Allen Chapman

“ They looked at each other incredulously at first, and then as they heard the signals again too certainly to admit of doubt, they jumped to their feet, clapped each other on the shoulder, and fairly went wild with delight.
“The first boys in this old town to pick up a message from Europe!” cried Joe. “What next?”
“Asia perhaps,” suggested Jimmy.
“Then Australia,” ventured Herb.
“Or Mars,” predicted Bob. “Who knows?” he added, as he saw the smile of doubt on his comrades’ faces. “Marconi thought he might, and he’s no dreamer. What is impossible to radio?” ”

“ Suddenly the first piping notes of a canary bird’s song were heard, rising so clear and lifelike that even the boys themselves were deluded at first into thinking that they were listening to an actual bird. The canary song ended with a sustained trill, and then, soft and melodious, came the limpid notes of the mocking bird’s song. By this time the audience had comprehended that this was in reality a clever human imitation of bird notes, and they applauded heartily.
“Say!” whispered Jimmy, excitedly, “Larry has picked up a lot of new stuff since he was at Ocean Point. ”

“ Why wasn’t I born rich instead of good looking?” 63
“Give it up,” said Bob. “You’ll have to ask me easier ones than that, Jimmy, if you expect to get an answer. But as far as I can see, people that are rich don’t seem to be especially happy, anyway. Look at old Abubus Boggs. He’s probably the richest man in Clintonia, but nobody ever accused him of being happy.”
“I should say not!” exclaimed Joe. “He goes around looking as though he had just bitten into an especially sour lemon. Everybody hates him, and I don’t suppose that makes any one happy.” ”

“ Pies just seem to be my natural prey.”
“Wait till I get well again,” said Larry. “And you’ll have some competition from me. It has always been my highest ambition to be around some day when a pie wagon gets hit by an automobile.”
“Jerusalem!” said Jimmy. “That would be heaven on earth, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s probably your idea of it,” said Joe. “I suppose you’d rather have streets paved with pie than with gold.”
“Oh, well, what’s the use of talking about it?” sighed Jimmy. “It’s all too good to be true anyway.” ”

“ The old world is stepping ahead pretty lively these days, and no mistake.”
“It can’t step too fast to suit me,” said Herb. “Speed is what I like to see, every time.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Jimmy, lazily. “Why not take things a little easier. People had just as much fun out of life when they weren’t in such a rush about everything. I take things easy and get fat on it, while Herb is always rushing around, and it wears him down until he has the same general appearance as a five and ten cent store clothespin.” ”

“ The boys broke into a laugh.
“There’s the answer,” chuckled Herb. “Trust Jimmy to go to sleep on the slightest provocation. There’s only one thing he can do better, and that is eating.”
“He sure is no slouch at either,” laughed Joe. “The seven sleepers of Ephesus had nothing on Jimmy. And if he went into a doughnut-eating contest, I’d back him to my last dime.”
“It’s no wonder that’s he’s tired,” said Bob, coming to the defense of the unconscious Jimmy. ”

“ An actor is pretty temperamental, you know.”
“Well, I’m beginning to feel that way myself,” sighed Joe. “I wish it were time for us to spring our stuff on an unsuspecting public and get it over with. It must be pretty near time for the first number now, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” answered Larry. “We’d better go on up to the transmitting room. The worst crime a public performer can commit is to be late, you know.”
“And to think that I’m the poor fellow that’s supposed to open the show!” exclaimed Bob. ”

“ There always seems to be something new coming up that you have to work out.”
“If I keep on getting good pay from the broadcasting station, I’ll be able to buy a set, anyway,” said Larry. “What’s the use of working so hard over one, when you can buy them all made up? All you have to do is hook them up to a small antenna, and you get your music right off the bat.”
But the radio boys all scouted this idea.
“Of course you can buy one all made up,” said Bob. “But there’s not half the fun in operating that kind of set as there is in one that you’ve made yourself. ”

“ Edison, I’ll be blest if I don’t.”
“Nonsense,” laughed Bob. “We’re only asking about things we don’t understand ourselves. You know the did saying, ‘a fool can ask more questions than a wise man can answer.’”
“Hey, there, speak for yourself!” exclaimed Joe. “You may be a fool, but don’t class me under that heading.”
“I was only speaking figuratively, as the profs say,” laughed Bob. “I don’t want you to take me too literally, of course.”
“All I’ve got to say is, that you’re both pretty well up on radio,” said Mr. Reed. “Are you a shark too, Larry?”
“Not I,” answered Larry. ”

