SCORING A TRIUMPH
When he had gone the boys grinned at one another.
"We're getting to be popular around this place," remarked Bob.
"We sha'n't be quite so popular tomorrow, if the concert broadcasted
tonight isn't a good one," said Joe.
"I only wish we could get that loudspeaker to speak just a bit
louder," said Herb. "It's only fair now, and those people will be
expecting a lot, I suppose."
"I was thinking the same thing," remarked Bob. "And if we're willing
to pitch in this afternoon, we can improve the strength of our set a
lot"
The others looked incredulously at him.
"Explain," said Joe. "You've got us guessing, Bob."
"The way we've got our set hooked up now, we're using a loop antenna,
aren't we? Well," as the others nodded assent, "why not unwind the
loop and string a double aerial on the roof? That would give us a lot
more power, you know."
"Right you are!" exclaimed Joe. "That should make a lot of
difference."
"But if we do that, we'll have to have a ground, which isn't necessary
with the loop antenna," objected Herb.
"That's true enough," agreed Bob. "But that's easy, after all. We can
hook our ground wire to one of the steam radiators."
"Trust Bob to think of everything!" ejaculated Jimmy.
"Bob is thinking that we'd better get busy, then," said that
individual. "Heave yourself off that nice soft couch, Jimmy, and get
your hat and overcoat on."
Jimmy emitted a dismal groan.
"Have a heart, Bob," he complained. "You know I worked so hard this
morning that I'm all in."
"All right, then, you stay there; but we'll tell Edna and Ruth that
you refused to help," said Joe, cruelly.
This threat had its effect, and Jimmy struggled to his feet and had
his outer clothing on almost as soon as the others. It was a beautiful
day outside, and after they once got warmed up, they thoroughly
enjoyed the work of stringing the aerial on the roof. They brought the
leading-in wire to one of the windows of the hotel parlor. It was not
necessary to insulate this with anything heavier than friction tape,
as this was to be only a temporary installation. Before dark they had
everything ready, and then they went inside, moved their receiving set
into the parlor, and connected it up to the leading-in wire. Following
Bob's suggestion, they attached a ground wire to a radiator, and found
that everything worked perfectly. As they had anticipated, the signals
were considerably louder, and the old phonograph horn filled the big
room with a satisfying volume of sound.
During dinner the boys were so excited that they could hardly eat, and
immediately afterward they hurried into the parlor. The guests had
been notified of the impending concert, and soon almost everybody in
the hotel had crowded into the room.
The hotel manager made a little speech introducing the boys to those
who had not already become acquainted with them, and mentioning the
concert that was to come. Then every one waited expectantly for the
promised entertainment.
It proved unnecessary to do much tuning, as the adjustment they had
secured that afternoon proved to be very nearly correct still.
When the first clear notes floated into the room many of the audience
straightened up in their chairs, while looks of astonishment passed
over their features. At first they were too engrossed with the novelty
of the thing to pay much attention to the music, but gradually the
golden notes wove their magic net and held them all enthralled. The
night was an ideal one for radiophony, cold and still, with hardly any
static to annoy. One selection after another came in clear and
distinct, and after each one the audience applauded instinctively,
hardly conscious of the fact that upward of one hundred miles of bleak
and snow-covered mountains and valleys lay between them and the
performers.
At length, to everybody's regret, the last number was played, and the
receiving set was silent. Not so the audience, however, who
overwhelmed the boys with thanks, and made them promise to entertain
them in a similar manner on other evenings.
After most of the audience had drifted out the Salper girls thanked
the boys prettily for all they had done, and they felt more than
repaid for the hard work of the day, even Jimmy admitting afterward
that "it was worth it."
The next day the boys were eager to see Bert Thompson, the radio man,
and tell him about their successful experiment, so they set out for
the government station soon after breakfast. It had snowed in the
early morning, but had now stopped, and the air was cold and bracing.
The four lads relieved the monotony of the long walk with, more than
one impromptu exchange of snowballs. It seemed that they had hardly
started before they had traversed the miles of difficult going and
found themselves in the snug interior of the wireless house.
As they were approaching it, they were astonished to see Mr. Salper
emerge, a heavy frown on his usually none-too-cheerful countenance. He
only nodded to the radio boys in passing, and hurried away through the
snow at a pace of which they would never have believed him capable.
When they entered the station they found Bert Thompson excited and
angry. When they opened the door he started up, but when he saw who
his visitors were, sank back in his chair.
"I'm glad it's you fellows!" he exclaimed. "I thought it was that Wall
Street man coming back. I'm not sure but I'll throw him out if he
does. I'd like to, anyhow."
"You are all up in the air," said Bob. "Did you have an argument with
Mr. Salper?"
"Well, he did most of the arguing," said the other, with a faint
smile. "He's so blamed used to having his own way that if any one
doesn't do just as he wants, he gets mad.
"I suppose I should make allowances for him, because he has plenty to
worry him," went on Thompson. "Some of those Wall Street manipulators
are a ruthless bunch, and when they aren't busy taking money from an
innocent public, they stage some battles between each other. Mr.
Salper has an idea that a bunch of them are trying to swing the market
against him while he's up here, and he seems to think that this is a
public radio station, with nothing to do but send and receive messages
for him all day. I'm working for Uncle Sam, not for him."
"Oh, well, don't let him get you all stirred up, anyway," said Bob.
"He doesn't mean half of what he says. He was real decent last night
while we were giving our concert."
"What do you mean, concert?" asked the wireless man. "Are you in the
entertainment game now?"
"Something like that," answered Bob, grinning, and then he told the
operator about the concert of the previous evening.
"That's fine," said Thompson heartily, when he had finished. "That was
a good idea, to use a regular aerial instead of the loop. It certainly
catches a lot more."
"Yes, but the loop is mighty handy, just the same," remarked Joe.
"Especially in a portable set. You can set it up in no time."
"Oh, it's handy, there's no doubt of that," admitted the young
wireless man. "I wish I had been there for the concert. I heard most
of it here, but it must have been fun to watch the faces of the
audience when you started in."
"It was," laughed Herb. "I think that some of them imagined we had a
phonograph hidden somewhere because after the concert was over a
number of them looked all around the set as though they were hunting
for something suspicious."
"Likely enough," agreed Thompson. "Some people are mighty hard to
convince."
After some further conversation the boys took their leave, promising
to come again for a longer visit. On the way back the chief topic of
discussion was Mr. Salper, and the boys wondered more than once just
what the nature of the trouble was that caused him to haunt the
wireless station and besiege the operator with a flood of messages.