Radio Boys in the Secret Service

Radio Boys in the Secret Service

CHAPTER IWireless Twins

“Good-by and good luck, Guy,” said Walter Burton as his twin brother, with small traveling bag in one hand and amber glasses protecting his supersensitive eyes, was about to step aboard a south-bound train at the Ferncliffe station one clear, crisp winter-end day. “Send me a wireless message from Europe, and I’ll be listening in and catch it.”

“I’d like to, Walt,” was Guy’s smiling answer; “but I’m afraid that would be extravagant. I’ll tell you what I’ll do, though. When we get to New York, I’ll hunt up Vacuum Tube and send you a message from his station. You know he invited us to come and see him any time we were in New York.”

“All right,” agreed Walter. “When’ll you send it?”

“At 4 o’clock tomorrow if he’s home.”

“Good. I’ll watch for it. I’ll call V T and tell’m you’re coming. Good luck. Good-by.”

This hearty exchange of parting cheer between the sturdy, bright-eyed Walter and his equally sturdy, but “sick-eyed” brother was one incident in a general round of farewells that marked the departure of Guy Burton and his mother for England. Guy had been suffering several weeks with a severe infection of the eyes, resulting from the “flu,” and it was decided to put him under the care of a London specialist as the most hopeful move for saving his sight.

A local physician advised that this be done, and the boy’s father resolved to waste no time. Urgent business made it almost impossible for him to accompany his son, and a family council resulted in the selection of Mrs. Burton as traveling companion for Guy.

During a period of more than two weeks the latter had been unable to endure the optical strain of light, and most of this time he remained indoors with his eyes bandaged. Meanwhile Walter did all he could to cheer his “blind” brother. He read to him a good deal and in other ways endeavored to make his own eyes do the work of four. Every day he led Guy to their attic “den” where one of their wireless sets was installed, and then he would proceed to the other radio station over their workshop, and in these positions they would send and receive radio messages, not only between themselves, but in communication with other amateurs near and far away.

The Burton twins were 16 years old. Their father, active in two professions, banking and farming, was one of the leading business men in the New England community in which he lived, but he found time to exercise real interest in the sports and aspirations of his two sons. Both of the latter were mechanically inclined, and this inclination was encouraged by the busy business man in many practical ways.

Walter was ambitious to become an electrical engineer. There was hardly anything in popular electrical affairs that he did not know something about. It was he who first suggested that they take up the study of wireless and install radio instruments in their home. Guy’s ambition was not so definitely formed as that of his brother, but his enthusiasm over the proposition was scarcely less than that of Walter. They had an ideal boys’ workshop, which they built themselves, and on the roof of this 15×20 frame structure was a cupola-like inclosure, which they used as one of their wireless stations. The other, it has been noted, was in their attic den. The aerials over these two stations, by their conspicuous loftiness, advertised the brothers widely as the “wireless twins of Ferncliffe.”

The workshop of the twins was equipped with an outfit of tools and machinery that might well arouse the wonder and admiration of any ambitious boy. The machinery consisted principally of turning lathe, scroll saw and drill, operated with belts, pulleys, shafts and electric motor. The boys not only planned and constructed their shop building, but they wired it electrically and installed and connected the machinery. And when completed, it proved to be no mere toy shop, but a very useful boy institution for repair and construction work about the Burton home.

The boys had received their wireless apparatus as Christmas presents a little more than a year before and immediately set them up. They learned the radio alphabet and soon were laboriously spelling out words to each other. In a few months they had acquired a considerable addition to their vocabulary and spoke of spark gaps, aerials, transformers, keys, helices, tuning coils, condensers, and detectors with something of the ready familiarity of old timers. They were especially elated when they found themselves catching signals from distant wireless operators. This became more and more frequent, as they lived on the coast and not a few passing ships were supplied with radio outfits.

