!" he exclaimed, as sudden excitement gripped him, "do you
+remember those nights we were listening to our big set and we heard the
+mysterious messages? They were just a lot of words, and we couldn't make
+anything out of them at the time."
+
+"You bet I remember!" exclaimed Joe. "I think I could even tell you most
+of the words. Why, there's some of them in that book, right now!"
+
+"Exactly," replied Bob, nodding. "I remember them, too, and this must be
+the key to the code. My stars, what luck! Let's see how close we can
+recall the words we caught, and then we'll see if we can make sense of
+them with the help of this key."
+
+"I'll tell you the words as I remember them, and you check me up,"
+suggested Joe, and this they accordingly did.
+
+Between them they managed to get it straight, just as they had heard it,
+"Corn-hay-six-paint-water-slow-sick-jelly."
+
+"I think that's right," said Bob. "Anyway, we'll see if it comes right
+with the key. You read the words, Joe, and I'll find them in this
+notebook and you can write them down. Shoot the first one."
+
+"Corn," said Joe.
+
+Bob hunted rapidly down the columns of code words and their equivalents,
+and soon found the one he was after.
+
+"Motor truck," he read out.
+
+"That sounds promising!" exclaimed Joe. "The next word I've got is
+'hay.' What's the answer to that?"
+
+"Silk," said Bob, after a shorter search this time.
+
+"Six," read Joe.
+
+"Castleton Road!" exclaimed Bob, his voice shaking with excitement as he
+traced down the columns of words. Herb and Jimmy were also excited;
+especially the former, as he realized better than the others how serious
+a loss the theft of his father's truckload of silk had been and now
+thought he saw some clue in this message that might throw light on the
+whereabouts of the stolen goods.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE ROBBERS' CODE
+
+
+"The next word is 'paint,'" said Joe. "What does that stand for, Bob?"
+
+"Just a minute, till I find it," replied his friend, and after turning
+over several pages found the word he sought.
+
+"It means 'to-night,'" he said. "Read what we've got so far."
+
+"Motor truck--silk--Castleton Road--to-night," read Joe. "That's clear
+enough so far. The next code word is water."
+
+"'No guards,'" said Bob. And so they went, until the completed message
+read as follows:
+
+"Motor truck--silk--Castleton Road--to-night--no guards--hold up--take
+everything to usual place--notify when job is done."
+
+"That's the message that caused the theft of my father's merchandise!"
+exclaimed Herb, jumping to his feet. "If we had only had the key then,
+when there was still time, we could have prevented the hold-up."
+
+"Very likely we could," agreed Bob soberly. "But we may be able to do
+the next best thing, Herb--get the stuff back again. If we make a copy
+of this key and then leave the book just where we found it, the thieves
+will never dream that anybody knows their secret, and they'll keep right
+on using the same code."
+
+"I see," said Herb slowly. "And then if we hear any more code messages
+we can translate them with this key, and likely get on the trail of the
+crooks."
+
+"Exactly!" replied Bob. "Now, I have a notebook here, and if one of you
+fellows will dictate that code, I'll copy it down and we'll get out of
+here while the getting's good. There's no telling what minute some of
+the gang will show up."
+
+"I'll dictate," volunteered Joe. "But while you and I are doing that,
+Bob, why can't Jimmy and Herb act as lookouts? Then if any of the gang
+comes along they can give us warning and we'll clear out."
+
+"That's good advice," agreed Bob, and Herb and Jimmy went outside and up
+the path a short distance, where they crouched, listening, with every
+muscle tense to warn their comrades if danger threatened.
+
+Meanwhile, in the cabin, Bob's pencil flew at furious speed as Joe
+dictated. The code was very complete, and consisted of over two hundred
+words, each word, in some cases, standing for a whole phrase. Bob wrote
+as he had never written before, but in spite of his utmost efforts it
+took over an hour to copy the entire list. He and Joe expected every
+minute to hear Herb or Jimmy give the alarm, but the woods remained calm
+and peaceful, and they finished their task without interruption.
+
+"There's the last word, Bob!" exclaimed Joe, with a sigh of relief.
+"Let's put that little book back on the shelf where we found it, and
+make a quick getaway."
+
+"Yes, we've got to make tracks," agreed Bob. "It will be away after dark
+now when we get back to the camp. If we don't hurry they will be
+organizing searching parties for us."
+
+With great care he placed the notebook back on the shelf, under the
+board, and then gazed searchingly around the cabin to make sure that no
+signs of their visit were left behind to warn the thieves. After
+assuring himself that everything was exactly as they had found it, he
+and Joe left the rude habitation, snapping the big padlock through the
+hasp.
+
+"That's a swell lock," observed Joe, grinning. "It looks strong enough
+to discourage anybody, but Jimmy's fish-hook licked it to a frazzle in
+no time."
+
+"That's the way with a lot of padlocks," said Bob, as the two started
+off in search of the others. "It would take dynamite to break them open,
+but they're easy enough to pick."
+
+"If you know how, that is," supplemented Joe, with a grin.
+
+"Oh, that's understood," replied Bob. "It's hard to do anything without
+the know-how."
+
+They soon picked up the two sentinels, who were greatly relieved to see
+them.
+
+"I thought you were going to spend the night there," grumbled Jimmy.
+"What happened? Did you both fall asleep in the middle of it?"
+
+"You're an ungrateful rascal, Doughnuts," answered Joe. "Here Bob and I
+have worked like slaves for the last hour, while all you had to do was
+loaf around in the nice fresh air. Then instead of thanking us, you
+growl because we took so long."
+
+"Well, don't get sore," protested Jimmy. "I suppose we should all be so
+happy over this discovery that we shouldn't mind anything. I'll bet your
+father will be tickled to death, Herb."
+
+"I guess he will," agreed Herb. "Although we're still a long way from
+getting back the stolen silk. There's no doubt that we've struck a
+mighty promising clue, that much is sure."
+
+Bob was about to make some remark when he checked himself and halted in
+a listening attitude.
+
+"I think some one is coming!" he exclaimed, in a low tone. "I'm sure I
+heard voices. Let's duck into the underbrush, quick!"
+
+They were not a moment too soon, for they had hardly reached a place of
+concealment behind a great fallen tree when two men appeared around a
+bend in the path. One was the same whom they had followed a few hours
+before, while the other was a stranger to them. This man was of a
+desperate and unprepossessing appearance, and a bulge under his coat
+suggested the possible presence of a weapon.
+
+The boys congratulated themselves that this formidable looking personage
+had not arrived half an hour sooner, for they were of course unarmed and
+would have been hard put to it had they been caught in the cabin.
+
+They lay snugly hidden in their retreat behind the fallen tree until the
+voices of the two men had died away in the direction of the lonely
+cabin. Then they returned cautiously to the path and hastened toward the
+main road. This they reached without meeting any one else, and set out
+for camp at a pace that caused Jimmy to cry for mercy. But the shadows
+lay long athwart the path, camp was still an indefinite distance away,
+and they hurried the unfortunate youth along at a great rate in spite of
+his piteous protests.
+
+"It will be the best thing in the world for you, Doughnuts," said Joe
+unfeelingly. "What you need is plenty of exercise to take that fat off
+you."
+
+"Besides, think of what a fine appetite you'll have when we reach camp,"
+laughed Bob.
+
+"I've got all the appetite now that I know how to have," groaned Jimmy.
+"You fellows haven't a heart between you. Where other people keep their
+hearts, you've all got chunks of Vermont granite."
+
+"Flash a little speed, and don't talk so much," advised Herb. "Be like
+the tramp that the fellow met going down the street one day with an
+expensive rug."
+
+"Who wants to be like a tramp?" objected Jimmy.
+
+"You do, when you want to loaf all the time," retorted Herb. "But now
+I'll tell you a good joke to make the way seem shorter. Jimmy got me
+started, and now I'll have to get it out of my system."
+
+"Is it about a tramp?" asked Jimmy suspiciously.
+
+"Yes. And it's a pippin," Herb assured him. "It seems this tramp was
+running down the street with an expensive rug over his shoulder, and
+somebody stopped him and began to ask questions.
