AN IMPROMPTU FEAST
“Anybody would think we were, to look at us,” puffed Jimmy. “Whew, I’m all in!” and he slowed down to a walk.
“Well, we’re almost home, anyway,” said Bob. “Take your time, Jimmy. We’d hate to have you die of apoplexy.”
“You wouldn’t hate it nearly as much as I would,” said Jimmy, beginning to get his breath again. “Just think of what the world would lose if anything were to happen to me.”
“It’s too terrible to think about,” said Bob, with mock gravity. “I suppose the old world would stop spinning if you should kick the bucket, Jimmy.”
“Maybe not as bad as that,” interposed Herb. “But a lot of doughnut manufacturers would have to go out of business, I know that.”
“Aw, you know too much!” exclaimed Jimmy, scornfully. “At least, you think you do, which is worse. I don’t see what you have to go to high 126 school for, anyway. You know all there is to know, already.”
“I don’t know but what you’re right,” agreed Herb, complacently. “But the trouble is, I can’t seem to get the teachers to believe it. Maybe you’ll be nice enough to explain things to them to-morrow, Jimmy?”
“Explain nothing!” exclaimed Jimmy. “They’d soon think I was as foolish as you, and I’d hate to get a rep. like that.”
“Harsh words,” laughed Bob. “You fellows had better quit saying nice things about one another, or you’ll be mixing it first thing you know.”
“No chance,” denied Herbert, with a grin. “I’m too hungry to think of scrapping, and I’ll bet Jimmy is too. How about it, old pal?”
“I should say so!” agreed Jimmy. “Thank heaven we’re almost home. If we had much further to go, I guess you’d have to carry me.”
They were indeed almost home by this time, and branched off to their respective houses. Though they were all late, they managed to make up for lost time in the way of eating and their mothers had reason to be thankful that they were not late very often.
An interesting bit of information came about this time in the news conveyed by Mr. Rockwell to Mr. Layton, whom he had chanced to meet on a train, that the motor boat which had run down 127 Larry and his companions had been found in a remote inlet some distance down the coast, where it had evidently been deserted by the men who had stolen it. From sundry papers that had been left on the boat, through an oversight of the rascals, it was gathered that they were members of a gang of hotel thieves who had been “working” the hotels at the summer resorts along the coast, where a long list of unsolved robberies had been perpetrated. The police were working on the case, but the thieves had not yet been apprehended.
“Well,” said Bob, when he heard the news, “it’s good to know that Mr. Wentworth got his motor boat back anyway. But I won’t be satisfied till I hear that the police have landed the thieves.”
“Same here,” said Joe. “But it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. They may be out on the Pacific coast by this time.”
The boys worked hard on their big set for the next few days, spending all the time on it that they could spare from their studies. They found time, however, to visit Mr. Brandon, as they had promised, and had a royal good time in his rooms at the hotel. They laughed and joked and talked radio to their hearts’ content. Toward the end of the evening Mr. Brandon called on Jimmy for some expert advice.
“Jimmy,” he said, “I’ve been thinking that a little—or rather, a lot—of ice cream and cake 128 would go well. What is your honest opinion on the subject?”
“I don’t think you could have a much better idea, no matter how hard you tried,” said Jimmy, gravely.
“Probably not,” agreed Brandon, with a twinkle in his eyes. “Now, as we’re agreed as to that, can I call on you for advice and assistance?”
“You certainly can,” said Jimmy, slightly mystified, but ready for anything, nevertheless.
“Well, then, to come to the point, will you go out with me and give me the benefit of your expert advice as to the best place in this neighborhood to buy the aforementioned ice cream and cake?”
“You bet I will,” said Jimmy, with alacrity. “And without seeming to boast,” he added, “you couldn’t have picked out any one who knows more about that particular subject than yours truly.”
“All right, I suppose I’ll have to believe you,” laughed Frank Brandon. “I have every confidence in you, Jimmy.”
As the event proved, this confidence was not misplaced. Both the ice cream and cake were all that heart could wish, and moreover were served in generous quantities. At the end of the feast they all expressed themselves as perfectly satisfied with Jimmy’s selections, and Bob moved 129 that they give him and Mr. Brandon a vote of thanks.
“If Uncle Sam lets me stay in Clintonia long enough, we’ll have to have another party like this,” said Brandon. “And maybe by that time your sick friend will be well enough to come. I’d surely be glad to see him, if he can and would care to. By the way, when will he be well enough for us to take him to the broadcasting station?”
“We were out to see him yesterday,” answered Bob; “and it’s wonderful the improvement he’s made since we told him about our plans for him. He looked a hundred per cent. better, and the doctor told him he could go Saturday afternoon, if he kept on making the same progress.”
“Fine!” exclaimed the wireless man. “I usually have Saturday afternoons off, and if you boys want to take him then, it will be all right for me, unless something very important comes up that I can’t sidetrack.”
“That suits us,” said Bob. “I spoke to Doctor Dale about Larry the other day, and he volunteered to drive us to the station in his car. That was some offer, wasn’t it?”
