He and the boys were introduced, and their common interest in radio work made them all feel like old friends in a short time.

"I suppose you fellows want to see all there is to see," said Brandon Harvey, after they had chatted on general subjects a few minutes. "We have a pretty complete layout here, and I'll be glad to show you around and tell you all I can about it."

The boys were not slow to avail themselves of this offer. The radio inspector volunteered to subst.i.tute for his cousin while the latter was busy with the boys, which left Mr. Harvey free to explain the bewildering details of the plant to his guests.

"I wouldn't take this much trouble with everybody," he said. "But Frank tells me that you fellows are so interested in the subject and have studied it up so much that you'll be able to understand what I show you.

Lots of people come in here that know absolutely nothing about radiophony, and expect me to explain the whole science to them while they wait."

"They'd have to wait a long while," grinned the irrepressible Jimmy.

"I've just about learned enough about it to know I don't know anything, if you understand what I mean."

"I get you, all right," returned Harvey, with a smile. "I've worked at it a long time myself, but as it is I can hardly keep up with all the new developments. There seems to be something new discovered every day."

All that morning he took the boys about the plant, showing and explaining the various instruments. Some of these the boys were familiar with, while others were entirely new to them. But by dint of asking many questions, which were answered with great patience by the wireless man, they obtained a reasonably clear idea of the functions of the various parts and their relations to each other, and when they finally departed they felt that they had learned a great deal. Harvey even allowed them to "listen in" to messages arriving from big ships hundreds of miles out at sea.

"Well, we've had a wonderful morning and learned a lot, but I guess we must have tired you out, Mr. Harvey," said Bob, as the boys were taking their leave.

"Not a bit of it," denied the radio man. "I'll be glad to see you any time you want to drop in. Lots of times there isn't much coming in, and it gets pretty lonely around here."

"You can bet we'll be only too glad to come," said Bob, and the boys left with many expressions of friendliness on both sides.

"We're in luck to be located so near this station and to be friends with one of the operators," said Joe, as the boys started homeward.

"We surely are!" agreed Bob. "I know I feel as though I'd learned a good deal this morning, and I guess you fellows do, too."

"Mr. Harvey is certainly a prince," declared Jimmy enthusiastically. "He answers questions without making you feel as though you were a natural born fool for having asked them, the way some teachers I know do."

"Yes, we'll have to take advantage of Mr. Harvey's invitation and visit him often while we're down here," said Bob. "He even promised that he'd give me lessons in sending when he had time."

"Good enough!" exclaimed Joe. "It's lots of fun receiving, but that's only half the game. We ought to be able to send, too."

"If you like, we'll study up on the code a little this evening," said Bob. "I brought the book with me. We've already got so much from it that we ought to be able now to finish up."

"I agree to that," said Joe, and so that was settled.

"How quiet the ocean is to-day," remarked Herb, as they noted how little surf there was and how lazily the waves were breaking on the beach.

"You wouldn't think there was anything cruel about it to look at it now," said Jimmy. "And yet we know that it is about the most cruel thing in the world."

"It's taken millions of lives without the least thought of mercy," put in Bob thoughtfully. "To-day it's like a tiger asleep. But it's a tiger just the same, and when it wakes up-then look out!"

CHAPTER XIII-EXCITING SPORTS

By this time the boys were almost home, and their pace was accelerated as they drew nearby the sound of a musical and welcome dinner bell. In fact, walking seemed entirely too slow under the circ.u.mstances, and the last hundred yards was covered in close to record time.

"I was beginning to think something dreadful had happened to you," said Mrs. Layton, as they dashed panting up on the porch. "Was the wireless station so interesting, then?"

"I should say it was!" said Bob, answering for all of them. "We'll tell you all about it while we're eating lunch."

This was not so easy to do, however, as the feminine portion of the family had not the interest in wireless possessed by the boys.

"Instead of going to that old wireless station, why don't you boys go and catch some crabs for us once in a while?" queried Rose, Joe's sister.