+
+"'Where did you steal that rug from?' asked the suspicious citizen.
+
+"'I didn't steal it,' answered the tramp, trying to look insulted. 'A
+lady in that big house down the street handed it to me and told me to
+beat it, and I am.'"
+
+"Say, that's a pretty good joke, for you, Herb," said Bob, laughing with
+the others.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing. I've got others just as good," said Herb eagerly.
+"Now, here's one that I made up myself the other day, but I forgot to
+tell it to you. Why----"
+
+"Suffering tomcats!" exclaimed Joe. "Don't tell us anything that you
+made up yourself, Herb! Or, at least, wait until we get back and have
+supper, so that we'll be strong enough to stand it."
+
+"That's what I say," agreed Jimmy. "I'm so hungry that I can't think of
+anything but supper, anyway. I know your joke is as good as usual, Herb,
+but I wouldn't be able to appreciate it just now."
+
+"It's discouraging to a high-class humorist to have to throw away his
+choice offerings on a bunch like this," said Herb, in an injured voice.
+"Some day, when I am far away, you'll wish you had listened to those
+gems of humor."
+
+"I'd like to believe you, but that hardly seems possible," said Bob.
+"Can you imagine the day ever coming when we'd actually want to sit down
+and listen to Herb's line of humor?"
+
+"My imagination isn't up to anything like that," replied Joe. "But, of
+course, you don't really ever have to ask Herb to spill some of those
+jokes. The hard thing is to keep him from doing it."
+
+"Oh, all right," retorted Herb. "Only, remember that it is 'easier to
+criticize than to create.'"
+
+For some time after this they plodded along hoping to reach camp before
+it got entirely dark. Bob was the first to see a distant point of light
+through the trees, and he emitted a whoop that startled the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+ON THE TRAIL
+
+
+"I can see the lights from the camp!" Bob exclaimed. "Use your eyes,
+fellows. A little to the left of us, through the trees."
+
+"Well, it's about time," groaned Jimmy, as they all looked in the
+direction indicated. "I was just getting ready to lie down and die
+peacefully. I couldn't travel another mile if you paid me for it."
+
+"Oh, buck up, Doughnuts, and get a move on!" exclaimed Bob. "You never
+know what you can do until you try. Come on, let's take it on the
+double."
+
+He and Joe and Herbert broke into a lively trot, and rather than be left
+behind Jimmy overcame his reluctance for further effort, and with much
+puffing and blowing and fragmentary complaint managed to hold the pace
+until they arrived at the mess house.
+
+Luckily for them, supper had been delayed owing to the failure of some
+supplies to arrive on time, and the lumbermen had just started eating
+when the radio boys burst in through the door.
+
+The lumbermen stopped eating long enough to welcome their arrival, and
+they found their places set as usual.
+
+"Glory be!" exclaimed Jimmy, as he slid into his chair. "If there were a
+pie-eating contest on to-night, I could show you fellows some real
+class. I feel empty right down to my toes."
+
+"It's lucky we got a head start, Champ," remarked one of the men, with a
+grin. "Pass everything down this way, you amateurs. There's a
+professional here wants to show us some fancy eating."
+
+By this time Jimmy was too busily occupied to make any answer, and the
+other radio boys were also showing good appetites. The long trip and the
+excitement of their discovery of the secret code had sharpened their
+naturally keen appetites until for once they all felt on equal terms
+with the lumbermen. Jimmy surpassed himself, and great was the
+admiration expressed for his ability as a trencherman.
+
+After supper the boys sought out Mr. Fennington and told him of their
+discovery in the lonely cabin. Then Bob showed him the copy he had made
+of the code, and Mr. Fennington studied this a long time with knit
+brows.
+
+"There seems little doubt that you boys have unearthed an important
+clue, and one that may easily lead to the discovery of the crooks who
+stole my merchandise," he said, at length. "I suppose I should put this
+information in the hands of the police. And yet perhaps we had better
+say nothing until we learn something further. With your radio outfit you
+may be able to catch another code message that would give us more
+definite information, and then it would be time enough to call in the
+police."
+
+"I think that would be the best thing to do, Dad," agreed Herb. "As soon
+as we get back home we'll fix it so one of us will be at the set a good
+part of every afternoon and evening, and we'll be almost certain to
+catch some more messages like the last one."
+
+His father nodded, and was still considering the matter when there came
+a knock at the door. Herb crossed over and opened it, and he and his
+friends uttered exclamations of astonishment and delight as they
+recognized the visitor. He was none other than Frank Brandon, the
+government radio inspector.
+
+On his part, he was no less pleased to see them, and they all shook
+hands heartily, with many questions and explanations, after which the
+radio inspector was introduced to Mr. Fennington.
+
+"I suppose you're all wondering what I'm doing up here," he said, after
+the greetings were over.
+
+"Yes, in a way," admitted Bob. "Although we know that your position
+calls you all over, and we may expect to meet you almost any old place."
+
+"Yes, that's a fact," replied Brandon. "I'm up here on the same old
+business, too. Somewhere in this neighborhood there's an unauthorized
+sending station, but in these thick woods it may prove a rather
+difficult place to locate exactly. However, it will only be a matter of
+time when we nail it."
+
+The boys glanced at one another, and the same thought was in all their
+minds. They remembered the radio apparatus they had seen in the lonely
+cabin, and had little doubt that this would prove to be the unauthorized
+station of which the radio man was in search.
+
+He must have read something of this in their expression, for he looked
+searchingly from one to another.
+
+"Looks to me as though you fellows knew something," he remarked. "I
+might have known if there was anything going on in the radio line within
+fifty miles of where you are that you'd know something about it."
+
+"Well, I've got a hunch that we could lead you right to the place you're
+looking for," said Bob quietly.
+
+"What?" shouted Brandon, leaping excitedly to his feet. "Do you really
+mean that? Tell me all about it."
+
+For the second time that evening Bob recounted the happenings of their
+eventful excursion, while the radio inspector listened intently,
+throwing in a question here and there. When Bob had finished he made no
+comment for a few minutes.
+
+Then he took the copy of the code and examined it intently, jotting down
+phrases here and there in his own notebook.
+
+"Well," he said at length, "this looks to be a much bigger thing than I
+had supposed. Of course I heard of the robbery of the motor-truck, but I
+never for a moment connected that with this sending station we've been
+looking for. It seems fairly evident, though, that if we can lay our
+hands on the operators of the unauthorized sending outfit, we'll also
+have the perpetrators of that hold-up. This is a case where we'll have
+to think out every move before we act."
+
+"Just before you arrived I was considering the advisability of putting
+the matter into the hands of the police," said Mr. Fennington. "What
+would you do?"
+
+"Keep the whole thing to ourselves for the present," said Mr. Brandon
+decisively. "I'll send for a couple of good men to come up here and help
+me, and we'll keep a watch on that cabin for a few days. If this thing
+got into the papers, it would put the crooks on their guard, and
+probably spoil our chances of catching them and getting back the loot.
+I've got a small but extremely efficient receiving and sending set in my
+car, and if any more code messages are sent out we'll catch them."
+
+His confidence was contagious, and the boys felt almost as though the
+capture of the criminals had already been accomplished.
+
+"What puzzles me, though," remarked Mr. Fennington, "is how you knew
+that there was an unauthorized radio sending station in this
+neighborhood, Mr. Brandon. I should think it would be almost impossible
+to locate such a station, even approximately."
+
+"On the contrary," replied Frank Brandon, "it is little more than a
+matter of routine. Probably any of these radio fiends here could explain
+the method as well as I can, but I'll try to make it plain to you.
+
+"There is a certain type of aerial that has what we call 'directional'
+properties, that is, when it is shifted around, the incoming signals
+will be loudest when this loop aerial, as it is called, is directly in
+line with the sending station. The receiving antenna is wound on a
+square frame, and when the signals are received at their maximum
+strength, we know that the frame is in a practically straight line with
+the sending station we're after."
