"I thought I'd bring this along, so as to have it," he said; "but it's so near supper time that I don't think we'll have a chance to do much more--right now, anyway. What do you say if we knock off now and do some more work this evening after supper?"

"Gee, I never thought it was that late," said Herb. "If Jimmy had been here, I suppose he would have been talking about supper for the last hour or so, and we'd have known what time it was."

"Well, I'll be here for one," said Joe, "and I'll stop at Jimmy's house on the way home and tell him to get around, too."

"I'll come too," said Herb. "And, Joe, while you're about it, tell Jimmy to be sure and bring another chunk of chocolate, only bigger than the one he had last night."

"I'll be sure to mention that," grinned Joe. "But I don't think he'll do it, just the same."

Bob went upstairs with them, and Herb and Joe went away together, after promising to come back as soon after supper as possible. After they had gone, Bob could not resist the temptation to go down and gaze with an approving eye on the shiny new tuner they had made, and dream of the many wonderful sounds that would soon come drifting in through that gleaming bit of mechanism.

CHAPTER XII

FORGING AHEAD

The Laytons had hardly finished supper that evening before Jimmy's cheery whistle was heard outside, and Bob jumped up to let him in.

"Come in, old timer," Bob called to him. "Where's the rest of the bunch?"

"Oh, I guess they'll be along pretty soon," said Jimmy. "I guess I'm a bit early, but I was so anxious to get around that I couldn't wait to come at a respectable time. I suppose I should be boning down for to-morrow's lessons, but I'd never be able to get my mind on them until we get our outfit going."

"I feel the same way," said Bob. "But at the rate we're going now it won't be very long."

"Joe told me you finished the tuning coil this afternoon," said Jimmy. "I don't understand how you ever did it without my being here to tell you how, though."

"Oh, we managed to patch it up some way," laughed Bob. "Come on down and look at it, and see if it's good enough to suit you."

"Lead me to it," said Jimmy, and the two boys went downstairs.

"Say, that's a pippin," said Jimmy, as Bob switched on the light and he caught sight of the finished tuner. "I couldn't have done it better myself. You've certainly made a first cla.s.s job of it."

"We thought it wasn't so bad," admitted Bob modestly. "Especially when one stops to think that you weren't here to give us the benefit of your advice."

"That's the most surprising thing about it," said Jimmy. "But now that I'm here to-night, why, we can go right ahead and get a lot done.

Seems to me it must be about time for Joe and Herb to show up."

As though in answer to this thought, they heard a tuneful duet, and a moment later came a vigorous ring on the doorbell.

"You go up and let them in, will you, Doughnuts?" said Bob. "I want to melt this paraffine and get things started right away."

"Sure I will!" And Jimmy hastened off, returning a few minutes later with the missing members of the quartette.

"It's about time you got here," said Jimmy. "Bob and I were wondering if we'd have to do all the work by our lonesome, as usual."

"Gee, you don't know what work means," returned Joe scornfully.

"Last evening you pretty near wore a hole in that old couch resting on it, and this afternoon you were enjoying yourself, helping your father instead of coming here and doing a little honest work for a change."

"Oh, yes, I enjoyed myself a lot!" exclaimed Jimmy. "I sawed enough one inch planks this afternoon to make either one of you loafers cry for help! And then you talk about my having enjoyed myself!"

"Well, if you worked so hard, maybe your dad gave you enough money for it to buy a respectable piece of chocolate with instead of that measly little sample you brought around last night," said Herb.

"You're right he did, and here it is," said Jimmy. And from under his coat he produced an immense slab of delicious looking chocolate that must have weighed all of a pound.

The shout that went up from his three friends might well have startled the family upstairs.

"Jimmy, we've got to hand it to you; you're a good sport," cried Bob, laughing. "I never really thought you'd ever bring any more, after the way we ate what you had last night."

"I'm glad that you admit that you ate more than your share," said Jimmy, severely. "But I thought I'd bring enough around to-night, hoping there might be a little piece left over for me."

"I think that since he's so generous we ought to let him have a real big piece," said Joe.

"Yes," grinned Herb. "But remember that chocolate candy is about the worst thing a fat person can eat. It might be better for Doughnuts, after all, if we took this away from him right away. I'd rather get sick myself eating it than see him get any fatter."

"Say, how do you get that way?" demanded Jimmy in an aggrieved tone.

"I've never been able yet to get hold of enough candy to make me too fat, and if I should, I'm the one that ought to worry about it."

"It looks to me as though there's enough there for all of us for a week," said Bob. "Let's break it up and put it in this box over here, and then anybody who wants any can help himself."

"That's fair enough," said Jimmy. "But I'll bet anything it won't last this bunch any week. If you were all like me it might, but I suppose that's too much to ask."

"I don't think that's asking very much, do you, fellows?" said Joe, with an exasperating grin.

"Wow!" exclaimed Herb, laughing. "That has all the appearance of a dirty dig, Joe. If I were you I wouldn't let him have a sc.r.a.p of that chocolate, Jimmy."

"I suppose I shouldn't. I ought to let him chew on a piece of that paraffine that Bob's melting. He's so foolish sometimes that I don't think he'd ever know the difference."

"Well, we can't all of us be wise," said Joe. "But I've got a hunch that I'd rather have the chocolate, so here goes," and he helped himself to a generous piece. "When are you going to have that wax cooked good and tender, Bob?"

"Suppose you leave the wax to me, and you get busy cutting out some squares of tinfoil and paper," suggested Bob. "This wax will be done a long time before you're ready for it."

"All right, I'll do it," said Joe. "I don't suppose there's anybody in the world can beat me at cutting out squares of paper. There may be some things I can't do, but I sure shine at that."

"Yes, I guess you can do that all right," admitted Bob. "But I can't be real sure until you give us a demonstration."

"Here goes, then," replied Joe. "How big do they want to be?"

"Four inches square, the book says, and I suppose the man that wrote it knew what he was talking about," said Bob. "That will do to start on, anyway."

Joe carefully measured a square of paper to the required dimensions, and then used it as a pattern in cutting out the others. He soon had a number of neat squares ready, which he handed to Bob, who immersed them in the melted wax.

While the paper was soaking this up, Joe cut out a corresponding number of tinfoil squares, leaving a projecting tongue on each one to serve as a terminal.

"You're an expert at carpenter work, Doughnuts," said Bob. "If you feel as ambitious as usual you can cut a couple of squares out of that oak plank over in the corner. We'll need them for end pieces to this condenser."

"Oh, that will be lots of fun," said Jimmy, who had been casting longing glances toward the old sofa. "I'd a good deal rather saw some more wood than take it easy. How big shall I make them?"