One day Bob had to go out of town on an errand for his father and he was allowed to take Joe along. At the out-of-town railroad station they quite unexpectedly ran into Nellie Berwick. The girl had recovered from the shock of the automobile accident but looked much downcast.
"No, I haven't heard from Dan Cassey yet," she said, in reply to a question from Bob.
"Then he didn't come back?" questioned Joe.
"No—or, if he did, he is keeping in hiding. I guess my money is gone," and the girl heaved a deep sigh.
"The rascal, the dirty rascal!" was Bob's comment, after they had left Miss Berwick. "Oh, how I would like to hand him over to the police!"
"Yes, but give him a good licking first," added his chum.
While Buck Looker was still racking his brains for an appropriate form of punishment for Bob and his chums, a most interesting thing happened to the radio boys. The Representative in Congress of the district in which Clintonia was located, Mr. Ferberton, came out with an offer of a prize of one hundred dollars for the best amateur wireless outfit made by any boy in his district, and a second prize of fifty dollars. It was stipulated that the entire set, outside of the head phones, must be made by the boy himself, with out any assistance from grown-ups. A time limit of three weeks was allowed, at the end of which time each set submitted was to be tried out by a committee composed of prominent business men and radio experts, and the prizes awarded to those getting the best results and making the neatest appearance.
It may be imagined what effect this offer had on the four radio boys. The announcement was made at the high school one day, and from that time on the boys were engrossed with the idea of winning the coveted prize.
"Just think of the honor it would be, let alone the hundred dollars," said Bob. "Whoever wins that prize will be known through the entire State."
"I wouldn't care much who got the honor, so long as I got first prize," said Jimmy, avariciously. "What I couldn't do with all that money—yum, yum!"