or else was in some other direction. We were just planning to pick him up by one of us tuning and turning the loop while the others listened to this fellow, but if you hear this man west of your place that knocks one of our theories out. If the other chap was west you’d get him, too.”
“Yep, and ’tisn’t because he’s on a different length,” declared Jim. “Hully Gee, I’ve tuned everywhere from 1500 meters down trying to get him, and nothin’ doin’.”
“Didn’t you ever hear a funny sound like talking through a comb with paper on it?” asked Henry.
“Sure, sometimes I do,” admitted Jim, “but you can’t bring it in as chatter—I put it down to induction or somethin’—but Gee, come to think of it, it always does come in just right between this looney’s sentences.”
“I’ll bet ’tis the other fellow,” declared Henry. “Only if ’tis he’s got an awful wheeze in his throat or his transmitter’s cracked.”
“Well, let’s drop that and plan how we can locate this fellow we do hear,” suggested Frank.
“Yes, now we know he’s between your place and
here we ought to find some place where we can set up a loop to the north and south,” said Tom.
“Sure, we can fix that,” declared Jim. “I’ve got a cousin that lives over on 23d St. and there’s a good scout named Lathrop over on 26th. We can take sets to their places and put ’em up. They haven’t anything but crystal sets, and most likely they’ll know other guys and by trying out at different places we can spot his hangout all right. But say, what are you fellows so keen about findin’ him for?”
“Oh, nothing except the fun of it,” replied Tom, trying to act and speak in a casual manner. “You see we’re just experimenting to find out what we can do with loop aërials—call ourselves radio detectives—and we picked on this fellow because his messages seemed sort of mysterious and are so easily recognized.”