ON THE TRAIL
"Gosh!" exclaimed Herb, wiping tears of merriment from his eyes. "I'll
never forget this night if I live to be a hundred. Oh, my, but that
was rich!"
"Those fellows will learn after a while that it doesn't pay to get gay
with this bunch," said Joe. "I think we let them off easy for stealing
Doughnuts' outfit, as it is. We might have landed them a few swift
ones while we were there."
"They saved us even that trouble," Bob pointed out. "They were
punching each other hard enough to suit any one."
"That's right," said Joe, laughing. "I guess by this time they're
sorry they stole that set."
"I'm mighty grateful to you fellows for helping me get this back,"
said Jimmy, looking lovingly at his set, which had escaped with hardly
a scratch. "When I found it was gone, I pretty nearly gave it up for
lost."
"'One for all and all for one,'" quoted Bob. "We'll teach Buck Looker
and his set to let us alone, if it's possible to teach them anything.
But I suppose we might as well run along now, because it's getting
pretty late."
"I happen to know that there's a big pan of rice pudding in the ice
box," said Jimmy. "It may be late, but it's never too late for that,
is it?"
"Lead us to it!" the other three chanted in unison, and in a short
time the rice pudding was only a memory. Then the boys said good-night
and parted, each to his own home, well satisfied with the result of
their adventure.
Bob and Joe were walking down Main Street the next day, when they met
Buck Looker and Carl Lutz, both looking very much the worse for wear.
Joe stopped and gazed at them in apparent astonishment.
"Why, what have you fellows been doing, anyway?" he inquired. "You
look as though you had had an argument with a steam roller."
"Yes, and the steam roller must have won," grinned Bob.
"You know well enough what happened to us," growled Buck Looker
malignantly. "If ever you fellows come around our clubhouse again,
we'll make you wish you hadn't."
"Clubhouse?" queried Joe innocently. "What does he mean, Bob?
I didn't know he and Lutz had a clubhouse."
"I mean that garage back of the Mooney's place," said Buck irately.
"That's our clubhouse, and you fellows had better not try any rough
house there again, or there'll be trouble."
"Oh, I know the place he means," said Bob, after making a pretence of
puzzled thinking. "He means that tumbled-down shack where Mr. Mooney
keeps his garden tools. I'm sure we'd never want to go near a place
like that, would we, Joe?"
"Of course not," said Joe. "I wouldn't ask a respectable dog to go
near that place."
Looker and Lutz had been growing angrier all the time during this
dialogue, but after their recent experiences with the radio boys
they did not quite dare resort to open hostilities. But if looks
could have killed, Bob and Joe would have dropped dead on the spot.
"If you've got anything to say, now's the time to say it," said Bob,
gazing steadily at the bullies with a look in his eyes that made
them shift uneasily.
"We're in a big hurry, or we'd tend to you right now," blustered
Buck. "Come on, Carl. We'll fix them some other time."
"No time like the present, you know," said Joe.
But the two bullies had little inclination for a fair fight, as they
had a pretty shrewd suspicion of how they would fare in that event.
With ugly sidewise looks they passed on, leaving Bob and Joe in
possession of the field.
"They're beginning to think we're bad medicine," said Joe. "A little
more training, Bob, and they'll even be afraid to talk back to us."
"Looks that way, doesn't it," said Bob, laughing.
The two radio boys went on to their destination, which was the
hardware store, where they both wanted to buy some wire and other
supplies. What was their surprise, when they went inside, to find
Frank Brandon, the radio inspector, talking to the proprietor.
As the boys entered, Brandon glanced at them, and then, as recognition
came into his eyes, he extended his hand.
"Hello, there!" he exclaimed. "How have you been since I saw you?
How's the wireless coming on?"
"It's O K," said Bob. "We're both trying for the Ferberton prize,
you know."
"That's fine," said Brandon heartily. "The prizes are to be given out
pretty soon, aren't they?"
"Yes. And we're both hoping that if one of us doesn't get it, the
other will," said Joe. "If neither one gets it, it won't be anything
against you," said Brandon. "I hear there are a lot of sets entered,
and some of the fellows who have made them have been at the game
a lot longer than you have."
"We're doing a lot of hoping, anyway," said Bob. "Are they keeping
you pretty busy these days?"
