ALMOST A TRAGEDY
With his heart beating like a triphammer and his lungs strained
almost to bursting, Bob ran on as he had never run before. And yet
it seemed to him as though he were terribly slow and that his limbs
were dragging as though he were in a nightmare.
Joe, Herb and Jimmy were close behind him as he rushed along,
elbowing his way through the throng that grew denser as he neared
the building in which his father’s store was located. The alarm had
spread with almost lightning rapidity, and it seemed as if half the
people of the town were on their way to render whatever help might
be possible.
In what seemed to be an age, but was in reality less than two
minutes, the boys had reached the store. What they saw was not
calculated to relieve their fears. Choking fumes of what seemed to
be ammonia were pouring out into the streets through the store
windows that had been shattered by the explosion. People who had
come within twenty feet of the place were already choking and
staggering, and one man who had approached too near had fallen prone
on the sidewalk and was being dragged by others out of the danger
zone.
Bob plunged headforemost through the crowd and was making for the
door when cries of warning rose and many hands grasped him and
pulled him back.
“Let me go!” he shouted frantically. “My father is in there! Perhaps
he is dying! Let me go!”
But despite his frantic appeals, his captors held him until he
unbuttoned his jacket and, wriggling out of it like an eel, again
made a dash for the door. The fumes struck him full in the face, and
he staggered as under a blow. Before he could recover and make
another attempt, strong arms were around him and this time held him
fast.
“No use, Bob, my boy,” said the firm but kindly voice of Mr. Talley,
a warm friend both of Bob and his father. “It’s simply suicide to go
in there until the fumes thin out some. Here comes the fire engine
now. The firemen have smoke helmets that will protect them against
the fumes, and if your father is in there, they’ll have him out
quickly.”
Up the street, with a great clangor of bells, came tearing the
engine. The crowd made way for it, while the firemen leaped from the
running board before it came to a stop.
“I’ve got to do something!” gasped Bob. “Let me go!”
“No use, my boy,” said Mr. Talley.
Just then Joe had an inspiration.
“Bob,” he shouted, “there’s that passageway from the old factory
that leads right to the back of the store. Perhaps we can get in
from that. What do you say?”
In a flash, Bob remembered. He tore himself loose from Mr. Talley’s
grasp and was off after Joe, running like a deer.
And while the boys are frantically seizing this chance of rescue, it
may be well for the benefit of those who have not read the preceding
volumes of this series to tell briefly who the Radio Boys were and
what had been their adventures up to the time this story opens.
Bob Layton, who at this time was about sixteen years old, had been
born and brought up in Clintonia, a wide-awake, thriving town with a
population of over ten thousand. It was pleasantly located on a
little stream called the Shagary River, less than a hundred miles
from New York City. Bob’s father was a leading citizen of the town
and a prosperous druggist and chemist. No one in the town was more
highly respected, and although not rich, he had achieved a
comfortable competence.
Bob was a general favorite with the people of the town because of
his sunny temperament and his straightforward, manly character. He
was tall, sinewy, of dark complexion and a leader among the young
fellows of his own age in all athletic sports, especially in
baseball and football. On the school nine and eleven he was a pillar
of strength, cool, resourceful and determined. His courage was often
tested and never failed to meet the test. He never looked for
trouble, but never dodged it when it came.
His closest friend was Joe Atwood, whose father was a prominent
physician of Clintonia. Joe was of fair complexion, with merry blue
eyes that were usually full of laughter. They could flash ominously
on occasion, however, for Joe’s temper was of the hair-trigger
variety and sometimes got him into trouble. He seldom needed a spur,
but more than once a brake was applied by Bob, who had much more
coolness and self-control. The pair got on excellently together and
were almost inseparable.
Closely allied to this pair of friends were two other boys, slightly
younger but near enough to their ages to make congenial comrades.
One of these was Herb Fennington, whose father kept the largest
general store in town. Herb was a jolly likeable young fellow, none
too fond of hard work, but full of jokes and conundrums that he was
always ready to spring on the slightest encouragement and often
without any encouragement at all.
The fourth member of the group was Jimmy Plummer, whose father was a
carpenter and contractor. Nature never intended Jimmy for an
athlete, for he was chunky and fat and especially fond of the good
things of life; so much so in fact that he went by the nickname of
“Doughnuts” because of his liking for that delectable product. He
was rollicking and good-natured, and the other boys were strongly
attached to him.
They would have been warm friends under any circumstances, but they
were drawn still more closely together because of their common
interest in the science of radio. The enthusiasm that swept the
country when the marvels of the new science became known caught them
in its grip and made them the most ardent of radio “fans.” They
absorbed anything they could hear or read on the subject, and almost
all their spare time was spent in delving into the mysteries of this
miracle of modern days.
While the Radio Boys, as they soon began to be called, were popular
with and friendly to almost all the other Clintonia boys, there was
one group in the town with whom they were almost constantly at odds.
Buck Looker and two of his cronies, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney, were
the special enemies of the Radio Boys and never lost an opportunity,
if it were possible to bring it about, of doing them mischief in a
mean and underhand way.
Buck’s father was one of the richest men in the town, and this
enabled Buck to lord it over Lutz, slightly younger than he, and
Mooney, younger yet, both of them sneaks and trouble-makers, who
cringed to Buck because of his father’s wealth.
The boys might not have made such rapid progress with their radio
had it not been for the help and inspiration given them by Dr. Dale,
the pastor of the Old First Church, who was himself keenly
interested and very proficient in the science. He understood boys,
liked them and was always ready to help them out when they were
perplexed in any phase of their sending or receiving. They in turn
liked him thoroughly, a liking that was increased by their knowledge
that he had been a star athlete in his college days.
