The Radio Detectives

w set," cried Tom, as he

you boys do nothing but junk your sets as fast as you make th

usiastically. "Just wait till you see

ed him. "Let me know when the fun begins. I'v

h Tom and his boy friends had become madly interested

re interested in it," he had continued. "It's going to be a big thing in the future and the more you learn about it the better. But begin at the beginning, Tom. Don't be satisfied merely with buying inst

had accompanied it, and there was no prouder or more excited boy in Greater New York than Tom Paulin

he things you say," was his mother's comment. "But then," she added, "I never could understand a

y and listened attentively to Tom's graphic exp

, Son. You evidently have a pretty good grip on the fundamentals

er this afternoon and we're going to put up the a?rial and then y

He didn't like the idea of being obliged to sit with head phones clamped to his ears in order to hear the music from the big broadcasting stations; he felt that it was mighty unsatisf

es and instruments were sold and arguing about and discussing various devices and sets with his boy friends. Hardly a day passed that he did not arrive at his home carrying some mysterious package or bundle. Ac

ad asked on one occasion. "Going to spring

eplied, "but I'm going to give you

rised. Upon a small table were various instruments and devices and a seeming tangle of wires, while,

over the instruments, the faint sounds of music filled the room,

Frank and I rigged it up just as an experiment. Now I'm going

t. If that lot of stuff can give so much better results than the set you bough

be set. Those things like little electric lights are the tubes and they're the heart of the whole thing, and I've a one-step amplifier an

go to it. Get what you need and keep busy. It's a fine thing for you boys. N

jokingly remarked, the boy's chief occupation appeared to be buildi

her things had taken the places of books, skates, baseball bats and papers, and the fiction magazines had given way to radio periodicals, blue prints and diagrams. Mrs.

ow they are fired with the zeal and enthusiasm of great inventors and scientists. We mustn't interfere with them-such feelings come to human beings but once in a lifetime. I consider this radio craze the best thing for boys that ever occurred. It gives them an interest, it's educational, it keeps them off the street and occupies their brains and hands at the same time. Do you know, if I didn't have my time so fully occupied, I believe I'd get bitten by the bug

wish it were possible to have boys amuse themselves without tracking shavings a

ed with their work; many experimental instruments and devices had been discarded and were now tossed into a junk box in the closet; a neat work table with the tools handily a

cts of the boys' brains and hands, and both parents congratulated the boys on their handiwork and the strides they had made. So, on the night when Tom had assu

had exhibited his latest achievement and had explained its mysteries in terms which were utterly unint

n the concert ended. "You have g

d I can get spark messages from Cuba and Canada, and last night I picked u

Bahamas, Monday, you know. I'll radio from the ship on the way down and after I

for that, but I'm going to get at it right away. It will be fine to be able to hear you. I'll

m?" chuckled his father.

em-I've got it! When you send a message, just address it as if it were a regular message and then I'll kno

many official messages, I expect, and I can get them

half-past seven every night listening. Say, Dad,

know; what m

uess your speaking of sending official messages and sta

. Perhaps they are using radio to warn one another, or maybe they're onto our codes. Suppose you keep track of any odd messages you hear, Tom. I don't suppose there's anything in it, but it will give you another interest and one never knows what may

cer of the Department of Justice during the war and from that to his present problem of tracing to its source the myst

room, Tom and Frank remained, talking earnestly, and with boyish imagination discussing the possibilities o

n't get the long waves from the big stations. And we don't always get farther than Arlington or Pittsburgh with this. Last night, we heard

e a fine set here in your room. I'll bring my stuff down and we can work together-have duplicate sets

won't mind and school will soon be over and we can devote all our time to it. Gosh, I bet we have the best sets of any

we can talk to others as well as hear them. And say! my folks are going to Eur

give all our vacation to radio. Say, we may make some big discovery or invention. I was reading the other day about how many things there are to

e his parents were absent and for several days the two boys were bu

ed in the amount he could spend on good tools, supplies and instruments and, while he did not possess the mechanical

n addition, he had a very complete library of radio books as well as scrapbooks filled with clippings from the radio columns of the various newspapers and periodicals. Hence the two boys made most excellent partners for carrying on their experiments and building their sets. Fortunately, too, they were not the type of boys who soon b