“ I’ll bet old Larry will be happier this evening than he has been for a long time.”
“That speed stuff is all right for you fellows, but don’t forget that I’m built more for comfort than speed,” grumbled Jimmy. “Set your own pace, though, Bob, and I’ll try to keep up, even if it kills me.”
“It will be more apt to do you good,” said Herb, as they all set off at a brisk dog trot. “There’s no doubt that you need more exercise than you get, Doughnuts.” ”

“ We defy you!” cried Herb, striking a melodramatic attitude.
“All right,” said Lon, laughing. “Remember, though, I’ve given you fair warning. I see you’re buying vacuum tubes,” he added, curiously. “You must be going in pretty deep, aren’t you?”
“Ask us no questions and we’ll tell you no lies,” parried Bob. “Besides, we’re not the only radio fans in this town, Lon. Maybe some one else will beat us all out.” ”

“ Now you get them free, but then it will cost you money to hear them.”
“It will never cost me any money,” said Bob, with conviction. “I wouldn’t give a plugged nickel for a book full of them.”
“Neither will anybody else,” said Joe. “If you have any idea of ever making a living that way, Herb, you’d better forget it. You’d starve to death, sure.”
“Well, it’s a cinch I won’t have to starve to death right now, anyway, so quit your croaking,” retorted the much abused Herb. ”

“ Larry was but little older than the radio boys, and Herb was in an ecstasy of delight over Brandon’s “Mr. Bartlett.”
“But if you stay here to-night you’ll miss having dinner at Doctor Dale’s house!” cried Jimmy, impulsively.
“Guess it can’t be helped,” said Larry, with a laugh, in which the others joined. “Business before pleasure, you know, Jimmy.”
“That’s what dad always tells me, too,” grumbled Jimmy. “But personally, I’d rather have the pleasure first, and let the business take its chance afterward.”
“Don’t you believe it,” said Mr. Allard. “There are too many people doing that already. ”

“ So I’ll say it all in one sentence—the radio is the most wonderful invention ever conceived by the mind of man.”
“You don’t need to prove it to us,” laughed Bob. “It’s simply a miracle, and we become more convinced of that every day. I’m mighty glad I was born in this age of the world.”
The boys crowded around Mr. Harvey as he explained to Larry and Tim in as simple a way as possible the radio apparatus of the station. ”

“ Just go ahead as though I weren’t here, and I’ll try to learn something by watching what you do.”
Bob and Joe worked steadily then until Mrs. Layton called to them to come up to lunch.
“Toot! toot!” went Larry, imitating faithfully a factory whistle blowing for twelve o’clock. “Time to knock off, you laborers. If you work any longer I won’t let you belong to the union any more.”
“No danger of that,” said Bob. “I’ve been feeling hungry ever since ten o’clock, so I’m not going to lose any time now. Come on up and we’ll see what mother’s got for us.” ”

“ You’d be down under the table fussing around with a few thousand wires, but you’d never stop to think that maybe I’d been fired by the manager, or run over by a trolley car.”
“Oh, we’d never have to worry about you,” said Joe. “You’ve heard the old saying that ‘only the good die young.’”
“I certainly have,” admitted Larry. “And that probably explains why that stage scenery didn’t kill me outright. It’s been rather a mystery to me why it didn’t, but you’ve put me wise to the real reason.”
“It will do for want of a better one, anyway,’” laughed Bob. ”

“ My name is Bob Layton, and these 28 pals of mine are Joe Atwood, Herb Fennington and Jimmy Plummer, the latter the greatest doughnut eater in captivity.”
“And our handles are Larry Bartlett and Tim Barcommon,” said the taller of the two newcomers, as they laughingly acknowledged the introductions. “And before we do anything else we want to tell you fellows how grateful we are for the way you came to our help. It would have been all up for us if you hadn’t.”
“Yes,” chimed in Tim, “we’ll never forget it as long as we live. ”

“ I’ve almost forgotten what the old town looks like.”
“It will seem good to see the old bunch at High once more, too,” added Joe. “I’ll bet there aren’t many of them have had the fun that we’ve had ever since we landed at Ocean Point.”
“Not only that, but we’ve learned a lot, too,” said Bob. “We were running in luck when we met Mr. Harvey and had the run of that big station. It was a wonderful opportunity.”
“You bet it was,” agreed Herb. “It’s a wonderful place to think up jokes in, too. I don’t think I ever thought of so many good ones in a single summer before.” ”