"We've heard that there are lots of them in that inlet back of the beach, and I don't see why you couldn't catch some just as well as not."

"Girls do have good ideas once in a while, don't they?" said Joe. "What do you say to going crabbing this afternoon?"

"Great!" his chums exclaimed, and resolved to start on the expedition immediately after lunch. In antic.i.p.ation of this, the grown-ups had brought crab nets with them, so it only remained to secure some chunks of meat as bait, and the boys were off to the beach intent on reducing the number of the crab population. Rose Atwood and Agnes and Amy Fennington had been invited to go, too, but had refused on the ground that while they liked crabs after they were cooked, they did not like them while they were alive.

"Don't know that I blame them much," said Jimmy, commenting on this. "A crab is a mean customer, and can give you a bad nip from those big claws of his."

"The idea is not to let him get close enough to do it," said Herb.

"I know that's the idea, all right," said Jimmie. "But sometimes it doesn't work out."

"We don't have to worry about that yet," said Bob. "Chances are we won't see a crab all afternoon. It usually happens that way, it seems to me."

But contrary to this prophecy the boys saw many crabs. There was a wide, shallow inlet where the ocean had worked a way in back of the beach for a considerable distance. At high tide the water here was several feet deep, but at low tide it was anywhere from six inches to a foot. Many crabs were washed in here with the tide, and remained after the tide had gone out. They had a way of hiding under bunches of seaweed, and when dislodged would go scuttling away along the sandy bottom for dear life.

It looked easy to drop the crab net over one of these awkward creatures, but the boys soon discovered that it was more difficult than it appeared. The crustaceans exhibited a surprising nimbleness, and in addition, when they were in imminent danger of being captured, had a trick of suddenly changing their course and darting toward their pursuers with claws waving and giving every evidence of being willing and able to do battle.

The boys were in their bathing suits, and as they waded barefooted through the shallow water, they found the sport more exciting than they had antic.i.p.ated.

"Gee!" exclaimed Jimmy, making a wild dash for sh.o.r.e, after a sudden but futile sweep of his net into the water. "That fellow was after my toes as though he meant business. I'd about as soon tackle a cage full of wild tigers as these man-eating crabs."

"Stick to it, Jimmy," said Bob, as he deftly scooped up a struggling crab in his net. "At the worst you'll only lose a leg or two."

"Yes, and what's that to the pleasure of having nice fresh crabs for dinner to-night?" said Herb. "You don't go at it in the right spirit, Doughnuts. Just watch-yeow! ouch!" he ended, with a yell, and kicked out wildly with one foot, to which a crab, a determined and stubborn crab, was clinging.

Joe, who was nearest, lashed at the clinging crustacean with his net, and caught the creature fairly in the middle with the iron frame. The crab dropped back into the water, and Herbert dashed to the safety of the beach.

"Oh, my poor foot!" he groaned. "I'll bet that confounded crab could pinch the propeller off a battleship."

"Oh, don't mind a little thing like that," said Jimmy vengefully. "Just think of the nice crabs you'll have for dinner to-night, and it won't hurt any more."

"Oh, shut up!" exclaimed Herb, for Bob and Joe, while they were sorry for him, could not help laughing at his woebegone appearance. "It won't be as much fun when one of you gets nipped."

"I get out before they have a chance to catch me," said Jimmy.

"Well, you'd better get in again, and do some catching yourself," said Joe. "Bob and I aren't going to catch them for the whole bunch. Just make a swipe at them with the net as soon as you see them. Don't chase along after them first, because then they know you're after them, and they turn and go for you."

Herbert was rather doubtful about venturing back into the water. But he knew the others would never get through chaffing him if he did not; so, after nursing his injured foot awhile, he ventured in. Following Joe's advice, he escaped further accident, and at the end of a couple of hours the boys had enough crabs in their baskets to supply the whole four families.

"It seems to me there must be an especially wicked and sc.r.a.ppy lot of crabs in this neighborhood," said Bob. "Just look at them in the basket.

They're fighting each other just as though they enjoyed it."