Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
[Illustration: Foot by foot the Sprite crept up to the Winner till the
two boats were racing side by side.
(_The Golden Boys and Their New Electric Cell_) _Page 35_]
THE GOLDEN BOYS
AND THEIR
NEW ELECTRIC CELL
BY L. P. WYMAN, PH.D.
Dean of Pennsylvania Military College
AUTHOR OF
"_The Golden Boys at the Fortress_," "_The Golden Boys
in the Maine Woods_," "_The Golden Boys with the
Lumber Jacks_," "_The Golden Boys on the
River Drive_."
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers New York
THE
GOLDEN BOYS SERIES
A Series of Stories for Boys 12 to 16 Years of Age
BY L. P. WYMAN, PH.D.
Dean of the Pennsylvania Military College
The Golden Boys and Their New Electric Cell
The Golden Boys at the Fortress
The Golden Boys in the Maine Woods
The Golden Boys With the Lumber Jacks
The Golden Boys on the River Drive
Copyright, 1922
By A. L. BURT COMPANY
THE GOLDEN BOYS AND THEIR NEW ELECTRIC CELL
Made in "U. S. A."
THE GOLDEN BOYS AND THEIR NEW ELECTRIC CELL
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW CELL.
"Say, Jack, do you have any idea that this thing is going to work?"
"I don't know, Bob, the theory is all right, but how it will work out
in practice is a cat of another color; one thing is sure, though, and
that is if it don't work we are out of the running in the race, for
the new boat the Jenkins boys have just bought, will run circles round
the Sprite."
"Well, we'll soon know, for it's about ready to test."
This conversation took place one afternoon in the latter part of July
in the basement of a house in Skowhegan, Maine. The room was fitted up
as a combined workshop and laboratory, and a single glance would
indicate that the two boys were by no means novices, for it contained
many expensive and intricate pieces of machinery.
Jack and Bob Golden, 15 and 17 years old respectively, were sons of a
rich manufacturer, who had made a large part of his fortune through
his own inventions. Mr. Golden was an indulgent father and seeing that
his inventive genius had descended to his sons, had fitted up a modern
machine shop and laboratory for them and had supplied them liberally
with money for experiments. He had by no means been disappointed in
the results, for although they were but boys, they had already worked
out several designs, which had been patented and had proved very
successful.
Mr. Golden was proud of his boys and with good reason. They were large
for their age, Bob standing 5 feet 10 inches in his stockings and Jack
being but two inches shorter. They were fine, manly, looking fellows,
and their clean-cut open faces told that they were generous to a fault
and were boys to be trusted.
The rest of the family consisted of Mrs. Golden, a small lovable
woman, and a daughter Edna, 14 years old, who was almost worshipped by
her big brothers. Altogether they were as happy and jolly a family as
one would find in a long journey.
Through the center of the town ran the Kennebec river, and six miles
to the north lay a beautiful sheet of water, five miles long by two
wide, known as Hayden Lake. Here the boys kept their motorboat, and as
Mr. Golden had a large cottage on the shore of the lake, the family
spent the greater part of the summer there. The shores of the lake
were dotted with cottages, and probably thirty or more motor boats
were owned by the people who made the place their summer home. During
each summer many races were held, and proud indeed was the boy or man
who secured the blue ribbon given to the winner of the final race held
the first week in August.
"I say, Jack," shouted Bob from the farther side of the room where he
was closely watching a piece of electrical apparatus, "shut down the
dynamo, will you? I want to look at these cells and see how they are
coming. We ought to have about enough in the first one."
"Right you are, son!" replied Jack as he turned a lever, and as the
hum, which had filled the room ceased, he added, "There you are."
Bending over a glass tank, which was about 12 inches square by 8 deep,
and nearly filled with dilute sulphuric acid, Bob disconnected two
wires and reaching in his hand, lifted out a cylinder of metal about 6
inches long and 1½ inches thick.
"Hurrah," he shouted, "she's almost full. Now in about a minute we'll
know whether or not we've wasted our time during the last week. Have
you got those caps all ready and is the motor in trim?"
"Sure thing," replied Jack. "But say, Bob, I'm mighty nervous; suppose
it don't work."
