THE WIRELESS PATROL PREPARES FOR ACTION
At top speed Henry tore down the street.
Half a block from his home he passed a schoolmate.
"Hey! What's your hurry?" the latter called out, as Henry dashed past
him.
"Wireless patrol ordered out!" Henry shouted over his shoulder, as he
darted on down the street.
"Wait a minute!" called the other lad.
"Can't," cried Henry. "Got to get the patrol together to go on a spy
hunt."
At the words "spy hunt" the other boy leaped forward and ran after
Henry at top speed. "What's up?" he asked enviously, as he overtook
Henry and raced along beside him. For the lad did not belong to the
wireless patrol.
"Ordered to New York by the government," panted Henry, "to hunt for
German spies."
The announcement had all the effect Henry intended it to have. For a
full half minute his companion said never a word, but ran mutely beside
him, his eyes fastened incredulously on Henry. Then, "Gee whiz!" he
said. "You're not really goin' to New York!"
"Sure thing," panted Henry. "Just got a telegram from Washington."
That was too much for Henry's companion. "Gee whiz!" he said again.
"I wish I belonged to the wireless patrol."
Henry looked at him sympathetically, half sorry that he had said what
he had. "Maybe you will some day," he replied. "Good-bye."
They had reached the home of wee Willie Brown. Henry stopped abruptly
and turned in at the open gate. He mounted the steps and rang the
bell. Mrs. Brown opened the door.
"Is Willie--at home--Mrs. Brown?" he asked, all out of breath.
"Yes, Henry," replied Mrs. Brown. "You'll find him up in his room."
"Is he busy?"
"Oh! He's tinkering with his wireless, as usual," said Mrs. Brown.
"But he's always glad to see you, Henry."
"He will be this time, I'm sure," said Henry. "The wireless patrol is
ordered out on a spy hunt."
"What! Not again?" queried Mrs. Brown, in astonishment. "Where are
you going this time?"
"To New York," rejoined Henry, and his voice plainly showed his
exultation.
"Tell me more about it." Mrs. Brown was at once all seriousness.
Henry turned away from the stair door and explained the situation to
Mrs. Brown, who was very sober. But when Henry said that Dr. Hardy had
asked the boys to come and that he would himself be with them in New
York, the serious look vanished from Mrs. Brown's face. "That's all
right, then," she said. "If Dr. Hardy wants you and is to be there to
look after you, it is all right. I am glad Willie has the opportunity
to go. He has never been in a really big city."
Henry went on up to Willie's room and broke the news to him. And the
sounds that came down to Mrs. Brown made her laugh heartily. But it
was a laugh of sympathy. She remembered that she had once been young
herself. Presently the racket up-stairs subsided. Then came the
clatter of noisy and eager feet on the stairs. And a moment later
Henry and Willie skipped out of the door, tore through the gate, and
went racing up the street toward Roy Mercer's house.
But Roy was not at home. He was, as Henry had suspected he would be,
at work in the garage where he had been employed during the school
vacation. But Henry thought it would be well to secure permission from
Mrs. Mercer for Roy to take the trip to New York, for she was inclined
to be rather strict with Roy.
"Captain Hardy has just sent me a request for four of the boys of the
wireless patrol to come to New York," said Henry, diplomatically, "and
Roy is one of the four he wants. We came to see if he may go."
Mrs. Mercer looked at Henry keenly. "What are you going to do in New
York," she demanded, "and who's to pay the bills?"
"I don't know exactly what we're to do," said Henry, "but we're to help
the wireless service. I think they want us to listen in and pick up
low-length messages that the high-powered government stations don't
get. The government will pay our expenses."
"Humph!" said Mrs. Mercer. Then she was silent a moment in thought.
"When does Dr. Hardy want you to go?"
"He wants us to meet him in New York at two o'clock Friday afternoon.
That means we should have to leave here on the early morning train
Friday."
"I don't know about this," said Mrs. Mercer. "All play and no work is
just as bad for a boy as no play and all work. And Roy has done
nothing but play all summer. He has been at that camp of yours ever
since school closed. And besides, he is earning three dollars a week
working at the garage."
Henry had feared that Mrs. Mercer would object to Roy's going. Roy's
father had been sick and unable to work for some weeks, and Henry knew
that the three dollars Roy earned each week were badly needed in the
Mercer home.
"I think that the government will pay Roy more than he earns now,"
explained Henry. "And I hope that you will let him go because Captain
Hardy wants only certain boys and Roy is one of them. He is very
necessary to the success of our work."
"I'll see what Roy's father says," was the reply, and Mrs. Mercer
vanished within the house.
Meantime Henry and Willie stood on the porch hardly daring to speak to
one another, so fearful were they that Roy might not be allowed to go.
When Mrs. Mercer suddenly appeared again and announced briefly that Roy
could go, they thanked her, and as soon as they could get around a
corner, they gave vent to their feelings in a loud whoop.
Lew Heinsling was picked up a few minutes later, with no objection on
the part of his parents, and the three boys raced to the garage, where
they imparted the news to Roy.
School, which normally should already have been in session, had been
kept from opening by an epidemic of measles; and no one knew when it
would convene. But there was no apparent chance of an early opening,
for the epidemic was then at its worst. There was no obstacle now in
the way of the four boys. Roy got his employer's permission to leave
the garage for an hour, and the four boys hurried to the wireless
patrol headquarters in Henry's shop, to discuss the adventure that lay
before them.
That night the entire patrol assembled in the little workshop and those
who were not to go enviously discussed the coming adventure with the
four who had been summoned to duty. For no one in the patrol doubted
that the expedition would end in adventure and excitement, to say
nothing of the delights of a trip to the nation's metropolis. Their
common experience in running down the dynamiters at the Elk City
reservoir gave these boys the certainty that both adventure and danger
lay ahead of their four lucky fellows. But could they have known how
truly thrilling and adventurous were the days ahead of their
companions; could they have foreseen all the strange and exciting
situations that would confront their fellows; could they have guessed
the part their comrades of the wireless patrol were about to play in
wiping out this hidden menace to our troops on the ocean, they would
have been envious indeed.
But they could not know these things. And they recognized the fact
that Captain Hardy had asked for these four because of their superior
attainments, because they were best fitted to do the work in hand. So
the stay-at-homes loyally crushed down their feeling of envy and united
in a hearty send-off for their fellows. Every member of the patrol was
at the railroad station Friday morning to bid good-bye to their four
comrades who were to play no inconspicuous part in the stirring days to
come, and who were to make known to the country at large the name of
the Camp Brady Wireless Patrol.