+
+"Yes, but that still leaves you in the dark as to whether the station is
+one mile away or a hundred miles," observed Mr. Fennington, as Brandon
+paused.
+
+"That's very true," answered the other. "And for that reason we can't
+stop at using just one loop aerial. What we actually do is to have three
+stations, each one equipped with a loop. These three stations are
+located a good many miles apart. Now, with these three loops, we have
+three lines of direction. We lay out these lines on a chart of the
+territory, and where they intersect, is the place where the unlicensed
+station is located. Is that clear?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Mr. Fennington. "But what looks like a point on the
+map may be a large space on the actual territory."
+
+"Oh, yes, our work isn't done by any means after we have got our first
+rough bearings," continued Brandon. "Having determined the approximate
+position, we take the loops and receivers to what we know is a place
+quite near the station we're after, and then we repeat the former
+process. This time it is much more accurate. Gradually we draw the net
+tighter until we find the antenna belonging to the offender, and
+then--well, we make him wish he hadn't tried to fool the government."
+
+"You certainly have it reduced to an exact science," acknowledged Mr.
+Fennington. "I don't wonder that everybody interested in radio gets to
+be a fanatic."
+
+"We'll make a 'bug' out of you before we get through, Dad," declared
+Herb, grinning.
+
+"If my load of silk is recovered through the agency of radio, I'll be
+enthusiastic enough over it to suit even you fellows," said his father.
+"It will mean the best set that money can buy for you if I get it back."
+
+"We'll hold you to that promise," threatened Herb. "Radio can do
+anything," he added, with the conviction of a devotee.
+
+"Well, pretty nearly everything," qualified Mr. Brandon. "A little while
+ago it was considered marvelous that we could transmit the voice by
+radio, and now the transmission of photographs by radio has been
+successfully accomplished."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Mr. Fennington incredulously. "Do you mean to say that
+an actual recognizable photograph has been sent through the air by
+radio? That seems almost too much to believe."
+
+"Nevertheless, it has been done," insisted Frank Brandon. "I saw the
+actual reproduction of one that had been sent from Italy to New York by
+the wireless route, and while I can't claim that it was perfect, still
+it was as plain as the average newspaper picture. And don't forget that
+this is a new phase of the game, and is not past the experimental stage
+yet."
+
+"Well, after that, I am inclined to agree with Herbert that 'radio can
+do anything,'" admitted Mr. Fennington.
+
+"I don't think we'll have much trouble making a convert of you," laughed
+the radio inspector. "No doubt the quickest way, though, will be to
+recover your stolen shipment, so we'll start working in that direction
+the first thing in the morning."
+
+And in this he was as good as his word. He was up betimes, getting in
+touch with headquarters by means of his compact portable outfit. He kept
+at work until he had received the promise of two trustworthy men, who
+were to report to him at the lumber camp as soon as they could get
+there. Then he routed out the radio boys, and after a hasty breakfast
+they all set out to locate the cabin where the boys had found the code
+key.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE GLIMPSE THROUGH THE WINDOW
+
+
+The sun was just climbing above the treetops when the radio boys and
+Frank Brandon set out over the forest road, to the accompaniment of a
+full chorus of lusty feathered singers. Robin and starling and thrush
+combined to make the dewy morning gladsome, and the boys whistled back
+at them and wished Larry Bartlett were there to learn some new notes.
+
+"This would be just his dish," commented Herb. "After he got warmed up,
+you wouldn't be able to tell him from the birds."
+
+"The only difference is, that he's better," declared Joe. "If he were
+here now, he'd be teaching the dicky birds a new song or two. That boy
+is certainly a wonder."
+
+"He's very clever," acknowledged Brandon. "He's getting along
+wonderfully well at the broadcasting station, and I understand he's had
+several good offers from the big vaudeville circuits."
+
+"Why doesn't he accept one?" questioned Joe.
+
+"He hasn't fully recovered from the effects of the accident yet. And,
+besides, he says he likes the radio work better. He can stay in one
+place, and cut out all the traveling. That seems to be a strong
+consideration with him."
+
+"I don't know that I can blame him," commented Bob. "I should think that
+continual jumping around from place to place would get on anybody's
+nerves."
+
+"Still, it gives one a fine chance to see the country," argued Frank
+Brandon. "If any of you fellows ever get into radio work in a commercial
+way, the chances are you won't be able to 'stay put' in one place very
+long."
+
+"There's one great advantage about traveling, anyway," said Jimmy.
+
+"What's that, Doughnuts?" queried Joe. "I should think that with your
+restful nature you'd rather stay in the same place and grow old and fat
+in perfect comfort."
+
+"Oh, that part of it is all right," admitted Jimmy. "But don't forget
+that different parts of the country have different kinds of cooking. In
+New York the specialty is shore dinners; go a little South, and you get
+fried chicken and corn pone cooked by guaranteed southern mammies; go up
+North, and you get venison steaks; in the West they'll feed you mutton
+chops as big as a plate. And so it goes."
+
+"You've even forgotten some places," laughed Bob. "How about a steaming
+dish of beans in Boston?"
+
+"Yes, or frijoles and chile con carne in New Mexico," suggested Herb.
+
+"Cease, cease!" groaned Jimmy. "Why talk about such things when we're
+such a long way from them? Every time you mention something new it makes
+me feel hungrier."
+
+"Hungrier!" exclaimed Mr. Brandon. "Why, it's hardly half an hour since
+we finished breakfast!"
+
+"What has breakfast got to do with it?" demanded the insatiable Jimmy.
+"That's past and done with. It's time to think of lunch, now."
+
+"You win," laughed Brandon. "Your capacity will make you famous some
+day."
+
+"It's made him famous already--at least, up here," Bob informed the
+radio inspector. "Didn't you know that he is the undisputed champion pie
+eater of the camp?"
+
+"No, I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me in the least to hear
+it," said Brandon, with a smile. "How did he gain his laurels?"
+
+Then Bob told him about the contest, and when he had finished Mr.
+Brandon laughingly congratulated Jimmy.
+
+"I always had a sneaking idea that you could do it," he admitted. "But
+after my experience with lumbermen's appetites, I realize that you must
+have been on your mettle all the way."
+
+"It was rather hard at the end," admitted Jimmy, "but take it all
+together it was a real pleasure. That cook sure does know how to make
+good pies," and an expression of blissful reminiscence spread over his
+round countenance.
+
+"He made a regular pig of himself, but we knew he would, and that's why
+we had such confidence in him," said Joe.
+
+"Nothing of the kind!" protested Jimmy. "You know you fellows got me
+into it in the first place. You fixed it all up, and I only went in as a
+favor to you. But I might know better than to expect gratitude from this
+bunch."
+
+"You'll find it in the dictionary," Joe informed him. "You ought to be
+grateful to us for providing you with a feed like that. It would have
+cost you a lot of money to buy all those pies back home."
+
+"I think he came well out of it, at any rate," interposed the radio man.
+"But we must now be getting somewhere near that cabin, and we'd better
+go as quietly as we can. We know that there are two of the gang hanging
+out in it, and there's no telling how many more there may be."
+
+"Not so very near the cabin yet," answered Bob. "Nearer that tree to
+which they had the receiving set attached."
+
+Nevertheless, they advanced as silently as possible, keeping a sharp
+lookout for any sign of the black-moustached stranger and his friend.
+The woods seemed devoid of human presence other than their own, however,
+and they saw nothing to arouse suspicion until at length they reached
+the tree to which the receiving set was fastened. Frank Brandon examined
+this with interest. The box was securely locked, but the radio man drew
+a big bunch of various-sized keys from his pocket.
+
+"I want to see what's in this box, but first I think we'd better post
+sentries," he said, in a low voice. "Suppose you go back a few hundred
+feet the way we came, Jimmy. You go the same distance in the other
+direction, Herb. And Joe can go a little way up the path that leads
+toward the cabin. You can stay here and help me get this box open, Bob.
+If any of you hear some one coming, imitate a robin's note three times,
+and then keep out of sight. We don't want the crooks to suspect yet that
+anybody is on their trail."