“It’s no more than I’d expect of him,” said Brandon. “Right after we first talked about that plan I wrote to the manager of the station, Mr. Allard, and he said to bring your friend along by 130 all means. He’s on the lookout for talent, as I told you, and will be only too glad to give him a trial.”
“That sounds promising,” said Bob. “What do you say if we stop at the hospital to-morrow afternoon, fellows, and tell Larry about it and find out if he’ll be strong enough to go?”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to count me out,” said Jimmy. “I’ve got some work I’ll have to do for dad, if we’re going to be away Saturday afternoon. But you fellows go anyway, and tell him I was sorry that I couldn’t get there.”
“We’ll do that then, and count on you sure for Saturday afternoon,” said Bob.
“Oh, sure thing! I’ll be with you then,” promised Jimmy. “I wouldn’t miss that for a farm.”
That matter being satisfactorily settled, the boys said good-night to their host, after assuring him that they had had a “bang-up” time. Their leave-taking must have wakened any light sleepers in the hotel, but they got out at last and headed for home, all of them enthusiastic in praise of their friend Frank Brandon.
“I only wish we could have had Larry here to-night,” said Joe, regretfully. “I’ll bet he’d have enjoyed it first rate. But I suppose there’ll be plenty of other times.”
“I wish Mr. Brandon were going to be stationed in Clintonia all the time,” said Bob. “He’s been 131 such a good friend to us that I’ll feel mighty bad if he has to go away again.”
They all felt the same way, and said so.
“But there’s no use crossing that bridge until we come to it,” said Joe, philosophically. “As long as he’s covering this territory, he’ll make his headquarters in Clintonia, that’s pretty certain.”
The next day the boys met as they had planned, immediately after school was out, and headed directly for the hospital and their convalescent friend. What with jokes and laughter the distance seemed short enough. Needless to say, Larry was overjoyed to see them.
“I certainly look forward to having you fellows visit me,” he said. “You’re as welcome as letters from home. I get pretty blue sitting around here by my lonesome all day.”
“How do you feel to-day?” asked Bob. “Do you feel well enough to go after a soft job next Saturday?”
“I never did feel so sick that I couldn’t go after a job that was guaranteed to be soft,” grinned Larry.
“All right, then,” laughed Bob. “Be ready to go next Saturday afternoon. We’ll call for you in Doctor Dale’s automobile. He’s promised to take the whole bunch of us to the broadcasting station.” 132
“Pretty soft,” said Larry. “How do you fellows come to rate an automobile?”
“Oh, we’ve got a big drag around this town,” replied Bob. “I guess they’d give us the Town Hall if we asked for it.”
“You hate yourselves, don’t you?” asked Larry.
“That isn’t as big a claim as it may seem,” remarked Joe. “The Town Hall is so old that I think they’d be glad of an excuse to give it away. But they won’t build a new one until the old one falls down.”
“That’s the way with all these bush league towns,” remarked Larry, with a wicked grin.
“You’re getting well all right,” laughed Bob. “When you begin knocking again it’s a sure sign that you’re getting back to form.”
“You bet I am,” returned Larry. “I’ll be as good as ever in a little while. Now that I can begin to see where the next square meal is coming from, it gives me some incentive to get well.”
“Well, it’s fine to hear you say so,” declared Bob. “We’ll call for you around one o’clock Saturday, and we’ll be at the station about four. Then if you don’t convince them that your imitation of bird songs is better than the little birdies themselves, we’ll murder you.”
“I wish I could get in as solid with every audience 133 I play to as I am with you fellows,” said Larry. “Life would be one grand, sweet song.”
“You’ll get in solid enough to be able to drag down good pay, don’t worry about that,” replied Joe.
“Well, we’ll know more about it after Saturday afternoon,” said Larry. “Until then, hope hard.”
This seemed to sum up the situation fairly well, and after a little further conversation the radio boys said good-by to their friend and took their leave, delighted over his improved condition.
Improved not only in body but in mind. The pain of his physical hurts had been hard enough for Larry to bear, but this was little compared to the mental worry he had been undergoing ever since the accident had interfered with his money-earning power and threatened to make him a cripple for life.
During his brief engagement with the Chasson show he had loyally sent home to his mother every dollar he could save from his salary over and above his necessary expenses, which by rigid economy he kept as low as possible. But much of this his mother had been compelled to use to pay debts incurred during his previous period of idleness, and he knew that she had very little on hand. Her enfeebled condition had added to his anxiety, and he had had many hours of mental 134 anguish as he looked toward the dark and lowering future.
Now, however, he saw light, and his heart went out in the warmest gratitude toward the good friends who had come to his help in his extremity and made it possible to see a rainbow in the skies that had been so full of clouds.
“Now, if I could only prove that Tim and I weren’t guilty of that robbery at the hotel dance, I would be all right,” Larry told himself. He felt sure that the evil-minded Buck Looker was still holding that happening against him.
The days intervening until Saturday sped quickly. Dr. Dale was true to the promise he had made Bob, and was ready with his car when the radio boys assembled at his house. Since Bob had told him about Larry’s unfortunate condition, the doctor had interested himself in the case and had been to visit Larry once or twice at the hospital. He had conceived a liking for the injured boy, which had made him accede all the more readily to Bob’s request for the automobile.