"I'm with you!" exclaimed Bob. "We can see that Larry gets there all right, and maybe Mr. Allard will show us over the station. We were in such a hurry when we were there before that we couldn't see very much."

"I'd like to go first rate," said Herb. "But I'm so far behind on my French that I'm afraid I'll have to stay at home and make up for lost time. I'm 'way back in math., too."

"I won't be able to go either, I'm afraid," said Jimmy, dolefully. "Dad has just taken a big contract, and I've promised to help him all my spare time next week. I'd forgotten about Monday being a holiday, though," he added, truthfully.

"Well, if you can't, that's all there is to it," said Bob. "Maybe you'll change your minds before then, though."

"I don't want you to come just on my account, fellows," said Larry. "Of course, I'd love to have you come, but I don't want you to think you've got to."

"It isn't that at all," Bob a.s.sured him. "In the first place, it will be fun to take the trip, and then, if we get a chance to look around the station, we may get some good tips for our new set."

"Well," said Larry, doubtfully, "since you put it that way, it will be great to have you come with me. I guess I've got influence enough around there already to show you the inside works."

"All right, then, we'll consider that settled," said Bob. "Joe and I will call for you early in the afternoon. By that time Mr. Brandon will be back, and maybe he'll come, too."

The radio inspector returned the next day, but he could not promise to accompany the little party, as he had to attend a meeting at headquarters the following Monday.

CHAPTER XXII

BROADCASTING MARVELS

The remainder of the week sped quickly by, and almost before the boys realized it the holiday had arrived. Larry spent the morning at Bob's house, where he watched Bob and Joe working on the new set, and kept his promise to ask questions.

"It doesn't do me much good, though," he said, fairly puzzled at last.

"That's about the most mysterious looking box of tricks that I've ever had the hard luck to look at. What are all those dials and k.n.o.bs for? Do you keep your money in there, or what?"

"You must think they are combination locks," laughed Bob. "This k.n.o.b here controls a condenser, and this one a transformer."

"But how do you know what to do with them?" asked the bewildered Larry.

"How do you know which one to turn and which one to leave alone?"

"You don't," laughed Bob. "You may have an idea about where they should be placed, but it's different every evening."

"Yes, and during the evening, too," added Joe. "You have to keep adjusting all the time to get the best results."

"Well, if it depended on me, I'm afraid I'd only get the worst results,"

said Larry. "It all looks terribly complicated to me."

"You don't have to worry much about it, anyway," said Joe. "All you have to do is whistle into the transmitter, and it's up to us to hear you. We have to do all the work."

"It's a lucky thing for me that it is that way," said Larry. "If I had to learn all about radio before I could give my act, I'd probably starve to death first."

"Radio is just like everything else," said Bob. "It looks very mysterious and difficult to an outsider, but when you get into it a little way and understand the rudiments, it begins to look a lot simpler. It wouldn't take you very long to catch on to it. Especially a smart lad like you," he added, with a grin.

"Cut out the comedy," said Larry. "Any time I get a compliment from you or Joe, I know there's a n.i.g.g.e.r in the woodpile somewhere."

"The trouble with you is, you're too modest," said Joe. "When we do say something good about you, you think we're only kidding."

"I don't think--I know," replied Larry, grinning. "I suppose, though, that radio must be pretty easy, or you fellows wouldn't know so much about it."

"That remark has all the appearance of a dirty dig," said Bob. "But I suppose we can't land on him until he gets entirely well, can we, Joe?"

"No, let him live a little while longer," replied his friend. "We'll get even for that knock, though, Larry, my boy."

"I won't lie awake at night worrying about it, anyway," replied Larry.

"But I'm not going to interfere with your work any more. Just go ahead as though I weren't here, and I'll try to learn something by watching what you do."

Bob and Joe worked steadily then until Mrs. Layton called to them to come up to lunch.

"Toot! toot!" went Larry, imitating faithfully a factory whistle blowing for twelve o'clock. "Time to knock off, you laborers. If you work any longer I won't let you belong to the union any more."

"No danger of that," said Bob. "I've been feeling hungry ever since ten o'clock, so I'm not going to lose any time now. Come on up and we'll see what mother's got for us."

They found a lunch waiting for them that would have made a dyspeptic hungry, and they attacked it in a workmanlike manner that drew an approving comment from Mrs. Layton.

"I declare it's some satisfaction to get a meal for you boys," she declared. "You certainly eat as though you enjoyed it."

"There's no camouflage about that, Mother; we _do_ enjoy it," answered Bob.

"We wouldn't be human if we didn't enjoy it, that's fairly certain," said Larry. "The meals at the hotel are pretty good, but they're not in the same cla.s.s with this lunch at all."

"I know they have a reputation for setting a good table there," said Mrs.

Layton. "I hope you fare as well in the city. You'll board there, I suppose, won't you?"

"Yes, I expect to," said Larry. "Mr. Allard, the manager, recommended me to a good place near the station, and I guess they won't let me starve to death there."

"Let us hope not," smiled Mrs. Layton. "Any time you are in Clintonia, we'd be very glad to have you visit us, you know. I suppose Bob has told you that, though."

"I certainly did!" exclaimed her son. "I have a hunch that after eating a while in boarding houses a good home-cooked meal must be a welcome change."

"I'll say it is," a.s.sented Larry. "But there are one or two good restaurants fairly near the station, anyway, so in case I get tired of the food at the boarding house, I can switch to a restaurant for a while."

"That sounds like jumping from the frying pan into the fire," grinned Joe.

"I suppose it is something along that line," a.s.sented Larry, with a rueful laugh. "But what is a poor fellow to do?"

"I suppose it can't be helped," a.s.sented Bob, as he finished his dessert.

"But now, fellows, there doesn't seem to be anything more to eat, so I guess we'd better be moving if we're going to catch the two o'clock train."

"That shows you how much grat.i.tude I can expect from him," said Mrs.

Layton, laughingly appealing to the others. "'Eat and run' seems to be his motto these days."

"Well, there's always so much to be done, it would keep anybody on the jump," protested Bob. "I don't seem to be fading away under the strain, though, do I?"

"No. And while your appet.i.te continues the way it is, I guess I shan't need to worry about you," replied Mrs. Layton.