"I should say so," said the radio inspector. "There's one fellow
in particular that I'm having a lot of trouble with. I've got his
location approximately, but in the neighborhood where he should be
I haven't been able to locate any antennae to indicate the presence
of a radio station. Usually it's easy enough, but this fellow seems
to be a sly fox."
"How in the world do you locate an unauthorized station, anyway?"
queried Bob.
"In each district in which there is a radio inspector we have what
we call directional finders. These consist of a combination of a loop
aerial and a compass and a radio receiving set. We have complete maps
of the district. When the man we're after is sending, we swing the
loop aerial around until the signals reach their loudest tone. Then
a reading is taken on the compass. This action is repeated several
times, after which we turn the loop so as to tune out all sound.
During the silent period a line is drawn on the map at right angles
to the direction of the loop. This line indicates the direction from
which the sounds are coming. This takes place at the same time at all
three stations, and where the lines on the map intersect is the point
where the offender can be found."
"But I suppose that location isn't very exact, is it?" asked Bob.
"No; but it's usually exact enough," said Brandon. "We go to the place
indicated on the map, and look about in the neighborhood for aerials.
Anybody owning them has to show his license, if he has one, and if he
hasn't--well, that's the man we're after."
"Simple enough," commented Bob. "But when you don't know how it's
done, it seems like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Yes, and by all the rules it should be easier than usual to locate
this offender," said the radio inspector, "because he has a
peculiarity that marks him out."
"I'll bet I know what it is, too," said Bob quickly.
"You do?" said Brandon, surprised.
"He stutters badly, and then has to whistle before he can go on,
doesn't he?" said Bob.
"That's the man, all right," said Brandon. "Do you know anything
about him?"
"Well, if he's the man we think he is, we don't know much good about
him," said Bob, and he proceeded to tell Brandon about Dan Cassey
and the mean way he had tricked Nellie Berwick and stolen her money.
"So you see you're not the only one looking for the stuttering man,"
said Bob, in conclusion. "We'd like pretty well to find out where
he is ourselves."
"But what makes you think this man I'm looking for is the same one
you're after?" asked Brandon.
"In the first place, there aren't many people who stutter so badly,"
said Bob. "And in the second place, Miss Berwick told us that she
saw some radio apparatus on his desk when she was in his office."
"That certainly goes a long way in hitching up the two," said the
inspector thoughtfully. "Now," he continued, after studying a few
minutes longer, "I have a proposition to make. I've checked up my
calculations, and I'm going to have another try at locating this man
to-morrow. As you're both interested in finding him, too, why not go
with me and help me? Between the three of us we ought to find him."
"Nothing could suit me better!" exclaimed Bob. "How about you, Joe?"
"Fine," replied his chum. "To-morrow's Saturday, so we can go all
right. But don't forget that we want to be back when the prize
winners are announced," he said, struck by a sudden thought.
"Oh, it won't take us very long to get on the ground," said Brandon.
"I figure this man we're after is somewhere in Lansdale, and you know
that isn't more than a two hours' run by automobile. If we haven't
found him by the time you should be leaving in order to get back here
on time, you two can come back by train, and I'll stay there. But
if we get an early start I think the three of us, working together,
should locate our man pretty quickly. Lansdale isn't a very large
place, you know."
"I can start as early as you like," said Bob. "How about you, Joe?"
"That goes for me, too," said Joe. "Set your own time, Mr. Brandon."
"Well, then, suppose you both meet me at Hall's garage at eight sharp
to-morrow morning," proposed Frank Brandon. "I'll hire a good car and
be all ready to start by that time."
"We'll be there on the dot," promised Bob, and they all shook hands
on the bargain.
Bob and Joe made their purchases, said goodbye to the radio inspector,
and left the store excitedly discussing their chances of locating the
rascal Cassey and perhaps recovering Nellie Berwick's stolen money.
When they parted to go home, each renewed his promise to be on time
the following morning, and went his way filled with hope that at last
the scoundrel would perhaps be brought to justice.
"But I wish we could be sure that that old rascal would be caught up
with and be made to give back Miss Berwick's money," reflected Bob,
as he turned in at his own home. "She's in Clintonia again. I saw her
at a distance to-day."