The Burton home was a sort of country seat near the outskirts of the city and was bordered on the east by half a mile of seashore. A small natural harbor added much to the curious interest of the surroundings, being sufficient to accommodate comfortably the 50-foot power yacht owned by Mr. Burton. This harbor was well sheltered by hilly projections, except at one point where the shore dropped down almost to the level of the sea and afforded a good landing place. Here a quay had been built for the yacht. So well protected with bluffs was the cove that the heaviest gales hardly rocked the little vessel in its mooring. Under the brow of the largest bluff had been constructed a pile-supported shed for sheltering the boat in winter.

Ferncliffe is a manufacturing and fishing seaboard town. Half a mile from the Burton home are the municipal docks, where fishing boats tie up and where steamers stop to receive or unload passengers and freight. In the summer months a considerable business of this kind is done.

The house in which the Burtons lived was a large, square, comfortable, white frame dwelling, rather southern in style. Mr. Burton had several men in his employ constantly. One of these was Det Teller, half-sailor, half-farmer, who had worked for the banker-farmer several years. Det was an interesting character. He knew “everything and the whole world.” He had been around the world twice as a seaman and was skilled in the tying of sailors’ knots and the weaving of sailors’ yarns.

His nickname was a “short” for Deuteronomy. Det’s father had been very religious and had given bible names to all his children. The retired sailor was now fifty years old. Six years previously he had discovered in a servant of the Burton family a former girl schoolmate with whom he had been in love twenty-odd years before, and he married her and entered Mr. Burton’s employ as farm foreman. A house was built especially for them on the premises.

Det was really a bright and valuable fellow. In six years he had learned “all about” his employer’s business and could “run any branch of it except the bank.” He was a short, long-armed, broad-shouldered, powerful man, whose natural alertness and jovial disposition seemed not to have been affected seriously by the burden of two score years and ten.

Mr. Burton had owned the yacht, Jetta, for two seasons. It had been named for the boys’ five-year old sister. Det was mate and part of the crew of the vessel, and during the outing months of the year his capacity of farm foreman was almost forgotten, or left in other hands. Originally intended only as a private pleasure craft, the Jetta, under the enterprising ambition of the “wireless twins,” had become, in the last summer, a recognized excursion boat, identified inseparably with the outing happiness of many of the inhabitants of Ferncliffe and neighboring towns. Guy and Walter made up the complement of the crew and acted as joint skippers who usually followed the instructions of the mate. Mr. Burton was merely owner and made no attempt to interfere with the management of the craft when aboard with the mate and one or both of the young captains.

On the morning when Guy and his mother boarded the train for New York city, another passenger of peculiar interest here bought a ticket for the same destination. He was a tall, thin, sharp-eyed, well-dressed man, wearing a high-crowned derby hat and large angular trowel-shaped patent leather shoes. He had had business in Ferncliffe and stopped several days at the Chenoweth House, the best hotel of the place. On the day of his arrival he had read with interest the following local item in the Ferncliffe Gazette:

“H. G. Burton has decided to send his son Guy to London for treatment of his eyes. Guy and his mother will sail from New York in a week. The boy’s eyes will be treated by the famous Dr. Sprague.”

The stranger had registered at the hotel as Stanley Picket of New York. He had planned to return home on the day when he read the above item, but the information it contained caused him to alter his plan. He remained in Ferncliffe until Mrs. Burton and Guy started for New York, when as we have seen, the train bore him also as a passenger.

Walter and Guy noticed the tall, well-dressed man on the platform before the train pulled in, little dreaming what an important part he was destined to play in their affairs within the next few months.

The boy with the amber glasses and his mother boarded the train and took possession of a seat. Soon afterward the tall man with the high-crowned derby and the trowel-shaped patent leathers sat down in the seat just behind them, and the train moved away from the depot.

CHAPTER IIOn the Way to London

The trip to New York was begun early in the morning in order that they might reach their sailing point before dark. To Guy this part of the journey was monotonous, as he could not read and his mother advised him not to sit next to the window and look out, fearing lest the light injure his eyes, in spite of his amber glasses. The day was clear and bright, and the sun’s rays were reflected glitteringly from the clean, white snow on the ground.

Guy and his mother would have been greatly astonished if they had known of the interest in them entertained by the man in the next seat behind. Several times on the way between Ferncliffe and Boston, Guy got up and moved about, and two or three times he casually observed the prepossessing stranger. But the latter seemed always to be buried in a newspaper or book and oblivious to all about him.

