The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass Part 25

The broker consulted a notebook which he took from his pocket.

"Call HRSA," he returned. "That is our Stock Exchange station," he explained. "They ought to be on the job while the Exchange is open.

They will relay a message to my brokers."

Joe was standing beside Bob and saw that his chum's hand trembled somewhat as he took hold of the ticker.

"Don't get rattled, Bob," he whispered. "Take your time and don't let him scare you. Remember, it's you that's doing the favor."

Bob grinned, and then began sending out the call. Across the ether traveled the letters HRSA and the call was presently caught up in New York and then another message was relayed to the office of a well-known brokerage firm.

"Hey, Bill," called a well-dressed young man seated at a desk in the far end of the office. "Here's WBZA calling us. These are the letters of the station at Mountain Pa.s.s----"

"Where the Honorable Mr. Gilbert Salper is taking his rest cure,"

finished another man, flinging away his cigarette and coming to stand beside his partner. "Do you suppose it's the old boy himself calling?"

"We'll soon find out," returned the other, and without delay sent in a message to the New York sending station. In a few seconds they were being radioed into the ether.

Bob's face beamed as he transcribed the dots and dashes into words.

The message read thus:

"WBZA heard from. HRSA awaiting message."

Mr. Salper, who had been striding up and down, hurried to Bob's side in answer to the lad's hail. The other boys were peering eagerly over Bob's shoulder.

"I've reached HRSA and through them H. & D.," explained the young operator proudly. "H. & D. are waiting for your message."

"Fine! Fine!" cried Mr. Salper, and his face showed great enthusiasm.

"Those are my brokers, Hanson and Debbs. Got 'em right off the reel, didn't you, boy? Great work! Can you get my message through at once?"

"I don't know of anything to stop me," answered Bob. It seemed too good to be true that he had picked up the right station so quickly.

"Send this, then," Mr. Salper directed. And in a firm hand he wrote down the following message:

"Mohun is a crook and plots to ruin me. Find out his scheme and check him.

Gilbert Salper."

CHAPTER XXIII

THE MIDNIGHT CALL

Skillfully Bob tapped out the message and in an inconceivably small s.p.a.ce of time it had been received by the station HRSA and relayed to H. & D. The boys would have been interested if they could have known the sensation caused by the few words.

"Oh, boy!" cried Hanson, of the firm of Hanson and Debbs. "I've suspected this slick fellow Mohun for a long time. Now with Salper's authority we can go in and clean him out."

"Salper wouldn't make an accusation of that sort," said Debbs thoughtfully, "if there wasn't something in it. He's had some sort of inside tip all right."

"Well," returned the other briskly, "we'll let the old man know we're on the job, and then get busy."

Accordingly, a few minutes later Bob received and transcribed this message:

"Right. We'll have him inside of twenty-four hours."

At the confidence contained in the message Mr. Salper straightened his shoulders as if a great load had been lifted from them and held out a friendly hand to Bob.

"I can't tell you what you have done for me," he said, cordially. "Of course I'm not safe yet from the crooked work of these men, but at least Hanson and Debbs have been warned to look out. And that's two-thirds of the battle."

"I'm mighty glad we've been able to help," said Bob, adding earnestly: "If there's anything else we can do please call on us. Mrs.

Salper----"

He paused, for at mention of his wife's name the relief disappeared from Mr. Salper's face and in its place was the old worried frown.

"Yes--my wife," he muttered, and, without another word to the boys, turned and stalked out of the room. The man, who had all this time lingered near them, turned and went out after Mr. Salper and the boys were left alone.

"Say, you sure did turn the trick that time," said Herb admiringly.

"If they succeed in getting those crooks, Mr. Salper will love you all the rest of his life."

"It was more luck than anything else," Bob repeated. "Imagine getting that station first throw out of the box."

"Never mind," said Joe, adding truthfully: "No one else about this place would have been able to do as much."

They lingered for a while, talking over the exciting events of the day and tinkering with the complicated apparatus.

"Did you hear the latest prediction of Marconi?" asked Joe. "He says that he has positive proof that in the near future a radio set will be perfected which will send messages entirely around the world."

"Yes," said Bob eagerly. "He even declares that we'll be able to put a sending and receiving set side by side on the same table and receive the messages that a moment before we've sent out."

"It only takes a second of time too," said Herb. "Imagine sending messages completely around the world at such speed. If Marconi didn't say it could be done, I sure wouldn't believe it."

"We'll be talking with Venus or Mars pretty soon," said Bob. "Marconi says he has already received messages that don't come from anywhere on the earth."

Although they said little about it, the boys were elated at Bob's success with the code, and it was surely a pleasant thought that they had helped Mr. Salper, if only that they might make Mrs. Salper and the girls happy. They had even, despite his usual gruffness, begun to feel a sort of liking for Mr. Salper himself.

During the long snow-bound afternoon they thought often of Mrs. Salper and wondered if she were better. They wanted to inquire, but they were afraid of making themselves a nuisance.

Toward evening they strolled over to the hotel to ask after the operator and found to their delight that he was better. The nurse, who had become very friendly toward them, said she thought the trouble had been checked in time and that the sick man's recovery, though it might be slow, was sure.

With hearts lightened on that score they went home. After dinner at the hotel they spent some time tinkering with their set. One time they noticed that in a vacuum tube was a pale blue glow, and Joe was at a loss to know how to account for it.

"We've got too high a voltage on the B battery," said Bob, after a moment of study.

"But how would that affect it?" asked Herb, interested.