IN A DILEMMA
There was a moment of stupor and paralysis as the meaning of the crash
dawned upon the radio boys.
Buck and his crowd had vanished and were footing it up the fast-darkening
street at the top of their speed.
The first impulse of the radio boys was to follow their example. They
knew that none of them was responsible for the disaster, and they were
of no mind to be sacrificed on behalf of the gang that had attacked
them. And they knew that in affairs of that kind the ones on the ground
were apt to suffer the more severely.
They actually started to run away, but had got only a few feet from the
scene of the smash when Bob, who had been thinking quickly, called a
halt.
"None of this stuff for us, fellows," he declared. "We've got to face
the music. I'm not going to have a hunted feeling, even if we succeeded
in getting away. We know we didn't do it and we'll tell the plain truth.
If that doesn't serve, why so much the worse for us. But at any rate we
won't be despising ourselves as cowards."
As usual, his comrades accorded him the leadership and fell in with his
plan, although it was not without many misgivings that they awaited the
coming of the angry proprietor of the place, who had already started in
pursuit of them, accompanied by many others who had been attracted by
the crash and whose numbers were being rapidly augmented.
"Here are the fellows that smashed my window!" cried Mr. Larsen, the
proprietor of the drygoods store, rushing up to them and shaking his
fist in their faces. "Where are the police?" he shouted, looking around
him. "I'll have them arrested for malicious damage."
And while he faced them, gesticulating wildly, his face purple with
anger and excitement, it may be well for the benefit of those who have
not read the preceding volumes of this series to tell briefly who the
radio boys are and what had been their adventures before the time this
story opens.
The acknowledged leader of the boys was Bob Layton, son of a prosperous
chemist of Clintonia, in which town Bob had been born and brought up.
Mr. Layton was a respected citizen of the town and foremost in its civic
activities. Clintonia was a thriving little city of about ten thousand
population, situated on the Shagary River, about seventy-five miles from
the city of New York.
Bob at the beginning of this story was about sixteen years old, tall and
stalwart and a clean-cut specimen of upstanding American youth. He was
of rather dark complexion and had a pair of eyes that looked straight at
one. Those eyes were usually merry, but could flash with indignation
when circumstances required it. He was never on the lookout for trouble,
but was always ready to meet it half way, and his courageous character
together with his vigorous physique had made him prominent in the sports
of the boys of his own age. He was a crack baseball player and one of
the chief factors of the high school football eleven. No one in
Clintonia was held in better liking.
Bob's special chum was Joe Atwood, son of the leading physician of the
town. Joe was fair in complexion and sturdy in makeup. He and Bob had
been for many years almost inseparable companions, Bob usually acting as
captain in anything in which they might be engaged, while Joe served as
first mate. The latter had a hot temper, and his impulsiveness sometimes
got him into trouble and would have involved him in scrapes oftener if
it had not been for the cooler head and steadying influence of Bob.
Two other friends of the boys who were almost always in their company
were Herb Fennington, whose father kept a large general store in the
town, and Jimmy Plummer, son of a respected carpenter and contractor.
Herb was of a rather indolent disposition, but was jolly and
good-natured and always full of jokes, some of them good, others poor,
which he frequently sought to spring on his companions.
Jimmy was a trifle younger than his mates, fat and round and excessively
fond of the good things of life. His liking for that special dainty had
gained him the nickname of "Doughnuts," and few of such nicknames were
ever more fittingly bestowed.
Apart from the liking that drew them together, the boys had another link
in their common interest in radio. From the time that this wonderful new
science had begun to spread over the country with such amazing rapidity,
they had been among the most ardent "fans." Everything that they could
read or learn on the subject was devoured with avidity, and they were
almost constantly at the home of one or the other, listening in on their
radio sets and, lately, sending messages, in the latter of which they
had now attained an unusual degree of proficiency.
In decided contrast to Bob and his friends was another group of
Clintonia youth, between whom and the radio boys there was a pronounced
antipathy. The leader of this group was Buck Looker, a big overgrown,
hulking boy, dull in his studies and a bully in character. His two
special cronies were Carl Lutz, a boy of about his own age, and Terry
Mooney, both of them noted for their mean and sneaking dispositions.
Buck lorded it over them, and as his father was one of the richest men
in the town they cringed before him and were always ready to back him up
in any piece of meanness and mischief.
The enthusiasm of Bob and his friends for radio was fostered by the help
and advice of the Reverend Doctor Dale, the clergyman in charge of the
Old First Church of Clintonia, who, in addition to being an eloquent
preacher, was keenly interested in all latter-day developments of
science, especially radio. Whenever the boys got into trouble with their
sets they knew that all they had to do was to go to the genial doctor
and be helped out of their perplexities.
An incident that gave a great impetus to their interest in the subject
was the offering of prizes by Mr. Ferberton, the member of Congress for
their district, for the best radio sets turned out by the boys of his
congressional district by their own endeavors. Bob, Joe, and Jimmy
entered into this competition with great zest. Herb with his habitual
indolence kept out of it.
While the boys were engrossed with their radio experiments an incident
happened in town that led them into many unexpected adventures. An
automobile run by a visitor in town, a Miss Nellie Berwick, got out of
her control and dashed through the window of a store. Bob and Joe, who
happened to be at hand, rescued the girl from imminent peril, while Herb
and Jimmy did good work in curbing the fire that followed the accident.
