AN EXCITING CHASE
For a single instant the boys stood motionless and silent, stupefied
by the sudden apparition. Then, as though shocked by a galvanic
battery, they woke to life.
"Quick!" shouted Bob. "To the bungalow! It's our only chance!"
Like a flash he was off, followed by his comrades. Even Jimmy's feet
seemed winged, and they reached the porch in record time.
Frantically Bob grasped the knob of the front door. The door was
locked. He threw himself against it, but his weight was not
sufficient, and although the door groaned it refused to yield. He
glanced at his comrades, surrounding him in a panting group, and then
at the bear. The latter was still coming, and seemed to have increased
his speed.
The roof of the veranda was supported by half a dozen wooden pillars.
"Shin up these!" shouted Bob, throwing his arms and legs about one and
setting the example.
In a trice they were all climbing desperately. Fortunately they had
not far to go, for the roof of the veranda was not high. But they felt
as though they were in a nightmare, and although they were really
making surprisingly good time, it seemed as though they would never
get to the top.
Bob reached there first and swung himself over the roof. Not waiting a
moment to rest, he rushed over to the post that Jimmy had chosen,
reached over his hand and caught one of Jimmy's wrists. There was a
mad scramble and then Jimmy lay on the roof, gasping.
Joe and Herb needed no help, as they had reached the roof only a
second later than Bob.
For the moment at least they were safe, and they sat panting and
trying to get their breath.
And while with fast-beating hearts they are wondering how they are to
escape from the monster below them, it may be well, for the benefit of
those who have not read the preceding volumes of this series, to tell
who the radio boys were and what had been their adventures up to the
time this story opens.
Bob Layton was the son of a prosperous chemist who was a leading
citizen of the town of Clintonia, a wideawake, thriving, little city
with a population of about ten thousand. The town was located on the
banks of the Shagary River, and was about seventy-five miles from New
York. Bob, at the time these incidents occurred, was in his sixteenth
year. He was tall and well built, of rather dark complexion and frank,
merry eyes that always looked straight at one. He was good in his
studies and a leader in athletic sports among boys of his own age. He
had a firm, decided character, and was always at his best in an
emergency that demanded cool thinking and quick action.
His closest friend was Joe Atwood, whose father was a physician with a
large practice. Joe was fair in complexion, while Bob was dark, and
they differed in more than mere physical qualities. Joe had a fiery
temper and was apt to speak or act first and think afterward, and Bob
many times served as a brake on the impulsive temperament of his
friend.
Herb Fennington was a year younger than Bob and Joe, and of a more
indolent, easy-going disposition. He was full of fun and jokes and
nobody could long have the blues when Herb was about.
A fourth member of the group was Jimmy Plummer, whose father was a
carpenter and contractor and a highly respected citizen of the town.
Jimmy was fat, red-faced and good-natured, with a special partiality
for the good things of life. He had gained the nickname of
"Doughnuts," because of his fondness for that famous product of the
kitchen, and did his best to deserve the name.
Besides the liking that drew the boys together, there was an added
link in their interest in radio, which by its wonders had taken a firm
hold on their youthful imaginations. In delving into the mysteries of
this new and fascinating science, they had been greatly assisted by
the kindly help afforded them by the Reverend Doctor Dale, the pastor
of the Old First Church of Clintonia. His suggestions had been of
immense value in helping them to master the elements of the science,
and whenever they got into a quandary they had no hesitation in
appealing to him for help that was never refused.
What gave the boys an added stimulus was the offer by the member of
Congress for the district in which Clintonia was situated of prizes
for the best radio sets made by the boys themselves. The contest was
open to all the boys residing in the Congressional district, and Bob,
Joe, and Jimmy entered into it with enthusiasm. Herb, with his natural
indolence, did not go into the competition and was sorry afterward
that he had not. The first prize was a hundred dollars, and the
second, fifty. To the boys this seemed a whole lot of money and well
worth the winning.
It was hard work though, and made the harder by the obstacles put in
their way by Buck Looker, the bully of the town, assisted by Carl Lutz
and Terry Mooney, two of his cronies almost as worthless as himself.
Buck tried to wreck Bob's aerial and got a richly deserved thrashing
in consequence. Later on the trio tried to steal Jimmy's set, but the
radio boys got it back in a way that brought a good deal of
discomfiture to the Looker crowd.
