Frank Cobb

“ Outside the Adjutant’s office, Fatty recognized the well-known lines of Frank’s little flivver, and around it a dejected group that split up as he approached and greeted him with a volley of questions and reproaches.
Fatty, absent and possibly hurt, had taken on the aspect of a dear departed. Fatty, turning up perfectly hale and hearty, was an object of scorn and reproaches.
Ernest and Frank and Eddie and Dee, ably assisted by Bill and Skinny, demanded to know what he meant by it, where he had been, why had he gone away, and what ailed him anyway. ”

“ On every porch after dinner everybody talked of the dynamiting that was taking place.
“It looks just like when a package of firecrackers commence to go off in the grass,” said Eddie, who had been reading and listening to the after-dinner discussions. “Dad says no one knows who is accountable for the outrages. Gosh, I would hate to be a mayor, or ’most anything except a boy! But one day pop! off will go a bomb in front of some big building in San Francisco, and next it will be in New York, and next in Dallas. Pop, pop, pop! all over, and not a single man arrested.” ”

“ There were men, his eternal and ancient enemies, controlling those wide, stiff pinions. He could see their heads turn, their goggled eyes watching him.
Dee looked at Ernest and realized that the strange encounter was a dangerous one. The set mouth of the young pilot and the clutch of his gauntleted hand on the steering wheel gave evidence of anxiety and the keen alertness that comes with danger. Eddie, round eyed and silent, sat watching the manoeuvers of the eagle, which constantly swerved upward in his effort to soar above the laboring plane. ”

“ Mr. De Lorme was a chemist. He had long since explained his business or profession to his son. He was an analytical chemist, and his work was all done in his private laboratory, for big firms, corporations, and sometimes even for nations. It was a strange business. Marion had long ceased feeling any curiosity concerning the queer looking, whiskered persons who came to the house, usually during the evening, any more than he hoped to have any acquaintance with the suave, perfectly-dressed gentlemen who drove up in taxis during the day. ”

“ Now it happened that the innocent looking cylinder that looked like a new sort of pencil case was an infernal machine of the deadliest kind!
Filled with the most powerful explosives, the compact little engine of destruction was powerful enough to shatter a building. If Fatty had known ... if Frank had known when he bounced and jolted home in the flivver.... if Mrs. Bascom had known when she shifted it to the pile of handkerchiefs—well, this would have been a different story, with a different ending. ”

“ Ernest paused at the opening.
“I will telephone,” he said. “I won’t wireless on account of old De Lorme getting the message game as we have picked up his now and then. Don’t light a light in here unless you have to. No one knows who is prowling around.”
He went off, and the two boys sat down in the inner chamber and whispered together. A cave is never a cheerful spot. Even in daytime it gives you queer thrills and chills, and at night, without a light— Well, Bill and Dee sat close and said little. Every little while they heard strange sounds like someone stepping on the gravel outside. ”

“ Each boy had a bulging pocket, where his lunch reposed. But Fatty’s pockets did not bulge more than Fatty’s own self made them. Fatty was standing on the corner waiting for them. His back was nearly covered by a large, roomy knapsack that bulged.
“What cher got in there?” said Bill, punching the knapsack. “A coat? You won’t need it!”
“Be careful!” admonished Fatty, cringing away. “Don’t get so gay! That’s my lunch you’re punchin’!”
“Lunch!” cried Eddie. “Say, Fat, you are a peach! To think of your bringing enough for the whole bunch. I say that’s good of you! ”

“ Fatty stepped jauntily in and Ernest adjusted the heavy harness. Then Eddie wedged himself into the small corner of the seat that was not full of Fatty. He too was strapped in, and when Ernest settled down on the pilot’s seat, a couple of attendants raced the plane along the field until it soared smoothly upward.
Fatty’s face was full of delight. He sat perfectly quiet, watching buildings drop away and all the land resolve itself into a beautiful map done in colors.
“This,” thought Fatty to himself, “this is life.” ”

“ Once more Eddie looked to see a pile of racked and shattered timbers where a house had been.
The house was there, but no Fatty, although Eddie whistled and called as they drove up.
Mrs. Bascom herself came to her door. She was scarcely taller than Eddie, but smoothly fat as a little butter ball.
“Why, Mr. Rowland, how are you?” she exclaimed, shaking hands and dragging them into the house. “And Eddie too! Come right out to the dining-room. Mr. Bascom is just getting a taste of breakfast. I declare that man doesn’t eat more than a sparrow! ”

