Adjusting the instruments and attaching the loud-speaker, Tom slowly turned the cagelike affair about and suddenly, as it faced the west, the sounds of music burst out from the horn.
“There ’tis!” cried Tom, exultantly. “That’s Newark. Now, see here.” As he spoke, he swung the loop aërial to one side, and instantly, the music died out. “Now, listen carefully,” he continued and turned the loop slowly around until, somewhat fainter, the sounds of a human voice came from the loud-speaker. “That’s Pittsburgh,” declared Tom. “Now you see how it
works. If it’s turned towards Newark we get Newark and if towards Pittsburgh we get that.”
“Yes, it’s all very interesting,” admitted his mother. “But what advantage is it? You used to hear both Newark and Pittsburgh with the aërial on the roof.”
“Oh, it’s no advantage for ordinary work,” replied Tom. “But it’s a fine thing in some ways. Now, for instance, if we heard a fellow’s message and didn’t know where it came from we could tell by turning this back and forth until we got his direction. Then, if we wanted to locate him exactly, we could put it up somewhere else and in that way we could find out just where he was. Frank and I have a particular scheme in hand, but that’s a secret and I’m not ready to tell it yet.”
His mother laughed. “I’m not a bit curious,” she declared. “I suppose some day I’ll wake up to find you two boys have astonished the world.”
But had Frank and Tom told Mrs. Pauling what their secret was she would have been both curious and surprised. Several times within the preceding weeks the boys, listening at their instruments,
had received messages which they could not locate. At first they had given no heed to these, thinking they were merely from some amateur, but when, after repeated requests for the unknown’s call letters, no answer was received and the messages abruptly ceased, the two boys began to be curious.
“There’s something mighty funny about him,” declared Frank. “Every time we answer him or ask a question he shuts up like a clam. Say, Tom, maybe he’s a crook or a bootlegger.”
“More likely some amateur sending without a license and afraid the government inspector will get after him,” suggested Tom. “But I would like to find out who it is.”