“Well, we’ve drawn a blank there,” smiled Mr. Henderson. Then, after a moment’s thought, he exclaimed, “Boys, I’m going to take a chance. I’m pretty well convinced something’s going on that’s crooked and I’m going to send some men out and search every building in that block from cellar to garret. You understand, of course, this is a profound secret. No one will know who they are or what they’re after. It must be a surprise visit so don’t even talk it over among yourselves. But I want you to help us a bit. I’m going to start the men out at eight o’clock sharp, to-night.
You must be at your sets and listening. If the fellow’s talking, you’ll know when my men find him, either by what he says or the way he shuts off, and if he goes on talking without interruption for half an hour you’ll know you’ve made some mistake and he’s not in that block. Meet me here to-morrow at about this time and we’ll have something to report—or nothing.”
“Oh, and there’s something else,” announced Tom as the boys turned to leave. “Henry called attention to those names of flowers yesterday. We’d almost forgotten about them. Every time that fellow talks he gets a new name of a flower. Have you noticed it?”
Mr. Henderson chuckled. “You’re getting a pretty good training at this, boys,” he replied. “Yes, I’ve noticed that—that’s one thing that influences me more than anything else. There’s some code to those names, I think, and they may prove the key to the whole thing. We’ll find out sometime probably.”
Remembering Mr. Henderson’s injunction about discussing the proposed raid the boys refrained from mentioning it to one another, but could
scarcely restrain their impatience until the time came for them to be at their instruments.
Eight o’clock came and, excited and expectant, the boys listened, hoping to hear the message coming in and to learn from its words or its abrupt ending of the success of the raid. But the minutes ticked by, the hands of the clock pointed to half-past eight, and nine o’clock came and went without a word from the source they so longed to hear.
Anxious to learn the result of the search, the boys hurried to Mr. Henderson’s office the following day.
“Another blank, boys,” he announced when they entered his office. “There wasn’t a sign of a wireless outfit in that block. Did you hear anything last night?”
The boys admitted that they had heard nothing.