Another thing that stimulated their interest in radio was the offer
of prizes by Mr. Ferberton, the member of Congress for their
district, for the best radio sets turned out by the boys themselves.
Herb was a bit lazy and kept out of the contest, but Bob, Joe and
Jimmy entered into the competition with zest.
An unexpected happening just about this time led the boys into a
whole train of adventures. A visitor in town, a Miss Nellie Berwick,
lost control of the automobile she was driving and the machine
dashed through the windows of a store. A fire ensued and the girl
might have lost her life had it not been for the courage of the
Radio Boys who rescued her from her shattered car.
How the boys learned of the orphan girl’s story; how by the use of
the radio they got on the track of the fellow who had defrauded her,
how Buck Looker and his gang attempted to ruin their chances in the
radio competition, can be read in the first volume of this series,
entitled: “The Radio Boys’ First Wireless; Or, Winning the Ferberton
Prize.”
Summer had come by that time and the Radio Boys went with their
parents to a little bungalow colony on the seashore. They carried
their radio sets with them, though they had no inkling of what an
important and thrilling part those sets were to play. What advances
they made in the practical knowledge of the science; how in a
terrible storm they were able to send out radio messages that
brought help to the steamer on which their own people were voyaging;
all these adventures are told in the second book of the series,
entitled: “The Radio Boys at Ocean Point; Or, the Message that Saved
the Ship.”
Several weeks still remained of the vacation season, and the boys
had an opportunity of saving the occupants of a rowboat that had
been heartlessly run down by thieves in a stolen motor-boat. Two of
the rescued people were Larry Bartlett and a friend who were
vaudeville actors, between whom and the boys a warm friendship
sprang up. How they exonerated Larry from a false charge of theft
brought by Buck Looker; how when an accident crippled Larry they
obtained for him a chance to use his talents in a broadcasting
station; how this led eventually to themselves being placed on the
program can be seen in the third volume of the series, entitled:
“The Radio Boys at the Sending Station; Or, Making Good in the
Wireless Room.”
The boys reluctantly bade farewell to the beach and returned to
Clintonia for the fall term of high school. But their studies had
not continued for many weeks before an epidemic in the town made it
necessary to close the school for a time. This proved a blessing in
disguise, for it gave the Radio Boys an opportunity to make a visit
to Mountain Pass, a popular resort in the hills. Here they made the
acquaintance of a Wall Street man to whom they were able to render a
great service by thwarting a gang of plotters who were working for
his undoing. By the use of radio they were able to summon help and
save a life when all the passes were blocked with snow. They trapped
Buck Looker and his gang in a clever way just when it seemed that
the latter’s plots were going through, and had a host of other
adventures, all narrated in the fourth volume of the series,
entitled: “The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass; Or, the Midnight Call
for Assistance.”
Shortly after the boys had returned to Clintonia, they were startled
to learn that the criminal Dan Cassey, with two other desperate
characters, had escaped from jail. A series of mysterious messages
over the radio put them on the trail of the convicts. How well the
boys played their part in this thrilling and dangerous work is told
in the fifth volume of the series, entitled: “The Radio Boys
Trailing a Voice: Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery.”
And now to return to Bob and Joe, as, panting with their exertions
and followed by their comrades, they rushed toward the old factory
from which they hoped to reach the rear of Mr. Layton’s store.
The place had formerly been used by a chemical concern with which
Mr. Layton was connected in an advisory capacity. He was skilled in
his profession and his services had been highly appreciated. An
amalgamation of several similar concerns had now been effected, and
for purposes of economy the headquarters of the company had been
removed to another city and the old factory had been abandoned.
While it had been in operation it had been connected with the rear
of Mr. Layton’s store by an underground tunnel that was just large
enough to permit easy access from one place to the other. A large
door closed it at the factory end, while at the rear of the store a
flight of steps led up to a large, square trapdoor set in the floor.
Bob’s mind was in a tumult of emotions as he ran along. It was a
long time since he had been in the factory, and in the confusion of
his thoughts he could not remember whether the great door was locked
or not. And even if he succeeded in gaining access there, the
possibility remained that the trapdoor at the other end might prove
to be bolted. In either case, it would be impossible to get into the
store until it was too late to be of any use. And at this very
moment his father might be gasping out his life in those terrible
fumes!
He reached the factory, flung himself through the open outer door
and made for the door leading into the passageway. He pulled
frantically at the knob, but it resisted his efforts. Was it locked,
after all? The answer was supplied the next moment when Joe added
his strength to Bob’s, and yielding to their united efforts the
heavy door, groaning and creaking on its rusted hinges, swung
outward. Jimmy and Herb had been outdistanced and were nowhere to be
seen.
With an inward prayer of gratitude Bob plunged into the dusty
passage that had been unused for years. Fortunately it ran in a
straight line, and although he had no light he had little difficulty
in finding his way, despite the fact that he abraded his hands and
shins against the sides, owing to the rate at which he was going.
But in his excitement the youth did not even feel the bruises.
In a moment he had reached the foot of the steps, bounded up them
and was pushing with all his might at the trapdoor at the head. It
yielded under his efforts enough to show that it was not bolted. For
a moment though, it seemed as though it might as well have been, for
some heavy object or objects lying on it defied his strength. By
this time Joe was at his side, and together they strained at the
door, while the veins stood out in ridges along their arms and
shoulders. Had they not been strung up to such a pitch, they could
never have succeeded, but sheer desperation gave them strength far
beyond the normal, and gradually they forced the trap upward and
rolled over to one side what had been holding it down.
In a twinkling both the boys were up in the store. The fumes had
thinned out somewhat, but were still thick enough to make them gasp
and choke. Whatever they had to do must be done quickly.