“ Frank, promising to help them whenever they were ready, went into the house.
As they worked, an idea suddenly occurred to Bill.
“Say, Eddie,” he said, “wouldn’t this be a dandy room for a club room?”
“I should say yes!” he cried. “Oh, man, what a room! No one to be bothered if we made a noise. Gee! Wish we could have a Wireless Club.”
“Why couldn’t we?” asked Bill. “I could be the president.”
“Presidents are elected,” said Eddie with scorn. “They don’t just elect themselves.” ”

“ What did you bring, Skinny?”
“Cake of sweet chocolate,” said Skinny. “Mother was tired last night, and I don’t eat much anyway, and so I just brought that.”
“Not very filling,” remarked Frank, turning his kind eyes on the thin boy beside him.
“Awful nourishing though,” said Fatty, eagerly. “I saw in a paper somewhere that there is more juice to a cake of chocolate than there is to a pound of beefsteak.”
“Well, I declare!” exclaimed Frank. “I tell you what let’s do. When it comes lunch time, everybody will swap lunches with some other fellow. It will be all sorts of sport. ”

“ It was not hard for the secret service men to “jolly” and keep hawk-eyes on the De Lorme house at the same time.
At the extreme point of the Park, facing the monument, was the wreck of a beautiful drinking fountain which had been shattered by a runaway automobile. The pieces of broken stone were being gathered in a pile by a workman who seemingly had no eyes for anything but his work. His overalls were roomy and loose; otherwise someone might have noticed the bulging pockets underneath where he carried two big revolvers and handcuffs, as well as heavy shackles for stubborn ankles. ”

“ At the call from Bill, the two soldiers glanced quickly across the street and shifted positions a little. The workman at the broken fountain, tired out, sat down on the curb and lighted a short pipe.
Then a large car drove up before the De Lorme house—a beautiful touring car. On the front seat sat a chauffeur in livery. A stunningly dressed woman and a thin man, both enveloped in large, loose dust coats, sat on the back seat. The three scanned the houses, and the man spoke to the chauffeur. He jumped out and approached Bill, who stood staring on the steps of Elizabeth Crowley’s house. ”

“ Better each one take his own lunch,” suggested Bill.
“That’s a good idea,” said Fatty in a relieved voice. “Then nobody needs to bother about anybody else. What time do we start?”
“Early,” said Bill. “You will have to stir yourself, and we will meet you on the corner of Burnett at six. Don’t be late.”
“All right, I’ll be there, and so will Skinny; and we will each bring our lunch.”
The following morning, Eddie and Dee were sitting on the running-board of Frank’s little flivver long before Bill poked a sleepy face out of the window and hailed them. ”

“ De Lorme, smiling. “Arrest me for what? Why should you arrest an old and harmless student like myself?”
“You know why,” said the Captain bitterly. “Don’t try to escape! If you are curious, we can tell you where your dynamite is hidden, and where your accomplices in this city are located. Come, step up here, and get these bracelets on. Why, we know you! It is nearly the thirteenth, and you are known as 'The Avenger.’ Does that convince you?”
He took a step forward, and De Lorme found himself looking into the muzzle of a revolver. ”

“ I have one of those things in my Sunday pants! They are hanging up where Jack can get at them if he takes a notion. He is always going through my pockets to find pennies. Oh, come on! I will tell you as we go!”
“All right,” said Ernest. “Keep cool, youngster! They are all asleep at this hour, and you know Jack is always the last one up.”
“Well, I would like to know about this,” said the detective.
“I will tell you all I know in a word,” said Eddie, putting on his coat. “Fat Bascom had it, and he brought it to Sunday School and I gave him a nickel. ”

“ The country was so rough, so uninhabited, that the wandering hoboes strolling along the mountain trails so near the camp never raised a question in the minds of the M.P.’s. And luxurious cars bearing pretty women driving back and forth between Louisville and Camp Knox were so numerous that even the people living along the road had ceased to look after them as they passed.
A couple of miles from West Point the car stopped beside the road, and a young woman in sport skirt and sweater jumped out, a book under her arm, and strolled up into a little grove. The car went on. ”

“ Bill agreed. “My dad says somewhere a master chemist is making oodles of bombs and infernal machines, and there must be a storehouse somewhere. But he don’t see how they communicate with each other. He says he don’t believe a letter is ever written.”
“Dad says he don’t believe they ever use anything but word of mouth.”
“Not quick enough,” answered Eddie.
Dee suddenly leaned close to the two boys and whispered a single word.
“Wireless!” he said. Then as the two turned and stared, their thoughts whirling,—“Wireless, and we have been getting some of their messages! ”

