“It seems good to get back in this town again,” said Brandon, in a voice that carried conviction. “You folks have made me so welcome ever since we became acquainted that it seems almost like my own home town.”
“That’s the way we want everybody to feel,” smiled Mr. Layton. “Clintonia is a neighborly town, and we always do our best to make visitors feel at home.”
“I hear you’ve done a good deal of traveling since you were here last,” said Mrs. Layton.
“Yes, I had a little commission to execute for 106 the government down in Miami,” said Brandon. “A radio inspector is apt to be sent anywhere on short notice, you know.”
“How is your cousin, Mr. Harvey, getting along?” asked Bob. “Has he got entirely over his experience of last summer, when Dan Cassey knocked him out and stole his money?”
“Oh, yes, he’s all right now,” responded Brandon. “I saw him only day before yesterday, and he couldn’t get through talking about the way you fellows took charge of the station while he was down and out, and then got the money back afterward. That was mighty fine work, and you can believe both he and I are grateful to you for what you did.”
“Oh, that wasn’t much,” disclaimed Bob. “Besides, he’d done so much for us that we owed him something in return.”
“He didn’t say anything about that,” observed Brandon.
“I suppose that’s the last thing in the world he would mention,” laughed Joe. “But he gave us all kinds of stuff on radio, and even loaned us a practice set to get the code with.”
“Don’t forget about the motor boat,” said Herb. “He was as generous with that as with everything else. We sure had some fine cruises in the old Sea Bird.”