+
+The three radio boys scattered to their appointed posts, and Frank
+Brandon proceeded to try key after key in the lock. He had to try fully
+a dozen before at last the lock clicked and the door of the box swung
+open.
+
+Inside was a complete radio receiving set, with vacuum tube detector and
+batteries in perfect working order. Between the roots of the tree an
+iron pipe had been driven into the earth to act as a ground. The antenna
+was strung from top to bottom of the tree on the side away from the
+path, and there was nothing to differentiate the box from an ordinary
+wire telephone set, except that it was slightly larger. There were a
+number of regular wire telephones scattered throughout the woods, to aid
+in fighting forest fires, so that anybody traveling along the path would
+have been unlikely to give this outfit more than a passing glance, if
+they noticed it at all. Had the radio boys not chanced to see the
+black-moustached man listening, with wireless headphones over his ears,
+the fact that the box contained a wireless receiving outfit might never
+have been discovered.
+
+Brandon and Bob went carefully over every article of the equipment. They
+were on the lookout for another notebook such as the boys had found in
+the cabin, but there was nothing of the kind in the box. When they were
+satisfied of this, Mr. Brandon carefully replaced everything as he had
+found it, and snapped the lock shut.
+
+"So much for that!" he exclaimed. "Now, let's get hold of the others and
+we'll see what that mysterious cabin looks like."
+
+Joe and Herb and Jimmy were soon recalled from their sentry duty, and
+all set out along the path to the cabin. When they got close to the
+clearing the three sentries were again posted, while Bob and the
+inspector made a detour through the woods so as to approach the cabin on
+the side away from the path, where there was little likelihood of those
+inside keeping a lookout. Very cautiously they advanced from the
+concealment of the woods, Frank Brandon with his right hand on the butt
+of a deadly looking automatic pistol. They crept close to the wall of
+the cabin, and listened intently for some sign of life within.
+
+That there was at least one man in the cabin, and that he was still
+sleeping, soon became evident, for they heard the heavy breathing of one
+sound asleep. Mr. Brandon cautiously raised himself as high as the
+window, and peered within. From this position he could not see the
+sleeper, however, and he and Bob moved silently to the other side of the
+shack. From there they commanded a good view of the interior, and could
+plainly see the sleeping man, who was the same whom the boys had first
+encountered the day before.
+
+His black-moustached face was toward them, and Brandon gave a start of
+recognition, while his fingers tightened on his pistol. For a few
+moments he stood tense, evidently deciding what to do. Then he beckoned
+to Bob to follow, and made for the path where the others anxiously
+awaited them.
+
+"I know that man in there!" exclaimed Brandon excitedly. "He is known as
+'Black' Donegan, on account of his black hair and moustache. He's wanted
+by the police of New York and Chicago, and I guess other cities, too. We
+could easily get him now, but if we did, the chances are the rest of the
+gang would take alarm, and we'd miss the chance of bagging them and
+getting back Mr. Fennington's stolen property. It's hard to say what is
+the best thing to do."
+
+But on the instant a plan occurred to Bob, and he lost no time in
+communicating it to the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A NEFARIOUS PLOT
+
+
+"If this fellow in the cabin is such a bad man, we can't afford to risk
+losing sight of him," said Bob. "Suppose Joe and Jimmy and I stay here,
+while Herb goes back with you, Mr. Brandon. We can stay here until your
+two regulars show up, and Herb can then bring them here to relieve us.
+How does that strike you?"
+
+"It's a way out of the predicament," answered Frank Brandon, his frown
+vanishing. "You fellows are apt to have a long vigil, though. My men
+won't get to the camp until this afternoon, and after that it takes
+quite a while to reach this place."
+
+"I guess we can stand it," said Bob. "Can't we, fellows?" he asked,
+glancing at the others.
+
+Both Joe and Jimmy agreed, although the latter had secret misgivings as
+he thought regretfully of the dinner he would miss. However, such
+considerations were of little weight just then, and it was finally
+decided to adopt Bob's plan.
+
+"I'll leave my pistol with you," said Brandon, as he and Herb prepared
+to leave. "But whatever else you do, steer clear of this gang and don't
+use firearms unless as a last resort. Remember, that if they once find
+out their hiding place is discovered, our whole scheme will be ruined."
+
+The boys promised to exercise the greatest caution, and then Mr. Brandon
+and Herb started back toward camp.
+
+Bob, after a brief inspection, dropped the deadly automatic pistol into
+his pocket, and then the three friends considered how they might best
+keep watch on the cabin without being discovered. First of all, at Joe's
+suggestion, they armed themselves with serviceable clubs, that might
+come in handy in time of necessity. Then they slipped silently into the
+underbrush, and worked their way along until they had attained a
+position where they commanded a view of the cabin's only door.
+
+The spot they had chosen was surrounded by dense thickets, and one might
+have passed within ten feet without spying them. Bob carefully parted
+the bushes and broke off twigs here and there until they could see
+plainly enough, and yet were securely hidden from the cabin. This done,
+the boys made themselves as comfortable as possible under the
+circumstances, and prepared for a long vigil.
+
+They had been in their retreat less than half an hour when the door of
+the shack was flung open, and the black-moustached man appeared on the
+threshold. He gazed searchingly about the little clearing, then glanced
+up at the mounting sun and stretched prodigiously. At length, apparently
+satisfied that all was as it should be, he turned back into the cabin,
+and soon the aroma of bacon and coffee came floating down the wind to
+where the boys lay. Jimmy's nose twitched and his mouth watered, but he
+thought of the importance of the mission that had been intrusted to them
+by the radio inspector and stifled his longings.
+
+The man in the cabin ate a leisurely breakfast, and apparently was in no
+hurry. Indeed, from the way he loitered over the meal, the boys rather
+suspected that he was awaiting the arrival of some other members of the
+gang. Nor were they mistaken. After a time the lads could hear the sound
+of approaching voices, and soon three men entered the clearing and made
+for the cabin. At the first sound of their voices, the man inside had
+stepped swiftly to the door, one hand in the bulging pocket of his coat;
+but when he recognized the others an ugly grin spread over his face,
+while his hand dropped to his side.
+
+"So you have got here at last, eh?" he snarled. "I'm glad to find you
+didn't hurry yourselves any. I thought I sent you a wireless message to
+get here early."
+
+"So you did, chief," spoke up one of the newcomers. "But we couldn't get
+here no sooner."
+
+"You couldn't?" snapped the other. "Why couldn't you?"
+
+"We got word that one of the government radio inspectors was at the
+lumber camp, so we had to come here by the long way. We were afraid he
+might recognize one of us if we happened to bump into him."
+
+"Well, the cops have photoed all of you so often that I don't wonder
+you're shy," sneered the leader. "But come on inside. There's no use of
+standing chinning here."
+
+Two of the men muttered sullenly to themselves, but ceased abruptly as
+the leader's frowning gaze fell on them. They all shuffled into the
+cabin, and the black-moustached man shut the door with a bang.
+
+"Say," whispered Bob, "we've got to listen in on this pow-wow, fellows.
+I'm going to sneak up to the window and try to hear what they're saying.
+They must have some purpose in meeting here like this."
+
+"Well, be mighty careful, Bob," said Joe anxiously. "They're a tough
+crowd, and we've got to watch our step. If they discover you, head for
+here, and if we can't get away we'll put up a battle."
+
+"If I have any kind of luck, they won't discover me," Bob assured him.
+"Just sit tight, and I'll be back in a jiffy."
+
+Very cautiously he crept through the underbrush toward the cabin. In
+spite of all his care a branch snapped under him and the second time the
+door was flung wide and the ill-favored leader of the gang stepped out
+and peered about him.
+
+Bob flattened out as close to the ground as he could get and lay tense,
+while the outlaw gazed suspiciously at the bushes amid which he was
+concealed.
+
+"What's the matter, Blackie?" called one of the gang. "Did you think you
+heard somethin'?"
+
+"I know I did!" exclaimed the other. "But I suppose it was only some
+animal prowling around."
+
+"Bein' alone in this shack has got on your nerves, maybe," taunted one
+of the gang.