The truth, however, was that Mr. Pickett took much more interest in the conversation of Mrs. Burton and her son than in his reading. While appearing to be reading most of the time, his occupation in this respect was largely a pretense, at least when the two in front of him spoke loudly enough for him to hear. Now and then he would turn a leaf for appearance sake, but not always did his eyes follow the printed line from one page to the next. However, his reading was not wholly affectation for occasionally he would turn back to pick up the thread of the narrative.

At Boston they changed cars, and again Mr. Pickett managed to get a seat immediately behind the two London-bound travelers. Once the amusing prattle of a baby a few seats back caused Guy to turn suddenly, and he was startled to observe the sharp eyes of the stranger staring at him with curious contemplation.

So deeply did the incident impress the boy that he turned again and looked at the man, but the latter was once more buried in his book. Guy then told himself that he must have misunderstood the gaze, that it probably was one of meditation or abstraction.

“Maybe he’s some professor of anatomy trying to figure out the diameter of a bonehead,” mused the boy. “I wonder who he is. It’s funny he happened to get the seat just behind us both times. Well, I’ll remember him anyway if I ever see him again.”

At New York Guy took a last curious look at the man with the high-crowned derby and then forgot him for the time being. The latter saw the boy and his mother enter a taxi and drive away, but he made no further attempt to watch their movements.

Mr. Pickett was a middle-aged bachelor living at a hotel near Central Park. Before starting for this place he ate supper at a restaurant. On arriving at the hotel he went direct to his room and wrote a letter, which he addressed to one A. Little in London. It was as follows:

“My dear Little.

“About the time this letter reaches you there will arrive in London a Mrs. H. G. Burton and her son, Guy. The kid is coming over to have his eyes treated. They’ll probably remain several weeks and will then return to New York direct. They will stop at the Morley hotel. By the way, the kid is bugs over wireless telegraphy. That’s his weakness. Maybe this will interest you professionally.

“O. P. Q.”

This letter was mailed as soon as finished, but another letter, written by another person, who had been secretly watching every move of Mr. Pickett, accompanied it in the same mail across the Atlantic. It was addressed to one W. W. Watson in London.

A. Little received the Pickett letter and delivered it to one Christopher Gunseyt, who, in turn, delivered it to another, J. C. Smithers, a Bond street jeweler. Meanwhile Watson received the other letter and also got busy. He observed secretly the passing along of the Pickett letter from Little to Gunseyt and from Gunseyt to Smithers. Then, by a series of cleverly camouflaged moves, he managed to relieve Smithers of the mysterious missive in such manner that the latter never missed it.

In the meantime, Guy and his mother registered for rooms at a New York hotel. Their steamer would sail on the following day, and their order for tickets and staterooms on the liner had been placed through a local agent at Ferncliffe.

Mrs. Burton had a friend in the city whom she wished to see on the afternoon of the day following their arrival at New York, and Guy had promised to send his brother a wireless message at 4 p. m. In the morning he telephoned to his wireless acquaintance, “V T,” whom, by the way, he had never met personally; indeed, he did not know “V T’s” name. They had often exchanged greetings by wireless, but had never introduced themselves, except by their amateur radio calls. “V T” had, however, given the Burton boys his telephone number and requested them to call him up when they came to New York.

As a result of Guy’s telephone call, the latter received a visit from “V T” at the hotel. The New York amateur introduced himself as Harry Taylor.

“I’m glad to know your name,” Guy remarked as they started for Harry’s home, “my brother and I usually spoke of you as Vacuum Tube, but we’ll be more respectful hereafter.”

Guy was delighted with his “new-old acquaintance.” He was with him most of the afternoon while his mother visited her friend. At 4 o’clock he called Walter and talked with the latter half an hour. Then he bade Harry good-by and returned to the hotel.

That evening Guy and his mother went aboard the liner. Early next morning the steamer floated from the harbor with the tide and stood out to sea.

