Radio Boys in the Flying Service; or, Held For Ransom by Mexican Bandits

by J. W. Duffield

“I happened to catch his eye just as some one mentioned the fact that the bank’s loss amounted to forty thousand dollars, and if there was ever a look of satisfaction in any one’s eyes it was in his at that moment. It was more than satisfaction; it was triumph. It was all the more noticeable too because every one else seemed to be sorry and indignant. You might almost have thought that the bank’s loss meant money in his pocket.”

“He’s a rotter all right,” said Dick, “and I suppose he’s got such a grudge against the bank because it dispensed with his valuable services that he takes delight in any bad luck that comes to it. That would be just about his size.”

“He’s getting pretty near the end of his rope in this town anyway,” remarked Phil. “He’s in with the gambling crowd and he’s been mixed up with two or three more or less shady affairs lately. He’s bad medicine and the less we have to do with him the better.”

For the next two weeks the bank robbery furnished the chief topic of conversation in Castleton. Nothing on so bold and large a scale had ever stirred up the town.

As Mr. Eldridge had surmised, the frank and prompt statement issued by the bank had a beneficial effect, and there was no run on the institution.

Descriptions of the robbers were sent broadcast all over the United States, and a reward was offered for their apprehension. Especial emphasis was laid on the scar that disfigured the leader of the band, and it was thought by the more hopeful that this mark of identification would lead to his speedy capture. But as the days passed by and lapsed into weeks without any news of the outlaws this hope began to wane and the conclusion gained ground that they had perhaps gotten over the border into Canada or Mexico.

Mr. Weston made speedy progress toward recovery and was soon able to be around again with his arm in a sling. But though he mended bodily, his spirits were greatly depressed. A large part of his own modest savings was invested in the stock of the bank, and the assessment that was levied on the stockholders to make good the loss occasioned by the robbery taxed him severely. He chafed moreover at the inaction forced upon him. Dick, who idolized his father, was full of rage at the men who had brought this shadow upon him, and it would have gone hard with any of the bandits if he could have got them within his reach.

The two robbers already in jail had been interrogated again and again in the hope that they might let something fall that would give a clue to the whereabouts of their chief. But despite all threats and cajoling, they remained stubbornly non-committal. Their finger prints had been sent to the police headquarters of all the great cities, as well as their photographs. By means of these they had been identified as desperate criminals and members of the notorious “Muggs” Murray gang. And as Murray was known to have a scar similar to that of the leader of the bandits in the Castleton robbery, it was pretty clearly established that he had been in command on that occasion. So far so good. But where was Murray? That was the question that thousands were asking, but which the police and detectives, even spurred on as they were by the promise of a reward, had not yet been able to answer.

That same question was being asked by the Radio Boys also by means of their sending sets. They had powerful transmitters, and scarcely a night passed without their sending out a reminder that “Muggs” Murray was wanted for the robbery of the Castleton bank. With the reminder they sent also a description of the outlaw and mentioned the five thousand dollar reward that was offered for his capture. They flung out these messages into the ether, knowing that it was only a chance, but still that it was a chance. They knew that their message was heard by thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands within a radius of hundreds of miles. Who knew but that one of those thousands might have seen such a man an hour before receiving the message and might be able to tell the police where they could lay their hands on him?

Dick, Tom and Phil were at the latter’s home one evening, bending over the radio set, when Professor Denby of the Castleton Academy dropped in upon them. He was a genial, likeable man, with none of the traditional primness of the pedagogue about him, and the boys had a great esteem and regard for him and had always regarded him more as a comrade than a teacher. He in his turn liked the boys immensely and was a frequent and welcome visitor to their homes.