"Huh! I don't suppose you feel hungry at all, do you?" asked Jimmy.

"Well, I must admit I feel as though I could punish a pretty square meal," said Herb. "But if I were as fat as some people I know, I'd be ashamed to talk about eating, even."

"Maybe if I floated around on my back while I'm in the water, instead of really swimming, I wouldn't feel so hungry, either," said Jimmy scathingly, and this turned the laugh on Herb.

"He's got you there, Herb," said Bob. "If you keep on you'll be getting fat yourself. If you ever do, you'll be out of luck, because Jimmy will never get through pestering you about it."

"I guess I won't have to worry about that for a while yet," said Herb.

"It will take me a good many years to catch up with Jimmy."

"Don't you worry about me," said that aggrieved individual. "I don't worry about you just because you look like an animated clothespin, do I?"

Herb was still trying to think up some fitting reply to this when his meditations were cut short by their arrival at the little bungalow colony.

There were several small bungalows grouped about one much larger one.

This latter contained a large dining and living room and a kitchen big enough to supply the needs of all the families residing in the smaller buildings. It was in this large central living room that the boys had started to set up their radio apparatus when the lure of the ocean had tempted them away.

They returned none too soon, for the evening meal was ready, but, as Joe remarked, "It was no more ready than they were." They did all the good things ample justice, and then went out on the wide veranda to rest and allow digestion to take its course.

"We ought to be able to get the set working this evening," remarked Bob, as they sat looking out over the sand, with the boom of the surf in their ears, "provided, of course, we all feel energetic enough to tackle it."

"Well, I'm willing to take a fling at it a little later," said Joe. "But just at present I don't feel strong enough even to handle a screw driver."

"I'll bet Jimmy's crazy to get to work, anyway," said Bob. "How about it, old energetic?"

But the only answer was a gentle snore from Jimmy's direction, and everybody laughed.

"Guess that swim has tired him out," said Joe. "Swimming in salt water always seems to leave you mighty lazy afterward."

"You boys must be more careful when you go swimming, and not go out so far from sh.o.r.e," said Mrs. Atwood, Joe's mother. "This afternoon I was watching you from the porch, and it seemed to me you went for a dreadful distance before you started back."

"Oh, that's two-thirds of the fun of swimming, Mother," said Joe.

"There's no use in puttering around close to sh.o.r.e. What's the use in knowing how to swim, if you do that?"

"We keep pretty close together, anyway," Bob added. "So if one should get tired, the others could help him in."

"Yes, I know," said Mrs. Atwood. "But just the same, I wish you'd be careful."

The boys promised that they would, and then, feeling somewhat rested, they woke Jimmy, after some difficulty, and went inside to rig up their receiving set.

CHAPTER XII-THE RADIO STATION

"Just when I was having a swell nap, too," complained Jimmy. "Somebody's always taking the joy out of life."

"Never mind about that now, Doughnuts," said Bob. "Just grab hold of a screw driver and open some of these boxes. There's nothing like a little exercise to drive the sleep out of your eyes."

"You'll find sympathy in the dictionary, Jimmy," said Joe heartlessly.

"Yes, and that's about the only place I will find it around here," said Jimmy. "But give me the screw driver. Somebody's got to do all the hard work, and I suppose I'm elected, as usual."

In spite of his grumbling, he worked faithfully, and soon had the lids off a number of mysterious looking boxes, from which the boys got out much complicated looking apparatus. They had brought Bob's set, the one that had been awarded the big prize the previous spring, and Bob handled this lovingly.

All the radio boys worked with a will, and the way in which the various apparently unrelated parts became connected up into a compact and highly efficient receiving station was surprising. After two hours of steady work they had the set in condition to test.

"I don't think we've forgotten anything," said Bob, carefully going over the various connections. "Everything looks all right to me, so here goes to test it out."

And sure enough, it was not long before they heard the familiar call of the big Newark broadcasting station and were listening to a big band perform in stirring style.

"That sounds familiar," said Joe, as the band finished its selection with a flourish. "It doesn't seem to be any different than when we were in Clintonia, even though we're considerably further away from the sending station."

"I guess a few miles don't make much difference to old man Electricity,"

said Herb.

"It wouldn't make any difference to me, if I could travel as fast as he does," grinned Jimmy.

"You've got to train down a good deal before you can do that," remarked Herb.

"Well, I guess my chances of traveling one hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second are about as good as yours, anyway." retorted Jimmy.

"Who's talking about traveling at such extremely high rates of speed?"

asked a voice behind them that they all recognized. Turning, they saw Frank Brandon, the government radio inspector who had been of so much a.s.sistance to them a few months before in locating the scoundrel, Dan Ca.s.sey.

"Glad to see you. Sit down and make yourself at home," they chorused, and almost before he knew it the radio inspector found himself seated in the most comfortable chair with a set of earphones over his head.

"You see, I haven't lost any time coming to see you, as I promised," he remarked. "I spoke to my cousin, Brandon Harvey, about you fellows, and he said to bring you up to the big station any time you wanted to go, and he'd show you all around it."

"That's fine!" exclaimed Bob. "That's what we've all been wanting to see for a long time. I think we'll take your cousin at his word and land down on him to-morrow. How about it, fellows?"

This met with the enthusiastic approval of all the radio boys, so it was settled that they should go to the big station early the following day, where Frank Brandon would be waiting for them and would introduce them to his cousin.

Accordingly, they set out the next day immediately after breakfast. The station was located something over a mile from the bungalow colony, but it was a beautiful day, and the walk seemed like nothing to the boys.

The antenna of the station covered a large tract of land, and the station was capable of sending and receiving messages of almost any wave length. The station itself was a snug-looking building, ample enough to accommodate all the apparatus, and provide comfortable sleeping quarters for the operators as well.

As the boys approached this building they could see their friend, the inspector, sitting on the porch. When he caught sight of the boys he rose and stood waiting for them.

"You're earlier than I expected you," he said. "You must have set the alarm clock away ahead."

"No, not that. But we had a hunch that there would be a lot to see, and we thought the earlier we started the better it would be," said Bob.

"Besides, we didn't want to keep you waiting."

"I've only been here a few minutes myself," replied Brandon. "Come inside, and I'll introduce you to my cousin. He's even more of a radio fan than I am."

The boys followed him into a large, well-lighted room that seemed literally packed with electrical apparatus. Switchboards, dials and various recording instruments lined the walls, while in one corner stood a glittering high frequency alternator. Seated at a table covered with wires was a young fellow of about Brandon's own age, who looked enough like him to proclaim their relationship.

At the time the radio boys entered he was receiving some message, but as soon as he had finished he took the headphones off and turned to greet his visitors.