Little of more than ordinary tourist’s interest occurred in the course of the voyage, which was completed on schedule time, in spite of two days and one night of very rough weather. The first stop was at Queenstown. The steamer did not go up into Cork Harbor, but lay out in the offing, having signaled by wireless for a lighter. After disembarking a number of passengers and delivering and receiving several bags of mail, the liner continued on toward Fishguard and Liverpool.

The vessel finally anchored near the mouth of the River Mersey and the passengers were transferred to Liverpool by lighter. Their baggage was “examined” by inspectors in a most ridiculously indifferent manner, it seemed to Guy, and then they were hustled aboard a fast express train for London.

Talk about speed! The train, with its odd compartments and widely-separated coaches, flew over that 175 miles to the metropolis of the world in two-and-a-half hours.

“I can’t see that we’ve got so much on the English,” observed Guy as the train sped on like a Chicago-New York Century Flyer. “I don’t see why we should call the English slow.”

CHAPTER IIIThe Mysterious Man Again

Walter Burton missed his brother for many reasons during the latter’s absence. Guy was always a good companion. Out of school, Walter scarcely knew what to do with himself. Heretofore all his pleasures and all his labors had been shared by the other twin. They had always gone to school together, shoveled snow together, worked in the shop together, and studied wireless together.

In this occupation, or amusement, Walter was now almost lost. He called “V T” and informed the latter of Guy’s plan and was waiting with receivers at his ears when his brother’s call came from New York. But for several days thereafter he neglected his hobby entirely, not even caring to amuse himself by catching messages from any commercial or amateur source.

Nevertheless, Walter was deeply interested in everything wireless. The thrill and excitement of “talking” electric waves, impelled with air-splitting leaps of the current across the spark-gap, had often enlivened his daydreams with radio visions, and it was hardly to be expected that he would long remain idle, in view of the allurements and possibilities at hand.

A quarter of a mile from the Burton home lived another boy, Anthony Lane, who chummed a good deal with the “wireless twins.” Anthony, or Tony, as he was familiarly called, was a poor boy, but this fact made no difference with Walter or Guy; “he was the right kind of stuff,” and that was all they cared for. He was one of the best ball players at school, could row and swim like a sailor and a fish, and, although strong and clever, was never known to act the bully.

This boy had manifested a deep interest in wireless telegraphy as soon as he saw the apparatus of the Burton boys in operation. He learned the Morse alphabet and practiced on the instruments of his friends at their invitation. Up to the time when Guy left for Europe, however, he had not acquired much skill and was therefore unable to fill, in this respect, the vacancy left by the absent brother. But one day Walter said to his friend:

“Tony, do you want to learn wireless so well that no operator can dot-and-dash away from you?”

“You bet I do,” was the other’s reply. “I often thought I would, but I couldn’t afford to buy an outfit like yours.”

“Then come over and live with me while Guy’s gone. I’m awful lonesome.”

“I’ll see what ma says,” answered Tony.

The result was as Walter suggested. Tony had a few chores to do home every evening, for his father owned several acres and kept a cow, pigs, and chickens. After this work was done, he was permitted to “go over to Walter’s” and remain there until morning, when he must return and do chores again. Meanwhile he devoted all his spare moments to wireless practice, even when Walter was not at liberty to “talk” with him.

One afternoon as the boys were returning home from school discussing some newly-developed feature of interest in their hobby, the subject was suddenly changed by the appearance before them of one who has figured earlier in this narrative. He was the man with the tall derby hat and the trowel-shaped patent leathers.

“Did you notice that fellow?” Walter asked in a low tone as they passed the man of conspicuous foot and headgear.

“I saw him, but didn’t have much to say to ’im,” replied Tony, smiling at his friend’s startled manner. “Who is he—a detective lookin’ for violators of the amateur wavelength law?”

“You’re makin’ fun o’ me. But you won’t be so gay when I tell you all about him.”

“What is it?” asked Tony a little more seriously.

“You remember when Guy an’ mother went away—you were at the depot; that man was there, too. Didn’t you see ’im?”

“I don’t know. What did he do?—steal a glass of buttermilk from the cowcatcher?”