"Well," said Bob slowly, "it won't be the first time we've had to try
again. If there is any trouble I feel sure it's in the caps, for this
manganese dioxide was made by the electric current, and if the caps
make it decompose into manganese and oxygen, the same amount of
electricity will be produced as was used in making it. It's the same
principle as the regular storage battery, only we are going to do
without the plates and sulphuric acid."
"That's all right," said impatient Jack, "but hurry up and hitch it on
and let's get the anxiety over with."
While talking, Bob had screwed on to each end of the cylinder a metal
cap which had attached to its middle an insulated wire. He now laid
the cylinder on a table and fastened each of the wires to a terminal
of a small, but powerful electric motor.
"All right now, switch her on and let's see her hum."
Instantly Jack threw over the lever, but, alas for the hopes of the
boys, nothing resulted. As they looked at each other keen
disappointment was evident on both faces. Almost instantly, however,
Jack grabbed his brother by the arm and almost shouted.
"Well, if I'm not the original clumsy Claude."
"What is it? Tell me quick."
"Why, don't you see? I gave you two positive caps instead of a
positive and negative."
Bob quickly picked up the cylinder, and a glance told him that his
brother was right. Quickly unscrewing one cap he replaced it with a
similar appearing one, but which was marked -- instead of +.
"Now we're off again, switch her on," and this time, to their intense
delight, no sooner was the switch thrown than the little motor sprang
to life, and the armature began to revolve with a whirl which seemed
to shout success to the two boys. Catching hold of each other's hands
they danced about the room fairly shouting their joy.
"For mercy sakes, what is this, a new kind of a war dance?" asked a
mild voice, and stopping just at the beginning of a wild yell, the
boys saw that their father had entered the room.
"Oh, dad," cried both boys, running to him and catching him by the
arms. "It works, it works. Just see it go."
"Well, well, so it does, so it does," said Mr. Golden eagerly. "Boys,
I certainly congratulate you; you have done a big thing and if it
works as well as it seems to be doing, it will be one of the greatest
inventions of the day."
"Now," said Jack, "we must see how long it will--hold on a minute,"
and to their amazement he rushed to the back door flung it open and
dashed across the yard. He was gone fully five minutes and when he
returned was panting for all he was worth.
"Didn't you see him?" he demanded.
"See who?" asked Bob.
"Why, sure as I live, Fred Jenkins was looking in that window. He lit
out, though, and got away before I could get out."
"What do you suppose he wanted?" asked Mr. Golden.
"Well, I'll tell you, dad," replied Bob. "Ever since we came down from
the lake Fred and Will Jenkins have been trying to find out what we've
been doing. You know they almost got us on that new vibrator we
invented, owing to our carelessness in leaving it on the table one day
when they came in."
"Yes," broke in Jack, "and they are just mean enough to sneak round
and try to steal our new storage cell."
"We've got to be mighty careful this time," continued Bob, "and not
let one of those caps get into their hands, for the secret of the
whole thing is in them, as it is the action of the different metals
composing them which starts the manganese dioxide to decomposing and
converts its chemical energy into electricity."
"Well, come on boys," said Mr. Golden as soon as Bob had finished.
"Your mother sent me down to tell you to come to supper, and we
mustn't be late, as she has company."
"All right," was Bob's reply. "Just let me connect the motor with
this clock. You see," he explained, "I have it arranged so that when
it stops the clock will stop also and we can tell how long it has
run."
Several times that evening the boys ran down to the basement to see if
the motor was still going, and as it was humming merrily at 10:30,
they decided to go to bed and trust to the clock to tell them when it
stopped.
Early the next morning they rushed to the laboratory before they were
half dressed, to find the motor silent and the hands of the clock
pointing to 4:35.
"Whoop," shouted Jack, as he caught sight of the face of the clock,
"that's almost twelve hours, just think of it Bob. One of those
cylinders will run the Sprite ten or twelve hours, and it wasn't full
either."
"It's sure great," returned Bob with no less enthusiasm. "I guess
we'll show the Jenkins some sailing now."
"That's what we will," agreed Jack. "Now we must get busy and fill
some more of those cylinders."