FAME AND FINANCES
Nothing could have taken place to put the lads from Freeport on the
pedestal of fame more noticeably than this experiment. They had easily
and modestly staged a complete breakdown of the hazing habit at
Marshallton Tech. Strangely perhaps there was no blame nor suspicion put
upon Bill and Gus for the subsequent edict from the faculty forbidding
it. That seemed to be considered a natural aftermath to the news of the
electrical reception of the hazers.
The stunt did more than earn the boys a large share of fame. It made
them so deservedly popular, even with most of the upper classmen, that
they soon counted a good many friends and a considerable number of
patrons for radio construction. It is a rather odd fact that methods
already mastered by those of their own age appeal to boys more than the
teachings of their elders. So, although the students were getting, or
had got, the theory of radio activity and the practice of wireless fully
stuffed into them, they turned often to Bill and Gus for help. There
were a number of the well-to-do, even among the seniors, who wanted
radio receivers made, or coaching in making their own, and to this Bill
and Gus responded out of school hours, with the consent of the
president, thus earning a good many dollars.
So as not to interfere in any way with the school-shop program, and not
to crowd those lads who were finding the room in the shop and the tools
to their advantage, Bill and Gus rented an unused storeroom in the
basement of the dormitory. They cleared it out, sent for their own tools
at Freeport, purchased others--a foot-power lathe, a jigsaw and a hand
wall-drill--and put up some benches. Besides working therein themselves,
they charged also the modest price of twenty-five cents an hour to
others mechanically inclined.
The liberal-minded school faculty found no fault with an arrangement
which could only mean a more thorough learning and a finer comradeship
among the students. The professors, who often visited and even worked in
the little shop--some of them paying their quota also--came to refer
familiarly to the place as the "commercial and sales department."
Professor Grant, the very able teacher of physics, who possessed far
more theoretical knowledge than practice, gave the boys many valuable
ideas out of class, and got some himself, being also a deadhead. And
Search, the manual-training teacher, who knew the use of tools as a bee
knows honey, got a few ideas while imparting many, as he also was made
welcome to tinker around the boys' shop.
These were truly strenuous days and weeks for Bill and Gus. They had
little studying to do, for Bill grasped problems as a trout takes in
minnows, and he needed but to coach Gus briefly. The latter spent only a
quarter-hour each day in the gym, never indulging in contests, but
content to work hard at the things that best kept him fit. He had
elected not to put himself under the instructor, grudging the time. But
one day when he went over and, with his bare, work-hardened fists,
punched a lively rubber bag for several minutes, Professor LeRoy, who
had been watching, came to Gus with almost a demand that he join the
boxing class in view of the Marshallton Tech entering contests with
other schools during the coming winter. But Gus declined.
"No; I haven't the speed and I am weak with my left, as you may have
noticed. Hurt it once on a lathe in my father's shop; never will be any
good for quick work."
"We will overcome that," said the instructor, "develop it."
"Also," declared the boy, "I have neither the time nor the inclination.
Must work and nothing much else. But I thank you, Professor."
"Sorry, my boy; you've certainly got a wicked right and you can use the
other."
"I'd want to use both," asserted Gus, laughing.
As for Bill, the hours each day and all of Saturday spent in the shop
sufficed for exercise; the rest was spent in study, brief eating and no
more sleep than he needed. And nearly every moment that could be spared
found both boys in their shop.
They had under way the construction of five radio receivers of the finer
type, for each of which they would get sixty dollars, the materials
costing about fifteen dollars. These receivers were equal to more than a
thousand miles, with strong, durable batteries and very wide
amplification. As with their first radio and the one for their good old
friend, Mr. Hooper, they made nearly all the parts themselves, even to
the switch arms, contacts, buzzer and binding posts, cutting all threads
with a fine set of standard taps and dies.
They also had two crystal sets to make, for which they charged twenty
dollars each, and made a profit of seventeen dollars over the cost of
the materials.
The most interesting was the making of four portable sets, with vacuum
tube detectors and loop aerials not over six inches in diameter, each
packed in small, neatly made wooden cases about the size of an ordinary
paper shoe box, the lids when opened forming the upright panels and the
loop aerials hinged to open out and upright. Being rather unique in
design, and satisfying fads for unusual construction, the boys felt they
should get at least fifty dollars for each of these sets, the materials
costing about twelve dollars.
Earning enough in this way to help them along very nicely with their
schooling, and being more deeply interested in their work than in
anything else, it was not surprising that Bill and Gus found little time
for play.
When they had finished one of the larger and two cheaper sets, that upon
installation at fraternity and boarding houses were found to work most
satisfactorily, the cash was quickly paid over. Bill divided it equally
and handed half to Gus.
"No, you don't, old fellow!" Gus demurred. "You get this and you can pay
me a sort of wages if you want to, or you needn't. You did all of the
planning, the--" He got no further for Bill started in with this
indignant tirade:
"You're a fatheaded, heterogeneous, quadrangular parallelepipedon! What
are you trying to get through your topknot, anyway? Don't we always work
together? Isn't it a partnership?"
"But--er--Bill----"
"'Butter bill'? Sure. This will pay our bread bill, too, and our entire
board bill for some time. And what we'll get out of these other sets
will see us through all of next year nicely, without worrying. Then
something will turn up for the third year. Now, then, will you write to
Cotton & Staples for that additional wire, or shall I?"
"I will, of course, but this money----"
"Oh, shut up! If you say another word about it, I'll lam a battery coil
at you--'b'gorry'--as Mr. Hooper says. Well, now, reckon I'd better turn
up and thread some more binding posts."