“ Allard called for more, and Joe obliged with the only other selection in his repertoire.
“That’s first rate,” said the manager, when he had finished. “I think that ought to go all right. I think I’ll give you ten or fifteen minutes on the bill. Now, how about you, Mr. Layton? What’s your specialty?”
“I don’t own such a thing,” grinned Bob. “I know one piece that I learned for elocution, the same as Joe, but you wouldn’t want two of the same variety on the bill.” ”

“ Following the manager’s instructions, Larry took up his position at a short distance from an instrument called a microphone, and at a signal from Mr. Allard commenced his bird imitations.
The manager had donned earphones like all the rest, and the little company listened with varying emotions as Larry went through his repertoire. His friends were praying fervently for his success and were delighted as they realized that he was surpassing any of his previous efforts. ”

“ Does that meet with your approval, Jimmy?”
“Does it!” exclaimed Jimmy. “I should say so. I never feel as though I’d really had anything much to eat unless I have dessert to top off with.”
“After the dinner you ate, I don’t really 150 believe you could feel hungry, even if you didn’t have dessert,” said Herbert.
“That must be just one of your phony jokes,” said Jimmy. “You know I was sitting beside you, Herb, and I felt pretty lucky to get anything to eat at all. Anybody within three places of you on each side doesn’t have much of a show, you know.” ”

“ They remind me of a couple of cats that stand and yell at each other for an hour, and then walk off without mixing it after all.”
“Well, we’re not going to go to mauling each other just to amuse you two Indians, that’s certain,” said Herb. “Let’s shake hands and show the world we’re friends, Jimmy.”
“Righto!” agreed his good-natured friend, and they laughingly shook hands.
“We’d better save our scrapping for Buck Looker and his friends,” said Bob. “I suppose they’ll be up to some kind of mischief as soon as we get back to school again. They seem never to learn by experience.” ”

“ The excited boys told him all about their acquaintance with Larry and Tim up to the time of the almost fatal accident in the theater. Brandon listened attentively, and when they had finished sat thinking for several minutes.
“Yes, I think it could be arranged all right,” he said at last. “I know the manager of one big New Jersey broadcasting station personally, and I’m sure he’d be willing to give your friend a try-out. If he’s as good as you say he is, they’d probably be glad to put him on the pay roll. From what you tell me, his act is certainly a novelty, and that’s what they want.” ”

“ The people for blocks around used to complain about it.”
“You don’t get much applause now,” laughed Bob. “How does it seem to perform for the benefit 206 of a telephone transmitter instead of an audience?”
“It never bothered me much,” replied Larry. “It seems to be pretty hard for some of the actors, though, especially the comedians. When they spring a funny joke they’re used to hearing their audience laugh, and when they don’t hear anything, they get peeved sometimes. They can’t get used to the blank silence after their best efforts.” ”

“ My knuckles are itching, and that’s a bad sign—for Buck.”
“You’ll get the chance all right,” predicted Herb. “Ten to one they’re framing up some low-down game to play on us whenever they find an opening. Maybe they’ll try to put our radio set out of commission, just as they stole Jimmy’s set and tried to wreck Bob’s aerial.”
“They’re welcome to try,” said Bob carelessly. “Though they ought to be cured of that idea when they remember how they flivvered the other times. But talking of radio reminds me that we ought to get busy with that lightning arrester we were talking about.” ”

“ How’s the wireless coming along these days?”
“Fine and dandy,” responded Bob. “After we get back to Clintonia we intend to build some big sets so that we can receive signals from all over the country.”
“But where do you get all the money to buy that stuff?” asked Larry. “Some of it must be pretty expensive, isn’t it?”
“Not as expensive as you might think, although some of the apparatus, like audion bulbs, certainly run into money,” replied Bob. “But we can easily sell the apparatus that we already have, and make enough on that to buy the new things with. ”

“ But you’ve got to remember that we’ve had more experience at the game than Lon,” Bob reminded him.
“It seems to me that we’d do better all to work on one big, crackerjack set than each to make a separate long distance set,” said Herb. “In the first place, it’s more fun working together. And then we could put our money together and get better equipment than we could the other way. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a pretty good idea,” said Jimmy. “You can hear just as much over one set as you can over four, as far as that goes.” ”

“ It’s too bad you don’t live in this town.”
“I don’t think we could do much along that line just now, anyway,” said Bob, much pleased. “Between high school and building radio sets we don’t have much time left over. We appreciate your giving us a chance on the bill to-night, though. We never dreamed of such a thing when we left the house this morning.”
“I can’t wait to get back to Clintonia to see what Herb and Jimmy have to say,” remarked Joe. “I’ll bet their eyes are sticking out now like a crab’s.” ”