“ Eddie demanded, standing up and rolling down his sleeves. “Come on upstairs while I dress!”
“I thought you would like to come,” said Bill. “Get fixed and come along to the house for lunch. Gee, it is a pity we live so close to each other. If you lived in the Highlands, now, or out on the River road, or out at West Point, we could have some fun. I tell you what we can do, we can pick up Ernest Beezley at the Aviation Field at Camp Knox. Won’t he be surprised?”
“Aw, Frank will give it away first time they meet,” said Eddie in a disgusted tone. ”

“ Ernest shook his head. “A ray of light striking on a spur of the rock,” he explained. “There is never anyone up there except when the men from the cantonment go up, and they seldom go as far as that. No, there is nothing interesting about the place except what you see up here. And as I told you, you can only get the face from one place.”
He wheeled his plane and commenced to circle about the mountain, now flying low, now rising high in the air. As they made a low flight, Dee noticed two men sitting by the roadside. ”

“ You, Bill, sneak in and get a couple of your mother’s long coats, and Frank will take Dee and Bill and me up to the landing-field at Camp Taylor where I parked my plane. I want the kids to look like a couple of girls going out of here, so if we are seen or watched they will not spot Dee. I hope for an hour or two before they find he is gone. Bill can come back. You, Eddie, get down to the end of the Park, where the bushes are thick, and watch that house. If anyone goes out, follow him. ”

“ Dee found his father waiting for him, and as they walked slowly around the little park, Mr. De Lorme asked Dee what he had been doing with himself. Dee told him briefly and then, growing enthusiastic, told his father that six of the neighborhood boys were starting a club. He was about to add that it was a wireless club, but his father interrupted.
“A club, eh?” he snarled disagreeably. “Um! Well, you are about the age to take that disease. All boys want to form a club. Go ahead; but see that you don’t get into mischief.” ”

“ You take the money with a clean conscience. If you don’t some anarchist will come prancing along and claim it. We will get that will probated before you can say Jack Robinson. Of course you will take the money.”
“Most certainly he will take it,” said Frank. “He will take it, or—or—I will take it myself.”
“Well, of course if you think it is all right,” said Dee. “I do want to go to school and fit myself for something of the right sort.”
It was settled so, and that very night Dee came to Bill’s to stay.
The club room became a place of beauty and comfort. ”

“ Frank whipped out a notebook and pencil, and Zip, staring at his captor, asked with chattering teeth, “What do you want me to say?”
“Tell all about everything!”
“Then shall I go free?” begged the man.
“I will do all I can for you,” the Major promised. “Go on!”
“We made it here ... the dynamite .. and those infernal machines that went through the mails. They were an invention of Mr. De Lorme’s.” He glanced shudderingly at the dead man. “They were very powerful. One would blow a house up easily. We made them all. ”

“ I hope it is malaria that ails me, because I feel just as though something was going to happen. I don’t know what.”
“I reckon you don’t,” said Frank, laughing. “Of all the chronic glooms, you are the gloomiest! For goodness’ sake, let the kids fool with their wireless in peace. All they will scoop in will be somebody’s love letter to somebody else. Everything is all right.”
Ernest laughed. “I am silly,” he acknowledged. “Perhaps it was the sad sight of that innocent child Bascom committing slow suicide.” ”

“ Dee went to the instrument and soon the invisible feelers were reaching, reaching far out into the darkness. Once in touch with Knox, they soon were talking with Ernest, who was indeed glad to hear all the news.
“Don’t tell what we suspect about the dynamiters,” whispered Eddie.
“Of course not!” answered Dee. Presently he turned to the boys. “He says for the whole Wireless Club to pile into Frank’s car tomorrow and come out to Knox for the day.”
“Good work,” said Bill. “I will see if I can get hold of Fat and Skinny. I will telephone so I can talk to Mrs. Bascom if Fatty is out.” ”

“ It was difficult for Fatty to let himself down to earth, and certainly it was uncomfortable to sit or lie down for a fellow built that way. He stood and watched Skinny as he carefully unwrapped the fascinating wireless receiver. A couple of cards printed with the Morse code fell out, and the boys pounced on them. As they pored over them, Francis Wolfe strolled up. Bill’s brother was built on lines similar to his own. He was thin and very tall and—well, boys and dogs and small kittens all liked Frank Wolfe and old ladies always asked him the way. ”

“ That’s the sort of a club to have especially when it is something as unusual as this. Whom will we ask? Shall we have Fat and Skinny? They have a sort of wireless of their own.”
“That’s all right,” said Bill. “That’s dandy! We could use them for practice. I say we have Fat and Skinny, and you and me; that’s four, and Ned Harper is five, and who is nice enough for number six?”
“How about the new fellow down at the corner, in the Cleveland house?” asked Eddie. ”