How the boys learned of the orphan girl's story, got on the track of the
rascal who had tried to swindle her and forced him to make restitution;
what part the radio played in bringing the fellow to terms; how they
detected and thwarted the plans of Buck Looker and his cronies to wreck
their sets; are told in the first volume of this series entitled: "The
Radio Boys' First Wireless; Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize."
That summer the chums went to Ocean Point on the seashore, where many of
the Clintonia folks had established a little bungalow colony of their
own. What adventures they met with there; what strides they made in the
practical work of radio; how they were enabled by their knowledge and
quick application of it to save a storm-tossed ship on which members of
their own families were voyaging; how they ran down and captured the
scoundrel Cassey who had knocked out with a blackjack the operator at
the sending station and looted his safe--these and many more incidents
are narrated in the second volume of this series entitled: "The Radio
Boys at Ocean Point; Or, The Message That Saved the Ship."
While the summer season was yet at its height, the boys had occasion to
rescue the occupants of a rowboat that had been run down by men in a
stolen motor boat. The two rescued youths proved to be vaudeville
actors, and the boys grew very friendly with them. The injury that
crippled one of them, Larry Bartlett; the false accusation brought
against him by Buck Looker; the way in which the boys succeeded in
getting work for Larry at the sending station, where his remarkable gift
of mimicry received recognition; how they themselves were placed on the
broadcasting program, and the clever way in which they trapped the
motor-boat thieves; are told in the third volume of the series,
entitled: "The Radio Boys at the Sending Station; Or, Making Good in the
Wireless Room."
The coming of fall brought the boys back to Clintonia, where, however,
the usual course of their studies was interrupted by an epidemic that
made necessary for a time the closing of the schools. This gave the
radio boys an opportunity to make a trip to Mountain Pass, a popular
resort in the hills. Here they came in contact with a group of plotters
who were trying to put through a nefarious deal and were able to thwart
the rascals through the use of radio. By that same beneficent science
too they were able to save a life when other means of communication were
blocked. And not the least satisfactory feature was the utter
discomfiture they were able to visit upon Buck Looker and his gang.
These and many other adventures are told in the fourth volume of the
series, entitled: "The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass; Or, The Midnight
Call for Assistance."
And now to return to the radio boys as they stood facing the angry
storekeeper amid a constantly growing throng of curious onlookers. They
had been in many tighter fixes in their life but none that was more
embarrassing.
"I'll have them arrested!" the storekeeper repeated, his voice rising to
a shrill treble.
"Now look here," replied Bob. "Suppose you cut out this talk of having
us arrested. In the first place, we didn't break your window. In the
second place, if we had it wouldn't be a matter of arrest but of making
good the damage."
"All right then," said Mr. Larsen eagerly, catching at the last word.
"Make good the damage. It will cost at least two hundred dollars to
replace that window."
"I think you're a little high," returned Bob. "But that doesn't matter.
I didn't say that we'd make the damage good. I said that if we'd broken
it, it would be a matter of making good. But we didn't break it, and
that lets us out I'll say."
"It's easy to say that," sneered the merchant. "How do I know that you
didn't break it? It would of course be natural for you to try to lie out
of it."
"It wouldn't be natural for us to lie out of it," replied Bob,
controlling his temper with difficulty. "That isn't our way of doing
things. Why do you suppose we stayed here when it would have been
perfectly easy for us to get away? It wasn't a snowball we threw that
broke your window. It was one thrown by the fellows we were fighting
with."
"Always the other fellow that does it!" replied the storekeeper angrily.
"Who was that other fellow or fellows then? Tell me that. Come on now,
tell me that."
Bob kept silent. He had no love for Buck Looker and his gang, who had
always tried to injure him, but he was not going to inform.
"See," said Mr. Larsen, misunderstanding his silence. "When I ask you,
you can't tell me. You're the fellows that did it, all right, and you'll
pay me for it or I'll have you put in jail, that's what I'll do."
"I saw the fellows who were firing snowballs in this direction," spoke
up Mr. Talley, a caterer, pushing his way through the throng. "I nearly
bumped into them as they were running away. Buck Looker was one of them.
I saw his face plainly and can't be mistaken. The others I'm not so sure
of, but I think they were Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney.
"For my part, Mr. Larsen," he continued, "I don't see how a snowball
could break that heavy plate-glass window, anyway. My windows are no
heavier, and they've often had snowballs come against them without doing
any harm. Are you sure it wasn't something else that smashed the glass?"
"Dead sure," replied Larsen. "Come inside and see for yourself."
He led the way into his store, and Mr. Talley, the boys, and a number of
others crowded in after him.
"Look," said Larsen, pointing to a piece of dress goods that had been
hanging in the window. "See where the snow has splashed against it?
There's no question that a snowball did it. You can see the bits of snow
around here yet if you'll only look."
This was true and the evidence seemed conclusive. But just then Bob's
keen eyes detected something else. He stooped down and brought up quite
a large sharp-edged stone which still had some fragments of snow
adhering to it and held it up for all to see.
"Here's the answer," he said. "This stone was packed in the snowball,
and that is why it smashed the window!"