Thereupon they all plunged into a lively discussion of plans for the concert, and so absorbed were they that they found themselves walking down Main Street before they had any idea that they were near the town.

As they neared the big stone church on the corner they espied a familiar figure mounting the steps of the parsonage.

"Hooray!" shouted Bob, starting on a run down the street. "Just in the nick of time, fellows. There's the doctor himself!"

CHAPTER XX

THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES

Doctor Dale heard their shout and waited with his genial smile till the four boys came panting up to him.

"We've got a sort of idea, Doctor Dale," explained Bob, stammering in his eagerness. "And--and we would like to speak to you about it if you have time."

"I can always spare some for you boys," the doctor a.s.sured him heartily. "Come on in, fellows, and let's hear about this idea.

Something connected with radio, I suppose?"

"Yes, sir," answered Bob, as Doctor Dale opened the parsonage door and the boys crowded eagerly after him into the cozy study.

The doctor listened with interest while Bob outlined the plan to him, a.s.sisted by frequent interruptions from the other boys.

And if the chums had expected enthusiasm from this good friend of theirs, they were certainly not disappointed. The doctor was jubilant over the idea and readily consented to giving his time unreservedly for the purpose of making the affair a great success.

They set the date of the concert for the next day, which was Sat.u.r.day, and added the names of several others to the list of those to be invited. A few minutes later the minister's callers departed gleefully, a warmer feeling than ever in their hearts for Doctor Amory Dale.

"You've got the right idea, boys," the latter called after them, standing at the top of the steps to see them off. "Give happiness to others and you will find true happiness for yourselves."

So far everything had gone swimmingly, and when the next morning the boys arose to find the sun shining brightly they thought that the fates had been almost too good to them.

"Something sure will happen before night," Jimmy muttered gloomily, as he made his way down to the dining room, from which issued a tempting aroma of bacon. "It's all too good to be true." But then, Jimmy always did feel grumpy before breakfast.

The boys each found his own family as enthusiastic as Doctor Dale had been about the great plan, and Bob's mother even hugged him impulsively as she pa.s.sed behind his chair. Bob was almost ashamed of the happiness that welled in his heart. Of course a fellow of fifteen was too big to be hugged as a general thing, but, somehow, one's mother was different.

After breakfast he started down town to see about the jitney, met Joe on the way, and the two boys went on together, talking excitedly of their preparations.

"Dad says I can have the big car and the garage man will run it,"

Joe informed him gleefully. "Gee, I was never so surprised in my life. All he said was 'take it, my son, and Heaven grant you never want it for a worse purpose.' Great old sport, dad is."

"Gee, that's great," said Bob. "Now if we can only find some old bus that looks as if it will stand up for a mile or two, everything will be dandy."

After much kicking of tires and anxious examination, the boys did actually manage to find a Ford machine that promised, with more or less reservations, to do its duty, and, after engaging it with a driver for one-thirty that afternoon, they walked importantly from the shop, much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the garage man.

"Fine set of kids," he muttered, shaking his head admiringly as he returned to the machine that he was repairing. "Always full of pep and ginger whenever you see 'em. They'll go a long way, those kids will."

In spite of various gloomy predictions, at one-thirty that afternoon there was still not a cloud in the sky and the breath of the sun smote downward almost as hotly as it would in midsummer.

Gayly the four boys started off in the two cars, eager to pick up the poor shut-ins of their acquaintance and give them the time of their lives.

Their first stop was at the lonely little cottage of Joel Banks, Civil War veteran. His housekeeper let them in, a quaint little woman with pink cheeks and white hair and a spotless white ap.r.o.n tied around her comfortable waist.

When the boys made known their errand to her she departed in a flutter of pleased surprise to prepare "the colonel" for his treat. In a few moments more the old gentleman appeared, leaning heavily upon the housekeeper, a stout cane grasped stiffly in his knotted fingers.

He gazed at the boys for a moment with dim eyes, then suddenly a gleam shot into them and he smiled.

"Reckoning on giving me a treat, are you, boys?" he asked. Something must have caught in his throat, for he cleared it hastily. "Well, that's mighty fine of you. Been a long time since anybody took that much interest in old Joel Banks."

Joe introduced his friends in hurried, boy fashion, and a moment later they were helping the old gentleman out of the house and into the automobile, at the same time pouring into his interested ears such tales of the marvels of radio telephony that it was a wonder they did not talk the veteran deaf.

In the confusion Bob managed to whisper instructions to Joe.

"We'll put the kids in your car," he said hurriedly. "There will be more room for them, and then they won't bother the old folks. And have the man drive slowly," he added. "This old bus isn't long on springs, and I don't want to jolt 'em up too much. Take it easy, Joe."

"All right," agreed the latter, and a moment later they were gliding cautiously over the smooth roads on their way to the home of little d.i.c.k Winters and his sister Rose.

The children were deliriously happy at the prospect of a little change and excitement, and there were tears in their mother's eyes as she helped the boys lift the children into the comfortable back seat of the Atwood car.

"G.o.d bless those boys!" whispered the woman, as the two cars sped away down the road.

Still further on the boys picked up several more crippled boys and girls, and then turned off a hot and dusty side road to call for Aunty Bixby.

Secretly the boys were a little afraid of this formidable old woman, and they wondered rather nervously whether or not she would break up the party.

When Jimmy, who was sitting beside Bob in the flivver, pointed out the white, ivy-grown house where the old woman lived, Bob nudged him nervously.

"Remember, you've got to take care of her," he said, noticing that Jimmy himself looked rather worried. "You were the one who spoke about her--"

"Gee, you don't need to rub it in, do you," growled the fat boy as he squeezed himself through the door and stepped gingerly onto the dusty road. "Better let me go in alone. She might get scared if she saw the whole bunch of us, and maybe she wouldn't come at all."

In his heart Bob thought that that might not be such a terrible thing, but he kept quiet. A fellow ought to be thankful for small blessings.

Think how much worse it would be if he, and not Jimmy, were forced to break the news to Aunty Bixby.

The big car came to a stop beside the Ford, and all the boys watched with interest as Jimmy ascended the steps of the porch, rang the bell, and a moment later, disappeared into the house.

But as the time pa.s.sed and he still failed to emerge they began to get a little uneasy about him. Finally Bob let himself out of the car and went to consult with Joe and Herb.

They had just about decided to make a raid upon the house and rescue poor Jimmy when the subject of discussion himself appeared, looking very red and fl.u.s.tered and out of sorts.

The boys were about to make a concerted rush upon him, but he waved them back violently.

"She's coming," he said in a hoa.r.s.e tone somewhere between a whisper and a shout. "Get back there, you fellows."

They got back just in time to see Aunty Bixby herself emerge. Bob gave one look and his heart sank into his boots.

"Gee!" he muttered and there was anger in his eye. "Just wait till I get Doughnuts Plummer alone somewhere."

Meanwhile Aunty Bixby was limping down upon them with all sails set, her stiff silk dress billowing out about her and her little hat set securely on her determined head, while Jimmy puffed along behind her.