The Radio Detectives

s and, when Mr. Pauling bade Tom and his mother good-by and sailed southw

nd make a sending set. Of course it won't be able to send clear to Cuba or Nassau, but freak messages do g

us out yet. I spoke to Henderson about your idea that the bootleggers were using radio and h

interested as the boys in the result of their first attempt to pick up a message intended for them. She was r

code signal-dots and dashes in International Morse-and wouldn't m

broadcasting station. Carefully the two waiting, expectant boys tuned their instruments, for they had taken the precaution of asking the wireless operator on the ship what wave length he used and with their sets tuned as nearly to this as possible

hear the message from the speeding ship? Would they pick up that one message that they were expecting? Would they, in a moment more, be listening to the dots and dashes that represented Mr. Pauling's words

dah dah dee, dee dah, dee dee dah, dee dah dee dee, dee dee, dah dee, dah dah dee," came the dots and dashes, sent slowly as if by an amateur and mentally Tom translated them. Yes, there was no doubt of it, TOM PAULING were the words the dots and dashes spelled and Tom's heart beat a trifle fa

dee dah dee" the operator signified that the message wa

e on his set and the two compared

e," he continued, "you have to separate the letters into words and sentences and this one should be an "N" instead of an "A" and

ssage. "That's it," he announced proudly. "Just think of Dad talking to us-and he'll do it every night all the wa

ther in rather disappointed tones. "He could send messa

ting it ourselves this way. It wouldn't be any sport to have the messages brought in an envelope like ordinary telegrams. Gee! I just wish we could h

red his mother. "What I meant was, that I had expected to hear your fathe

m. "And just as soon as I get the sending set done we'll ge

by the time your father is on the

all listened to the broadcasting station's program as the loud speake

t message from Havana telling of his safe arrival in Cuba. And by their enthusiastic studies and the practice they gained by deciphering the mess

y in Garden City. Each night, too, they sent out messages directed to their father in the vain hope that, by some chance or by the same mysterious combination of conditions which had

novelty, the boys set diligently to work o

he was invited to witness a demonstration. "It looks like some sort of a huge birdcage," she continued

he superior air of one who is master of an art beyond ordinary

ike affair on the roof," objected Mrs. Pauling. "You

it's directional too. That is," he hastened to explain, "by turning it one way or another we can pick up signals from certain directions and not from others.

s all this you're talkin

s head reflectively. "It's a sort of electricity in the air-l

l, fooling with all these things, Tom. I'm alway

a?rial is just like a lightning-rod and if it's struck the lightning is just carried dow

m slowly turned the cagelike affair about and suddenly, as i

ut. "Now, listen carefully," he continued and turned the loop slowly around until, somewhat fainter, the sounds of a human voice came from the loud-spe

er. "But what advantage is it? You used to hear bot

here it came from we could tell by turning this back and forth until we got his direction. Then, if we wanted to locate him exactly, we could put it up somewher

he declared. "I suppose some day I'll wake up

istening at their instruments, had received messages which they could not locate. At first they had given no heed to these, thinking they were merely from some am

. "Every time we answer him or ask a question he shuts up

afraid the government inspector will get after him," s

a radio magazine, uttered an exclamation. "Gosh! here's the sche

eried Tom, who was busy m

about it. It says they're used aboard ships to find the

work and hurried

ship can find another or can work its way into port by using the loop a?rial like a compass, but the trouble is the ship's moving and so

retfully, "but we can tell in w

pecially as the article says the thing cuts out static and interferences and

ke one then," s

odd affair they were overjoyed at the result. Again they had picked up the messages which had aroused their curiosity and, by

the East Side, the river and Brooklyn. That fellow is not far away-he's using a

t that doesn't do much good. There's an a

just some unlicensed chap-probably some kid over on the East Side who can't pa

telling of his safe arrival in Cuba and no more messages from the mysterious

in code, dots and dashes which the boys out of curiosity had jotted down only to find them devoid of any interest-items regarding shipping which Tom had declared had been culled from the daily

xclaimed in low tones

e Tom he too gave an ejaculation of surprise. The letters which Tom had

ers!" cried Tom as

father by 'P' and we don't know the first part of the message. Maybe they were just talki

y or plot behind these messages and I've said it was just some amateur and nothing to it and now, just as

me change my views. When they were sending things that sounded like nonsense I thought they migh

out Dad, but it would be a mighty funny coincidence if any one or anything else beginning with 'P' arrived in Havana yesterday and it happened to come in with this message and with a 'get busy'

e hear and if anything else is going on we'll get some more messages, you can bet. And I've a scheme, Tom. I know a fellow down a

e great! And if we find he's north or west or east of Gramercy Square we can try some other

r suspicions of the messages coming from a gang of bootleggers. Henry fell in readily with the idea of locating the messages, which he had also heard repeatedly, and

soon as you hear him, write down what he says. We'll listen too, whenever we have a chance, and will let you know. Then,

how can I hear you if I don't happen to have the l

Gee!" he ejaculated, "I

?rial and is entirely separate from this set. And we'll arrange a code so he won't know what we're talking about. Let's see, I

detectives, you know. We must have something like a password or code or something. Say, let'

ing's wrong when we don't begi

y one'll think you are telling me you are coming over here. But say,

you listen and tune until you get us good and loud and then mark your knobs so you can se

they reached Tom's room began to send calls for Henry as they had ag

nely and has marked his knobs. He's going to turn them about and then set them back at the marks

fellow conspirator would not miss any calls they might send him. So, having nothing else to do, they worked at another step of amplification for

from him was received. When at last they were obliged to leave for dinner they phoned t

g their concerts. I'd bet he takes that time so nobody will hear him, or pay attention to him. If they're all tuned to 360 meters t

ting did they prove to the boys' imaginative and suspicious minds that they were thankful they h