+
+"Nerves, my eye!" exclaimed the other. "I don't own such things! But
+I've got a notion to take a look through those bushes, anyway," and he
+started in Bob's direction.
+
+"Come on back, Blackie," urged another of the gang. "We can't be foolin'
+around here all day. Be yourself, can't you?"
+
+The others chimed in to the same effect, and their leader reluctantly
+abandoned his search and returned to the cabin. Had he gone another
+twenty feet he would inevitably have discovered Bob, who had been on the
+point of springing to his feet and giving battle. It was a narrow
+escape, and the radio boys heaved sighs of relief as the door of the
+cabin closed on the formidable figure of the leader. They knew that
+these men were desperate criminals, heavily armed, who would not
+hesitate at murder to avoid capture.
+
+Bob resumed his advance, an inch at a time, and at length reached the
+edge of the clearing. Before him lay a stretch of perhaps twenty feet of
+open ground, and should one of the desperados chance to open the door
+while he was crossing this space, discovery would be certain. However,
+this was a chance that Bob knew he must take, and without hesitation he
+sprang to his feet and ran swiftly but silently toward the cabin.
+
+Fortunately he reached it unobserved, and crouched close to the wall
+beneath one of the little windows. There were numerous cracks in the
+side of the rude structure, and he had no difficulty in hearing what was
+going on inside.
+
+The crooks were engaged in a heated debate, but soon the voice of their
+leader spoke out commandingly and the others fell silent.
+
+"I tell you we haven't had a chance to get rid of that last load of silk
+we got near Castleton," he said, in an angry voice. "I couldn't get the
+price I wanted for it, and, besides, it will be just as easy to get rid
+of two loads as one, and no more risk. Now, I'm going to send out a
+radio message in code to the rest of the gang, and we'll pull off the
+job to-night, just as I've already told you."
+
+There were no dissenting voices, and presently Bob heard the whirr of
+the sending set, followed by the voice of the leader.
+
+"HDEA' HDEA'," he called again and again, switching over to the
+receiving set to get an answer. At length he evidently reached the
+station he was after, for he listened intently for a few minutes. Then
+the generator hummed again, and Bob heard the black-moustached man
+speaking again.
+
+"Get this, and get it right," he commanded, and there followed a string
+of words that would have been mere gibberish to Bob had he not held the
+key to their meaning. He searched frantically in his pockets for a
+pencil, and scribbled the words down as the man spoke them. When he had
+finished, the leader of the gang shut down the generator, and turned to
+the others.
+
+"That's fixed," he said. "There won't be much to do for the rest of the
+day but look over your guns and make sure they're in good working order.
+Since we got that last truck they've been putting guards on them, and we
+want to be prepared to shoot before they do."
+
+There was a general pushing back of chairs, and Bob realized that at any
+moment the door might open. His mind worked quickly, and instead of
+going back to his friends the way he had come, he made a rush for the
+woods on the opposite side of the clearing. In this way the "blind," or
+windowless, end of the cabin was toward him, so that he would not be
+likely to be detected unless the robbers came out and walked around the
+house.
+
+Lucky it was for Bob that he acted as he did, because he had barely
+started when the door was flung open and those inside came streaming
+out. For a few moments they stood in a group in front of the door,
+talking, and then scattered, some walking about, while others threw
+themselves on the ground and smoked.
+
+But by this time Bob had reached the cover of the woods undiscovered,
+and set out to rejoin his friends. This necessitated a long detour, and
+it was a full hour later that he crept silently into their hiding place.
+So quietly did he come that Jimmy was on the point of uttering a
+startled exclamation, but checked himself just in time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+PREPARING AN AMBUSH
+
+
+"Say, you came as quietly as a shadow," whispered the plump youth. "How
+do you ever do it?"
+
+"You don't expect me to blow a whistle under the circumstances, do you?"
+asked Bob.
+
+"Never mind that, but tell us what you heard," said Joe impatiently.
+"What are they up to, Bob?"
+
+"I can't tell you until I compare what I copied down with the code key,"
+said Bob, as he fished in his pocket for the bit of paper on which he
+had noted down the robber's message. Having found this, he and Joe
+searched through the key and soon had the following message pieced
+together:
+
+"Truck--silk--Barberton Road--to-night. Meet me and others--Hicks
+Bridge--eight o'clock. Truck due--ten o'clock."
+
+Having deciphered the message, the boys gazed questioningly at one
+another.
+
+"That doesn't give us much time to act," said Joe. "If we wait here it
+may be close to eight o'clock before the others come to relieve us, and
+then it will be too late to prevent the robbery."
+
+"The answer is, that we won't wait here," said Bob decisively. "As long
+as we know their plans up until this evening, there's no need of
+watching this cabin any longer, anyway. We'd better start back right
+away, and tell Mr. Brandon what we've found out. He'll know the best
+thing to do then."
+
+"That sounds all right to me," said Joe, and as Jimmy saw a chance of
+getting back to camp in time for dinner, he put in no objections.
+
+"Now, for the love of butter, try to go quietly, Jimmy," warned Bob. "If
+those fellows hear a sound from this direction, they'll be right after
+us, because their suspicions are already aroused."
+
+"I'll do the best I can," promised his rotund friend. "But I'm heavier
+than you fellows, and I can't slide around so easily."
+
+"Well, go easy, anyway," said Bob. "Now, are we all ready?"
+
+With infinite caution the boys wormed their way through the brushwood,
+Bob leading. By luck rather than good management Jimmy managed to be as
+quiet as his friends, and after almost an hour of this slow progress Bob
+judged that they were far enough away from the cabin to risk a faster
+pace. The shack was out of sight among the trees when he sprang to his
+feet, followed by the others, and in a short time they had reached the
+path leading to the main road. Here it was still necessary to be
+extremely careful, for they never knew at what moment some turn in the
+path would bring them face to face with some of the robber band.
+Fortunately nothing of the kind happened, and soon they reached the main
+road and started at high speed for camp.
+
+"I wonder if we can't take some sort of a short cut," came from Joe as
+they raced along.
+
+"That's the talk," puffed poor Jimmy, who had great difficulty in
+keeping up with his chums. "The shorter the better."
+
+"We won't dare risk it," returned Bob. "Why we might get lost."
+
+"Who's afraid of getting lost?"
+
+"We are, for we might lose too much time and all our plans would go to
+smash. No, we've got to stick to the main road."
+
+"How much further have we to go?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"We've got to chase along until we reach camp," put in Joe. "Hustle now,
+every minute may be precious."
+
+"I can't hustle any more than I am hustling," panted poor Jimmy. "Do you
+want me to drop down of heart failure or something like that?"
+
+"Maybe we'd better go along and leave Jimmy behind," suggested Joe, with
+a wink at Bob.
+
+"Not much," cried the stout youth, and after that did his best to keep
+up with the others.
+
+Not a great while later they came in sight of camp, much to their
+relief.
+
+Mr. Brandon was astonished to see them back so soon, but as briefly as
+possible Bob told him of what they had learned and showed him the code
+message.
+
+"You fellows have done a clever bit of detective work, and with
+reasonable luck it ought to be possible to bag the whole gang to-night,"
+said Brandon. "I know where Hicks Bridge is. It's about five miles this
+side of Barberton, and an ideal place for an ambuscade. The road runs
+between high banks just before it gets to the bridge, and some of the
+gang posted on those banks could command the road from either direction.
+But I'll get in communication with the chief of police of Barberton, and
+we'll see if we can't catch the thieves in their own trap."
+
+"I suppose the two men you were expecting haven't arrived yet, have
+they?" inquired Bob.
+
+"No. And I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for them, either," said
+Brandon. "I could radio to the Barberton chief, but I'm afraid the
+message might be intercepted by the crooks, if one of them happened to
+be listening. I guess it will be better to go by way of my automobile,
+although I hate to lose the time that it will take."
+
+"Isn't there a telephone line from the camp?" suggested Joe.
+
+"No, unfortunately, one hasn't been installed yet," replied the
+inspector. "But we can do the trick with the car if we start right away.
