CHAPTER XIII
PRESSED INTO SERVICE
"Just what do you mean?" asked Bob. "Do you want to talk radio with usall tomorrow afternoon?" he went on, with an irritating grin.
"No, of course I don't, stupid," she exclaimed. "But why can't youbring your old wireless things into the hotel parlor and let us allhear some music? We'd be ever so grateful if you would."
The radio boys looked doubtfully at each other.
"We'd do it, fast enough," said Bob. "But we didn't bring a loudspeaker with us, and without that nobody could hear much unless he hada set of telephone receivers."
"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed. "I just knew you'd make some excuse orother."
"A loud speaker is something that looks like an old-fashionedphonograph horn, isn't it?" asked Ruth, the younger sister, before anyof the radio boys could refute the older girl's accusation.
"Well, yes, it looks like that; but the details are different,"replied Bob.
"Yes, but if you had a phonograph horn, couldn't you fix it up so thatthe music would be loud enough for us all to hear it?" persisted Ruth.
"Good for you, Ruth!" exclaimed her sister. "I know what you mean.You're thinking of that old phonograph they used to have in thishotel, before they got the big new cabinet machine."
"If Edna and I get that horn for you, it will be easy for such expertsas you boys are to make a--a what-you-may-call-it--loud speaker--outof it, won't it?" asked Ruth, demurely.
"I think they're kidding us now, Bob," said Joe, grinning. "When agirl tells you you're an expert, you can bet she's figuring to wishsomething on you."
"Yes, but it's so unusual that we ought to do something to encourageit," laughed Bob. "Let's call their bluff. Probably they'll never beable to find a horn, anyway."
"Don't count too much on that," said Edna, with a dangerous smile. "Wealmost always get what we ask for."
"Yes, and you are everlastingly asking for something, it seems to me,"grumbled her father, who had joined the little group at that moment.
"Now, Daddy, you know you love to give us things," chided Ruth. "If wesuddenly had everything we wanted, you'd be dreadfully disappointed."
"There's no danger of that happening," said her father, a smilesoftening his grim face. "But what is it you're after just atpresent?"
"We want that big phonograph horn they used to have here in thehotel," said Edna, with a provoking side glance at the radio boys."Will you ask the manager to hunt it up and lend it to us?"
"I'll see what I can do about it," promised Mr. Salper. "I rememberthe horn you mean, but it was probably thrown away long ago."
The radio boys rather wished that this might prove to be the case, butthey were not destined to get off so easily. The first thing they sawwhen they entered the dining room the next morning was a large woodenhorn, of a style in universal use in the early years of thephonograph, standing prominently near their table.
"There, now!" exclaimed Jimmy, in a low voice. "You see what you'velet us in for, Bob. Why didn't you tell them that we didn't have timeto waste building a loud speaker, and settle the thing right then andthere."
"That's easier said than done," answered Bob. "Why don't you go overto the Salper's house and tell the girls that?"
"Yes, go right over and be rough with them," advised Joe. "Tell themthat you're not afraid of girls, and they can't put anything over onyou."
"Aw, I would have, last night; but it's too late now," said Jimmy,lamely.
"Yes, you would!" jeered Herb. "After all, it won't be so much work.You're an expert carpenter, Jimmy, and can make a bang-up job of it."
"That's always the way," complained Jimmy, heaving a dismal sigh. "Youfellows think up a good, hard job, and then I do the work. I've neverknown it to fail yet."
"Buck up, Doughnuts," said Bob. "Think of how the girls will thank youfor it. You'll be the most popular fellow in the hotel."
"Like fun I will!" returned the fat boy. "But I'm not going to let itinterfere with my appetite. I can see where I've got a hard day aheadof me."
It proved to be a busy morning for all the radio boys. Immediatelyafter breakfast they fell to work on the horn, and after some threehours of steady labor they had constructed a passable loud-speakinghorn, using one telephone receiver clamped securely at the narrow end.They mounted the whole thing on a solid wooden pedestal, leaving twosubstantial shelves at the back to hold their radio apparatus.