While the radio sets were in the making, an exciting incident occurred
in town that drew the boys into a series of adventures. An automobile
running wild and dashing through the windows of a paint and hardware
store in the town gave Bob and Joe an opportunity to rescue the
occupant, a Miss Nellie Berwick, and to learn her story of having been
swindled out of some property by a rascal. How by the means of radio
they got on the track of the scoundrel and forced him to make
restitution, how they overcame all the machinations of their enemies
and came out ahead in the competition, is told in the first volume of
this series, entitled: "The Radio Boys' First Wireless; Or, Winning
the Ferberton Prize."
Shortly after Bob had won the first prize and Joe the second, the
radio boys went down to Ocean Point on the seacoast to spend the
summer. A colony had been established there by several of the
Clintonia families, including those of the radio boys, and they had
great fun on the beach and in the surf. Here too they made marked
advances in their knowledge of radio, in which they were greatly
helped by Brandon Harvey, the wireless operator at the Ocean Point
sending station. How they repaid this by pursuing and capturing the
man who had assaulted him and looted the safe at the station, what
exciting adventures they met with in the pursuit and capture, how
their knowledge of radio enabled them to send help to a ship in peril
on which their own families were voyaging, are told in the second
volume of this series, entitled: "The Radio Boys At Ocean Point; Or,
The Message that Saved the Ship."
Their summer at Ocean Point was further marked by a gallant rescue of
two young vaudeville performers who had been run down by reckless
thieves in a stolen motor boat. How they finally brought these men to
justice, how they managed to bring congenial employment to a crippled
friend, and how in doing this they found scope for their own talents
in the fascinating work of radio broadcasting, are told in the third
volume of this series entitled: "The Radio Boys At the Sending
Station; Or, Making Good in the Wireless Room."
And now to return to the boys, who found themselves in the woods on
the roof of the porch of the cottage where they had taken refuge from
the pursuit of the bear.
That refuge promised to be only a temporary one and exceedingly
precarious. The roof was none too strongly built in the first place,
and had fallen into decay from stress of weather and lack of repairs.
Already there was an ominous creaking as it sagged crazily under the
weight of the four boys.
Beneath them was the bear, who looked up at them, his jaws slavering
and his little red eyes flaming. He was an enormous beast, capable of
tearing any one of them in pieces if he once got them within his
clutches.
"If we only had a gun!" groaned Bob, as a terrifying rumbling came
from the throat of the bear.
"I'd rather have a stick of dynamite to throw at his feet and blow him
into kingdom come," muttered Joe, as he gingerly shifted his position
to find a more solid support than the part of the roof that was
sagging under him.
"'If wishes were horses, beggars might ride,'" remarked Herb. "The
question is what are we going to do?"
"Seems to me the question is what is the bear going to do?" put in
Jimmy.
"What he'll do is plenty," said Joe. "He's got us trapped good and
proper, and the next move is up to him."
The bear himself seemed to be in something of a quandary as to what
that next move was to be. He paced clumsily up and down before the
veranda while he was making up his mind. But to the boys' dismay there
was no sign that he was inclined to relinquish the prey that was so
nearly within his reach.
Finally he seemed to come to a decision. He moved from one to the
other of the pillars supporting the veranda roof, sniffing at each as
if calculating which was the strongest. Then to the horror of the boys
he threw his paws about one of the pillars and commenced to climb.
"He's coming up!" cried Bob, and even as he spoke they could see the
shaggy hair of the beast's head come in sight on a level with the
porch roof. "Up on the other roof, fellows! Maybe he can't follow us
there."
The roof of the house proper extended over the side and front of the
second story and there were several protruding points that offered
support to the feet and hands. In addition there were shutters to the
windows, the tops of which reached nearly to the roof.
There was a wild scramble for whatever support came nearest to hand.
How the boys did it they could not for the life of them remember
afterwards, but somehow, with the spur given to them by the knowledge
that the bear was close behind, they got up on the roof of the house,
their clothes torn and their fingers bruised and bleeding.
"Let's go along the roof toward the back of the house," panted Joe.
"There may be an extension kitchen there on which we can drop and then
from there to the ground. It may not be so easy for the bear to get
down after us as it has been to get up."
They followed this suggestion at once and made their way as rapidly as
possible across the shaky roof. It would have been more prudent of
them to have left some interval between them, but they were so excited
that they did not think of that and crowded close on one another's
heels.
Suddenly a shout rose from Bob.
"Back, fellows!" he cried. "The roof's caving in!"
But the warning came too late. There was an ominous cracking and
splintering, and then with a roar a section of the roof collapsed,
carrying the boys down with it.