+I suppose there's no need of asking if you fellows would like to come
+with me?"
+
+"None whatever," answered Bob, grinning. "Just give us a chance to go in
+and snatch a little grub off the table, and we'll eat it on the way."
+
+Frank Brandon nodded, and the three boys dashed into the mess hall and
+caught up anything in the way of eatables that came nearest to hand,
+Jimmy, of course, specializing on his favorite doughnuts. Then they
+hurried out, and found Mr. Brandon waiting for them, with the motor
+running. After a short search they found Herb fast asleep in his bunk,
+and roused him unceremoniously, hustling him out before he was fairly
+awake.
+
+"What's it all about?" he questioned, rubbing his eyes. "Has the camp
+caught fire, or do you just want to borrow some money from me?"
+
+"Never mind the funny business now, we'll tell you all about it while
+we're traveling," said Bob, as they reached the automobile. "In you go,
+Herb."
+
+Before they could find seats Mr. Brandon had let in the clutch, and the
+car started with a jerk that landed them in a heap on the cushions.
+Regardless of the rough road, he kept picking up speed, and soon it was
+all they could do to stay in the car at all. Barberton was about thirty
+miles from the camp, and to reach it they had to cross Hicks Bridge. All
+looked calm and peaceful just then, and it was hard to believe that in a
+few short hours a desperate fight might be raging between the high banks
+that flanked the road. The bridge was some two hundred feet long, and
+passed over a deep cut between two hills. In spite of its present
+peaceful appearance it was easy to see that the place would be an ideal
+one to perpetrate such a crime as the robbers contemplated, and after
+they had passed over the bridge Mr. Brandon opened the throttle wider in
+his impatience to reach Barberton.
+
+They slowed down to go through the streets of the town, and as they drew
+up in front of the police station, Brandon shut off his motor and leaped
+to the sidewalk.
+
+"Come on in, boys, and we'll tell the chief about the little party
+scheduled for this evening," he said, and the boys followed him into the
+police station.
+
+Fortunately the chief of police, Mr. Durand, was in, and he greeted Mr.
+Brandon with a heartiness that showed they were old friends.
+
+After they had shaken hands, Brandon introduced the radio boys, and then
+proceeded to acquaint the chief with the details of the plot they had
+discovered. As Mr. Durand listened a dark frown gathered between his
+bushy eyebrows, and his fingers drummed angrily on the table before him.
+When Mr. Brandon had finished, the chief jumped to his feet and strode
+fiercely up and down the room.
+
+"This won't be the first trouble we've had with those rascals!" he
+exclaimed wrathfully. "Members of the same gang have held up and robbed
+stores in this town, and we have two of them doing their bit in jail
+right now. And if we have any luck to-night we'll have the whole gang
+under lock and key before the morning. These young fellows must have
+been right on the job from start to finish, Frank."
+
+"Yes, I guess they were," replied Brandon. "If we land this gang, we'll
+have them to thank for it. But now what are your plans for capturing the
+crooks?"
+
+For answer the chief pressed a button, and a capable looking police
+lieutenant appeared.
+
+"Get together ten of our best men," he directed, "and put them into two
+automobiles. When they are ready to start, report to me."
+
+The lieutenant saluted, and left the room.
+
+"According to the code message, the robbers won't be at Hicks Bridge
+much before eight o'clock, which is after dark these days," said the
+chief. "We'll get there a lot earlier than that, and I'll conceal my men
+in the woods. Then I'll leave orders here to stop the motor truck as it
+comes through, and replace its crew with a few picked men from my force.
+When the robbers try to hold up that truck, they'll have a big surprise
+in store for them."
+
+"It might be a good plan," suggested Bob, "to mount a searchlight or two
+on the motor truck. At the right minute you could turn these on the
+crooks, and while it would confuse them, it would give your men in the
+woods a big advantage, as they'd be able to see the hold-up men plainly
+without being seen themselves."
+
+"Young man, that's a first-rate suggestion!" exclaimed the chief, eyeing
+him appraisingly, "and you can believe we'll take advantage of it. I'll
+commandeer a couple from the Electric Light Company in readiness to
+mount on the truck when it comes along. I wish we could persuade you and
+your friends to join the Barberton police force."
+
+"We'll be pretty nearly a part of it until those crooks are captured, if
+you'll let us," said Bob. "We all want to be in at the finish."
+
+"It will be a dangerous business, and bullets may fly thick," the chief
+warned him. "You fellows have done more than your full duty already, and
+we can hardly call on you to do any more."
+
+"Just the same, we'll come along if you don't mind," insisted Bob.
+
+"Oh, I'll be very glad to have you, as far as I'm concerned," said Mr.
+Durand. "I suppose you'll want to be in on it, too, Frank?"
+
+"You're dead right," Brandon assured him emphatically. "I've gone too
+far with this to want to drop out now."
+
+At this point the lieutenant appeared and reported that the men were in
+the automobiles, ready to start. Picking up the telephone, the chief
+ordered his own car. He invited Mr. Brandon and the radio boys to ride
+with him.
+
+"You can leave your car in the police garage, Frank," he said, and
+Brandon was not slow in availing himself of this offer. In a short time
+he returned, and the three automobiles started for the scene of the
+projected hold-up, the chief's car leading and the other two following
+close behind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+LYING IN WAIT
+
+
+"Doesn't look as though there's going to be much monotony in our young
+lives to-night," remarked Bob, as, tightly packed in the tonneau of the
+car, the boys rode on through the gathering darkness.
+
+"For that matter there hasn't been much for several days past," chuckled
+Joe, who sat at his right. "A fellow would have to be a glutton to want
+more adventure than we've had since we came to Braxton Woods. What with
+Buck Looker and Black Donegan, we ought to be pretty well satisfied."
+
+"I only hope Cassey will be in the gang that is rounded up to-night,"
+observed Herb. "It would be too bad if only the rest were captured and
+that all-around scoundrel slipped through the meshes."
+
+"I guess Cassey is the brains of the whole bunch," put in Jimmy.
+"Probably the others didn't know anything about radio until he put them
+on to it. He'll be there all right. And he's likely to put up a pretty
+stiff fight before he lets himself be captured, for he knows what it
+means to him to be sent back to prison. With a new sentence tacked on to
+the old one it'll probably mean that he'll be in for life."
+
+In a little while they reached the scene of the proposed robbery. They
+were well in advance of the time set by the plotters, and the chief took
+his time in carefully disposing his forces, availing himself of Frank
+Brandon's advice in doing this.
+
+The bridge stretched between two hills at the bottom of which was a
+small stream, about a hundred feet below. On each side, almost down to
+the bridge itself, extended trees and shrubbery that afforded excellent
+hiding places. The only trouble was that both the outlaws and the
+officers who were trying to apprehend them were likely to seek the same
+shelter and might in this way stumble across each other before the trap
+was ready to be sprung.
+
+This, however, was a contingency that had to be faced, and preparations
+were made accordingly. The men were placed at strategic points on both
+sides of the bridge. Whether the attempt at hold-up would be made at the
+entrance to the bridge or on the further side was a matter of
+speculation. The chief went on the theory, however, that it would
+probably take place at the entrance, and there he placed the majority of
+the men under him.
+
+The radio boys hinted that there was where they would like to be also,
+but in this the chief was adamant.
+
+"I've stretched a point in letting you young fire-eaters come along at
+all," he said. "As it is, I may have a hard time explaining to your
+parents. And I hate to think what my position would be if anything
+happened to you. So I am going to put you where I think you'll be
+comparatively out of danger. You're just to be lookers on at this
+shindig. And if the bullets begin to fly, you just lie flat on the
+ground behind the trees until they stop. It may not be so glorious, but
+it's likely to be a mighty sight more healthy."
+
+So, much against their will, the boys were compelled to obey orders and
+take the place assigned to them which was on the further side of the
+bridge.
+
+"Putting us up in the gallery when we ought to have seats in the
+orchestra," grumbled Joe, as the boys ensconced themselves in a thicket
+behind a big clump of trees.