It did not take them long to mount the receiving outfit in a neatmanner, and when this was done they all drew a long breath and satdown to admire the result of their labors. While still engaged in thisgratifying occupation, Edna and Ruth Salper entered.
"Oh!" exclaimed the former, with a gesture of delight, "doesn't itlook simply beautiful? I never thought you boys could make it soquickly."
"You've got Jimmy to thank for that," said Bob. "I never saw him workso hard in his life before. It was easy to see that he was thinking ofyou and Ruth all the time, from the way he put his heart into it."
"I didn't anything of the kind," said the embarrassed Jimmy. "I neverthought of them once, even."
"What a dreadful thing to say," laughed Ruth. "I didn't know you hatedgirls, Jimmy."
"Who said I hated 'em?" demanded Jimmy, getting as red as a beet."I--I----"
"Love them," Joe finished for him. "Is that what you are trying tosay, Jimmy?"
"Say, who asked you to butt in?" inquired Jimmy, desperately."Everybody is trying to tell me what I mean, until I don't know whichis right myself."
"Never mind," said Edna, coming to the rescue of the flounderingyouth. "We are grateful to you for working so hard for us, anyway."
"Oh, that's all right," mumbled Jimmy. "If it works all right, wewon't worry about the labor we put into it."
"But don't you expect it to work?" asked Edna, teasingly.
"Sure it will work," asserted Bob, before Jimmy could involve himselfagain. "That is, you'll hear music, all right, but it probably won'tbe very loud, even with the help of the horn. We're a long way fromthe broadcasting station, you know. If we were within ten or fifteenmiles of it, I'd say surely that it would be a success."
"I'll go and get the loop aerial, Bob, and we can test it right now,"suggested Joe. "What do you think?"
Bob nodded, and Joe left the room, returning a few minutes later withthe loop. This was soon connected with the set, and then Bob begantuning for signals.
"Mercy! what was that?" exclaimed Edna, while Ruth gave a littlescream.
From the horn came an ear-piercing howl, followed by whistles andweird unearthly shrieks. But the boys only laughed heartily at thegirls.
"That's nothing but old man static," said Bob. "We'll soon get him offthe wires."
"Does he live near here?" asked Ruth, innocently.
"Wow!" shouted Herb, and the boys could not help laughing, althoughthey stopped as soon as they saw the mystified and somewhat hurtexpression in the girl's eyes.
"That was just Bob's slangy way of talking," explained Joe, after hewas sure that he had regained control of his features. "Static is theelectricity that is always in the air, and gives us radio fans a gooddeal of trouble."
"Oh, I see," said Ruth, and she was a good enough sport to laugh ather own mistake.
Meantime Bob had finally got the set tuned to the proper wave length,and the little group were all delighted with the clarity and volume ofthe resultant sounds. They were not nearly as loud as an ordinaryphonograph, but were sufficient to be heard distinctly in a fairlylarge room.
"It's too bad we only have a one-stage amplifier," said Bob. "If weonly had another transformer and vacuum tube, we'd have a loud speakerthat you could hear all over the hotel."
"I think this one is plenty good enough," asserted Edna.
Both she and her sister were as excited as children with a new toy,and they were both delighted with the music.
"You boys will have to bring this wonderful thing into the parlortonight, and let everybody hear it," coaxed Edna. "
I know they willall be tickled to death to hear a concert in this new way."
"They might not be as enthusiastic as you think," said Bob,doubtfully. "Maybe they'd rather just talk, and wouldn't thank us forinterrupting them."
"What an idea!" exclaimed Ruth. "Just try it once, just to please us,and you'll soon find out whether they like it or not."
"Well, if it's to please you, we'll certainly do that thing!" Bobgallantly remarked, and was rewarded by a friendly smile.
"Edna and I will speak to the manager about it this afternoon, and Iknow it will be all right," she said. "We'll tell you what he says atsupper time."
The radio boys, although they were radio enthusiasts themselves, didnot actually realize how deeply interested people had become in thisnew and wonderful science. They were somewhat surprised, therefore,when the manager sought them out that afternoon and told them that hewould be more than delighted to have them give a radio concert thatevening.