A PLOT THAT WENT WRONG
"So far, so good," breathed Bob happily, as the boys were discussing
the news that Mrs. Salper had passed the crisis and was now probably
on the road to recovery. "That's one thing we can set down to the
credit of radio."
"And it's not the only thing of the same sort," put in Joe. "Do you
remember what Mr. Brandon told us of that ship with thirty men and no
doctor on board, where twenty-four of the men were down with a
mysterious disease? The captain got a message by wireless to shore
telling of his plight, and one of the best doctors in New York City
went to the radio station there and got in touch with the captain. He
talked to him by radio for hours, had him describe just the symptoms,
and then told the captain just what to do. A couple of days later the
captain wirelessed in that he had followed directions and that all of
the men had recovered and were fit for duty."
"Yes," said Herb, "and about that other case, too, where a man had an
infected hand and they were afraid he was going to have lockjaw. A
doctor on land told the captain how to treat it and the man got along
all right."
"Trust radio, and you won't go wrong," summed up Bob. "On land and sea
it's right on the job."
"I only hope it will be as effective in saving Mr. Salper's money,"
observed Joe.
"I think very likely it will," replied Bob. "He's about as keen as
they make them, and now that he knows what those rascals are plotting
against him it's dollars to doughnuts that he'll get the best of them.
Their only chance was in taking him by surprise and putting over that
deal while his back was turned. And now that he's got in touch with
his brokers I guess the game is up."
"I wonder how long it will be before we know how it turned out,"
conjectured Herb.
"Oh, probably not more than two or three days," replied Bob. "Things
move pretty fast in Wall Street when a fight is on for control."
"I hope he comes out on top," observed Joe. "He's a good deal of a
crab, and I was mighty sore at him when he landed on us the way he did
the day we were coming up here. Acted as though he thought we ought to
be shot at sunrise. But since that time I've seen a good deal about
him to like and I've come to the conclusion that he's a regular fellow
after all."
"You can tell by the fondness that the girls have for him that he
can't be so bad," said Bob. "That's a pretty good sign to go by. They
know him better than any one else except his wife, and she seems to
think, too, that the sun rises and sets in him."
"I want him to come out ahead not only for his own sake but because I
want to see that fellow Mohun downed," put in Jimmy. "I'm sore at him
right down to the ground. I don't like his eyes, I don't like his
voice, I don't like his teeth, I don't like his character----"
"Outside of that, though, I suppose he's all right," suggested Joe,
grinning. "He seems to be just about as popular with you as a
rattlesnake."
"That's what he reminds me of, anyway," admitted Jimmy.
"Talking of rattlesnakes," put in Herb, "here come three of them now,"
and he indicated Buck Looker, who, with Lutz and Mooney, was coming
along the road. For some time now the Looker crowd had kept out of the
radio boys' way.
"I wonder what trick they're up to now," said Bob, as he saw that the
bunch had their heads together in earnest conversation.
"No knowing," answered Joe; "but it's a safe bet that it's something
cheap and low down. Buck would think the day was wasted if he didn't
have something of the kind on hand."
The groups passed each other without speaking, though Buck darted a
look at Bob in passing that had in it the usual malignance, mingled
with a touch of triumph.
"Did you see that look?" queried Herb, with interest. "Seemed as if he
had something up his sleeve."
"I know what it meant well enough," answered Bob, with a shade of
soberness. "My dad was telling me that he'd been notified that a suit
had been started against him and the fathers of you other fellows by
Mr. Looker to recover the value of the cottage that he said we set on
fire."
"That's all bunk!" cried Herb indignantly. "He couldn't prove it in a
hundred years. A lawsuit, eh? Huh!"
"Dad doesn't think Looker has much of a case," replied Bob. "Still, he
says that you can never tell what a man like Looker and the kind of
lawyer he would hire may do. Of course we can't get away from the fact
that we were in the house the day before it burned, and that looks
bad. We know we didn't set it on fire, but nobody else knows we
didn't. At any rate, even if Looker loses his case, our folks will
have to hire lawyers and lose a lot of time in attending court, so
that all in all it makes a pretty bad mess."
"So that's what Buck was looking so tickled about!" exclaimed Joe.
"I'd like to wipe that look off his face."
"It might be a little satisfaction," laughed Bob. "But it wouldn't
help us win the lawsuit."
By this time their walk had taken them near the vicinity of the radio
station; and as they approached it they caught sight of Mr. Salper
pacing back and forth in a state of impatience.
"Seems to be stirred up about something," remarked Joe.
"Did you ever see him when he wasn't?" laughed Jimmy.
At this moment Mr. Salper caught sight of the boys and came hastily
toward them.
"I want some messages sent and taken," he said, in his usual abrupt
way, though there was none of the sharpness in his voice that had
usually been in evidence when he spoke to them. "I wonder if you could
do this for me," and his eyes rested inquiringly upon Bob.
"I'll do my best, Mr. Salper," replied the latter, and the whole group
went into the wireless room.
"I suppose you have permission to use this plant?" came from Joe.
"Oh, yes. If it hadn't been for that I couldn't have used it as I did
those other times," answered the broker.
Bob seated himself at the sending key and, following the financier's
directions, got in touch with the Wall Street house that had figured
in the previous communications.
For an hour or more there was an interchange of messages that were
mostly nonunderstandable to Bob and his friends who listened with the
keenest interest. There was talk of stocks and bonds and of
consolidations and controls and proxies and a host of other things
that bore on financial deals.
At the beginning, Mr. Salper sat with furrowed brows and an air of
intense concentration. But as the answers came in to his various
inquiries, his brow gradually cleared and he relaxed somewhat in his
chair.
Finally there came an answer that stirred him mightily. He jumped to
his feet and slapped his thigh.
"I've got him!" he cried jubilantly. "By Jove, I've got him!"