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RADIO BOYS LOYALTY
OR
BILL BROWN LISTENS IN
BY
WAYNE WHIPPLE
Author of "Radio Boys Cronies"
AND
S. F. AARON
Co-author of "Radio Boys Cronies"
MADE IN U. S. A.
M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY
CHICAGO NEW YORK
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Copyright, 1922,
by
Hurst & Company
Printed in U. S. A.
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BILL BROWN LISTENS IN
CHAPTER I
STUDENTS
"They've got a splendid broadcasting station at the Tech, Bill."
"I know it; hence my general exuberance. And if we don't get at it once
in a while, it'll be because we can't break in."
"What do you want to shout into it first off?"
"Why, I thought you knew, Gus. I've got it all fixed, date and time, for
Professor Gray and Mr. Hooper to listen in. They're the chaps that are
responsible for our getting into the Tech and they deserve our first
message. I'll explain to President Field and I know he won't object."
"What's this you were telling me about hazing?" asked Gus, but as though
really little interested.
"Terry Watkins was telling me; his cousin went there. Lost a new hat the
third day, a pair of glasses the fourth and most of his clothes the
fifth. His dad has a lot of dough, so he needn't have minded, but that
won't be the case with us. I guess it's me for carrying a gun."
"If they're mean enough to pick on you, old scout, I'll carry one, too,
but I think you'll be exempt. If I'm to be a victim, I reckon I'll have
to grin and take----"
"No; you won't, either. We've come here to study--not to fool--and we
haven't got money to spend on ruined duds just to gratify a lot of
chumps. There are better things, too, than a gun; not so crude and not
illegal."
"I can imagine," laughed Gus, and turned again to watch the fleeting
landscape.
The chums journeyed in silence then, their minds busy conjecturing what
their experiences and adventures were to be, after they became students
of the Marshallton Technical School, which they were rapidly approaching
and from which they held high hopes of gaining much knowledge. The
institution, despite its modest name, was nothing less than a university
of broad constructive teaching, with departments of engineering,
electricity, chemistry, manual training and biology.
It was within the first two of these departments that William Brown and
Augustus Grier were to concentrate their mental efforts. They had, as
already related, earned this long-hoped-for opportunity to gain
technical knowledge and training by showing what they could do along
these lines. They had installed a small water-power plant and an
electric lighting system for the Hooper estate, and had also won greater
credit for constructing high-class radio receivers through which they
had heard a no less personage than Thomas A. Edison speak. The boys had
been saving their earnings to meet tech school expenses for at least a
year. Their high school records, good common sense and scientific
inclinations had been such as to receive the plaudits of their teacher,
Professor Gray, and the members of their class.
Intense application and mental force characterized William Brown, who
was called "Billy" by the high school girls--fine, bright-minded young
women--and "Bill" by the boys. He was just Bill to nearly everyone. His
friends referred to him as the school genius; and such he had proved to
be on more than one occasion. Though compelled by a twisted leg to use a
crutch and to abstain from strenuous physical participation in sports,
he was a favorite. All saw his worth, and Professor Gray said of him
that he possessed the mind of a philosopher and the expressiveness of a
poet.
Cheerful, delighting in the strength of others, Bill's natural love of
friendly contests and admiration for physical prowess impelled him to
adopt as his best chum Gus Grier, who had much in common with him
concerning mechanical matters. Gus was in many things almost the exact
counterpart of the lame boy.
Gus was bright, shrewd, practical, reticent. He had the sort of
mentality that made him a good follower, with enough native wit to
discover his own limitations and to acknowledge Bill's superior
characteristics. Both displayed that loyalty of friendship whose rare
quality has made notable history. Sometimes their classmates called the
boys David and Jonathan, or Damon and Pythias; sometimes, the head and
body, the former referring to Bill and the latter, with no less
admiration, to Gus because of his splendid athletic ability. The muscles
of Gus were quite as remarkable in their way as Bill's brains; and both
boys were modest, aiding one another in every time of need, doubling all
their efforts with the term "we," which Bill used oftenest.
If Bill mastered a mental problem it was: "We did it by this method." If
Gus entered upon a trial of strength or physical skill it was: "We'll do
our best," and then: "Well, we won, but it was no cinch"--in deference
to the efforts of a beaten opponent. All this was a matter of course.
And now, regarding the present, either friend might have said, "We've
passed our exams and we're going to Tech."
"Guilford! Guilford! All out for Marshallton!" shouted the brakeman, and
in half a minute the boys were climbing into a taxi bound for the
school; in half an hour they were facing the great buildings which stood
for so much learning, and in half a day they had matriculated and were
of the student body.