+
+"Cheer up, you old gloom hound," chaffed Bob. "We may get in on this
+yet. At any rate, if we are in the gallery, we have a good view of the
+stage. Or at least we shall have, when the searchlight gets busy."
+
+The darkness deepened until the night became as black as Egypt. There
+was no moon, and even the stars were obscured by clouds that heavily
+veiled the sky. The night was chill, and the boys buttoned their coats
+tightly about them as they sat waiting for developments.
+
+They had perhaps an hour to wait, but it was not known but that some of
+the robbers would be on the ground at an earlier time than had been set,
+and every sense was on the alert as all strained their ears for the
+slightest sound and peered into the darkness on the chance that they
+might catch glimpses of shadowy forms. After the first few moments they
+had not ventured to talk for fear that they might be overheard. But this
+did not debar them from thinking, and they thrilled with excitement as
+they pictured each to himself the struggle that seemed about to take
+place on the road.
+
+The minutes dragged along interminably, and in the intense silence the
+lads could almost hear the beating of their hearts. Then at a little
+distance a twig cracked and sent the blood racing madly through their
+veins.
+
+Soon footsteps were heard approaching, and the lads crouched still lower
+in their hiding place. The sounds came nearer, and they could detect the
+tread of two men. They were approaching without any excessive degree of
+caution, as they had no reason to believe that their plans had been
+discovered. As they drew closer, the boys could hear them conversing in
+low tones.
+
+"I tell you it's all right," said a rough voice, which they recognized
+as that of Black Donegan. "All the fellows are tipped off and know just
+what they've got to do. Jake and Toppy will do the holding up, and then
+the rest of us will jump in if the driver cuts up rough. If he does,
+there'll be one more dead driver."
+
+The boys waited for the answer that seemed to be long in coming. What
+they heard finally was a whistle that made them jump. They had heard
+that whistle before!
+
+"Cassey!" whispered Bob to Joe. "Cassey, as sure as you're born!"
+
+The next instant his belief became a thrilling certainty.
+
+"It-t-t-t isn't the d-d-driver." The voice came out, with an explosive
+quality. "It's the g-g-guards he may have w-w-with him. The p-p-police
+are getting pretty l-l-leary about all the robberies t-t-t-that have
+been taking place around here lately, and they've g-g-g-," again came
+the whistle, "g-got to do something or lose their jobs. At any rate
+t-t-this is the last thing we're g-g-going to pull off around here----"
+
+"I guess he's right about that," Joe whispered to Bob.
+
+"----and j-j-just as soon as we're through with this, w-w-we'd better
+p-pull up stakes and try somewhere else."
+
+The voice was now so close at hand that if the boys had reached out of
+the thicket they would almost have touched the speaker. At this thought
+Jimmy and Herb, especially, felt a thrill of excitement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+AN EXCITING STRUGGLE
+
+
+"I think myself that we've hung round this neck o' the woods about long
+enough," agreed Donegan. "And I ain't any too well pleased to have that
+radio inspector snooping around the woods. He ain't up to any good if
+you ask me. But brace up, Cassey, for this last haul. You ain't
+generally chicken-hearted."
+
+"You'll f-f-find that I have my n-n-nerve with me when the pinch comes,"
+replied Cassey. "I'd rather be k-k-killed by a bullet than g-g-g-go back
+to prison."
+
+The voices receded as the men went on, and soon the sound of their
+footsteps ceased. It was evident they were searching for the most
+advantageous place for the crime that they contemplated.
+
+"I told you that I had a hunch that that villain would be here,"
+whispered Jimmy, when they felt that it would be safe to speak.
+
+"Good thing, too," said Bob grimly. "Cassey'll get to-night what's
+coming to him."
+
+Half an hour passed--an hour--an hour and a half. Then far in the
+distance the boys heard the hum of a motor engine and the rumble of a
+heavy truck.
+
+"There it comes!" ejaculated Joe, throwing caution to the winds in his
+excitement.
+
+The rumbling grew louder, and soon the boys knew that it must be close
+to the bridge. Then they saw the lamps of an auto truck sending out
+their beams of light a hundred feet in advance, and could just discern
+above them the massive body of the truck.
+
+It came on at a moderate rate of speed, slowing up somewhat as it struck
+the bridge.
+
+Suddenly shots rang out and the boys could see two dark figures standing
+on the bridge and waving their hands at the driver, as they bellowed out
+orders to stop. At the same time, as though the shots had been a signal,
+three other figures came rushing from other directions.
+
+It was impossible for the boys to keep still, and they too sprang to
+their feet and started for the scene of the hold-up, running at the top
+of their speed.
+
+Just as they left their covert there was a blinding flash that made the
+whole bridge as bright as day. A searchlight had been turned on from the
+top of the truck full in the faces of the robbers. They staggered as
+though they had been struck, and at the same instant there came a volley
+of shots and the police were upon the hold-up men.
+
+There was a wild melee of struggling men, as they swayed back and
+forth in a desperate struggle. The robbers had been taken completely by
+surprise and were outnumbered two to one. There were shouts and the
+crack of revolvers, and the thud of pistol butts.
+
+But the battle, though fierce, was of short duration. In a few minutes
+the robbers had been subdued. One lay stunned on the bridge and another
+lay by him wounded. Two more were held in the grasp of officers.
+
+One, however, tore himself away from the officer who had grappled with
+him, and came rushing in the direction of the radio boys. In the glare
+from the searchlight they recognized Cassey.
+
+He saw them, too, and fired his revolver at them. The shot went wild. He
+pressed the trigger again but with no result. Then, realizing that his
+weapon was empty, he hurled it at Bob, who was nearest to him.
+
+Bob dodged, and the next instant grabbed at Cassey's legs. The
+expertness that had made him the star of his football team stood him in
+good stead. His arms closed round Cassey in a flying tackle, and they
+came heavily to the bridge together.
+
+Cassey struggled desperately to rise, but Bob held him in an unbreakable
+grip, and a second later his comrades had come to his assistance and the
+scoundrel was overpowered and delivered over to the police, who came
+rushing up.
+
+The robbers were securely bound and bundled into the auto truck that
+they had planned to rob. Then in high spirits the party drove back to
+Barberton. The chief was jubilant, and the praises he heaped upon the
+radio boys made their ears burn. They stayed long enough at his office
+to see the prisoners safely jailed and then, though the hour was late,
+rode back to their quarters in the woods with Mr. Brandon.
+
+They slept long and late after their exciting experience, and it was
+almost noon the next day when they awoke. Bob was somewhat surprised to
+find a letter waiting for him. It bore no stamp, and had evidently been
+brought there by one of the lumbermen.
+
+He opened it curiously and glanced at the signature. Then he gave a
+shout that brought his comrades quickly to his side.
+
+"What do you think of this, fellows?" he cried. "Buck Looker's writing
+to me."
+
+There was a chorus of wondering exclamations.
+
+The last paragraph caught Bob's eye and he read it aloud:
+
+"As for Bob Layton and those other chumps, all we've got to do is to
+stand pat. No one saw us put the stones in the snowballs, and if we just
+deny it, they can't pin anything on us. They'll have to pay for the
+window, and that'll even up things for what they did to us at Mountain
+Pass.
+
+                                                                "Yours,
+
+                                                                "Buck."
+
+Bob was utterly dumbfounded. Then he glanced at the heading of the
+letter and let out a whoop.
+
+"Oh, this is too rich!" he cried, almost choking with laughter. "This
+letter is directed to Carl Lutz. You know he went home two or three days
+ago. Buck has written two letters, one to Lutz and the other to
+me--probably a roast--and he's put them in the wrong envelopes. Oh, how
+he's given himself away!"
+
+Bob's comrades were fairly convulsed, and Jimmy grew so purple in the
+face that they had to slap him vigorously on the back. They had scarcely
+got him into a calmer frame, before he threatened to go off again, for
+he saw Buck Looker strolling along the road.
+
+"Probably's come along to see how you were bearing up under the roast,"
+chuckled Joe.
+
+Bob ran over toward Buck, followed by his comrades. Buck looked alarmed
+and put himself in a posture of defense.
+
+"Oh, we're not going to hurt you," said Bob. "I only wanted to tell you
+that I got your letter."
+
+"I hope it blistered your hide," growled Buck.
+
+"It made me nearly laugh myself to death," replied Bob. "But let me
+advise you, Buck, to make sure the next time that you get the right
+letter in the right envelope."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Buck, in apprehension.
+
+"Only that I got the letter you meant for Carl Lutz," replied Bob.
+"Maybe you've forgotten what you said, so I'll read the last paragraph,"
+and, dwelling on every word, he read it over deliberately.
+
+Before he had quite finished, Buck made a desperate grab at the letter,
+but Bob was too quick for him.
+
+"No, you don't!" he exclaimed, as he folded it and put it carefully into
+his pocket. "That letter's going to cost you about two hundred dollars,
+for that's what it will cost to pony up for the broken window. We've got
+you dead to rights, and you'd better pay up and pay up quick. So long,
+Buck. And do be more careful next time to get the right letter in the
+right envelope."
+
+With all his bluster knocked out of him, Buck slunk away. The boys were
+not surprised to learn in the next letter from home that the insurance
+company had been paid.
+
+"Some excitement we have had here," remarked Bob. "Wonder if we'll ever
+have such strenuous times again."
+
+"Sure," declared Joe promptly, and he was right, as we shall see in the
+next volume of this series, to be called, "The Radio Boys with the
+Forest Rangers." In that volume we shall see how they fought a fire that
+came close to ending tragically.
+
+After a good dinner, the boys lay sprawled out on the grass basking in
+the spring sunshine and utterly at peace with themselves and the world.
+
+"Well, it's been hard work, but we've had pretty good luck at trailing a
+voice," observed Bob.
+
+"Yes," agreed Joe with a grin, "and s-s-s-such a v-v-v-voice!"
+
+And Jimmy whistled.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+THE RADIO BOYS SERIES
+(Trademark Registered)
+
+By ALLEN CHAPMAN
+Author of the "Railroad Series," Etc.
+
+Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers For Each Story.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+A new series for boys giving full details of radio work, both in sending
+and receiving--telling how small and large amateur sets can be made and
+operated, and how some boys got a lot of fun and adventure out of what
+they did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly fascinating,
+so strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure all lads will peruse
+them with great delight.
+
+Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known radio expert of
+the New York Tribune.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS;
+Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT;
+Or, The Message That Saved the Ship.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION;
+Or, Making Good in the Wireless Room.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS;
+Or, The Midnight Call for Assistance.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE;
+Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS;
+Or, The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain.
+
+THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG PATROL;
+Or, Making Safe the Ocean Lanes.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE TOM SWIFT SERIES
+By VICTOR APPLETON
+
+Uniform Style of Binding.
+Individual Colored Wrappers For Each Story.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a bright,
+ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most interesting
+kind of reading.
+
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
+TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
+TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
+TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
+TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
+TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
+TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT
+TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES
+By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN
+
+The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a
+small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are
+greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have
+motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go
+everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give
+full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals
+and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim,
+etc.
+Full of the spirit of outdoor life.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS
+Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE
+Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST
+Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF
+Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME
+Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT
+Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS
+Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.
+
+THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT
+Or The Golden Cup Mystery.
+
+12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH SERIES
+By GRAHAM B. FORBES
+
+Never was there a cleaner, brighter, more manly boy than Frank Allen, the
+hero of this series of boys' tales, and never was there a better crowd of
+lads to associate with than the students of the School. All boys will read
+these stories with deep interest. The rivalry between the towns along the
+river was of the keenest, and plots and counterplots to win the champions,
+at baseball, at football, at boat racing, at track athletics, and at ice
+hockey, were without number. Any lad reading one volume of this series
+will surely want the others.
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH
+Or The All Around Rivals of the School
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE DIAMOND
+Or Winning Out by Pluck
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE RIVER
+Or The Boat Race Plot that Failed
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE GRIDIRON
+Or The Struggle for the Silver Cup
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH ON THE ICE
+Or Out for the Hockey Championship
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH IN TRACK ATHLETICS
+Or A Long Run that Won
+
+THE BOYS OF COLUMBIA HIGH IN WINTER SPORTS
+Or Stirring Doings on Skates and Iceboats
+
+12mo. Illustrated.
+Handsomely bound in cloth, with cover design and wrappers in colors.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS SERIES
+BY VICTOR APPLETON
+
+UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.
+
+Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this
+line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films are
+made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures to
+satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in the
+Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along the
+seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts,
+and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes.
+The volumes teem with adventures and will be found interesting from first
+chapter to last.
+
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE WAR FRONT
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON FRENCH BATTLEFIELDS
+MOVING PICTURE BOYS' FIRST SHOWHOUSE
+MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT SEASIDE PARK
+MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON BROADWAY
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS' OUTDOOR EXHIBITION
+THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS' NEW IDEA
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES
+BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
+(Edward Stratemeyer)
+
+OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES
+Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
+THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
+THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
+THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
+THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
+THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
+THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
+THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
+THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
+THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR
+THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
+THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
+THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
+THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
+THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
+THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
+THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE
+THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE PUTNAM HALL STORIES
+
+Companion Stories to the Famous Rover Boys Series
+
+By ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
+(Edward Stratemeyer)
+
+UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS.
+
+Being the adventures of lively young fellows at a Military Academy. Open
+air sports have always been popular with boys and these stories that
+mingle adventure with fact will appeal to every manly boy.
+
+THE MYSTERY OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or The School Chums' Strange Discovery
+
+The particulars of the mystery and the solution of it are very interesting
+reading.
+
+CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
+  Or The Secret of the Old Mill
+
+A story full of vim and vigor, telling what the cadets did during the
+summer encampment, including a visit to a mysterious old mill, said to be
+haunted. The book has a wealth of fun in it.
+
+THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL
+  Or The Rival Runaways
+
+The boys had good reasons for running away during Captain Putnam's
+absence. They had plenty of fun and several queer adventures.
+
+THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or Bound to Win Out
+
+In this volume the Cadets of Putnam Hall show what they can do in various
+keen rivalries on the athletic field and elsewhere. There is one victory
+which leads to a most unlooked-for discovery.
+
+THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or Good Times in School and Out
+
+The cadets are lively, flesh-and-blood fellows, bound to make friends from
+the start. There are some keen rivalries, in school and out, and something
+is told of a remarkable midnight feast and a hazing with an unexpected
+ending.
+
+THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
+  Or Fun and Sport Afloat and Ashore
+
+It is a lively, rattling, breezy story of school life in this country,
+written by one who knows all about its pleasures and its perplexities, its
+glorious excitements, and its chilling disappointments.
+
+Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+THE RAILROAD SERIES
+By ALLEN CHAPMAN
+
+Author of the Radio Boys, Etc.
+
+Illustrated. Handsomely Bound in Cloth.
+Every Volume Complete in Itself.
+
+In this line of books there is revealed the whole workings of a great
+American railroad system. There are adventures in abundance--railroad
+wrecks, dashes through forest fires, the pursuit of a "wildcat"
+locomotive, the disappearance of a pay car with a large sum of money on
+board--but there is much more than this--the intense rivalry among
+railroads and railroad men, the working out of running schedules, the
+getting through "on time" in spite of all obstacles, and the manipulation
+of railroad securities by evil men who wish to rule or ruin.
+
+RALPH OF THE ROUND HOUSE;
+  Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man.
+
+RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER;
+  Or, Clearing the Track.
+
+RALPH ON THE ENGINE;
+  Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail.
+
+RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS;
+  Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer.
+
+RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER;
+  Or, The Mystery of the Pay Car.
+
+RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN;
+  Or, The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit.
+
+RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER;
+  Or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley.
+
+RALPH AND THE MISSING MAIL POUCH;
+  Or, The Stolen Government Bonds.
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 25858.txt or 25858.zip *******
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