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

by J. W. Duffield

There was a host of questions to be asked and answered, but by the time that the interchange of messages had ceased, the boys had the fullest information they needed to form their plans and map out their journey.

It goes without saying that they had informed the authorities of all that they had learned as to the possible whereabouts of Muggs Murray. The Texas police authorities were communicated with and were asked to give all the assistance in their power. Mr. Eldridge further stated that the bank would send on a special detective at its own expense to run down the clue.

“Now,” remarked Phil, when they had thus disburdened their mind of all the information they had in the matter, “we’ve done our duty by the bank and the police, and it’s up to them to do what they think best. But we’ll play our own little game our own way and we’ll see who comes out best. I don’t mind saying that I think we have the inside track.”

“I feel the same way,” agreed Dick.

“At any rate if we fail it won’t be for lack of trying,” concluded Tom.

The next few days were busy ones, for a host of preparations had to be made for the journey. The boys had hailed with delight the suggestion of Steve that they make the journey by plane, and the first thing they did was to equip it with a complete radio apparatus. Great stress had been laid upon this by Mr. Denby, who rendered them valuable aid in the installation of the set, the making of the counterpoise that served in place of a ground connection and a variety of other details in which he was past master.

“Nobody ought to go aloft these days whether in a balloon or an airplane without a complete radio equipment,” he counseled. “All Uncle Sam’s Air Mail planes have them, and by that means are able to keep in constant touch with the earth beneath them. If a storm is coming, the Government broadcasting station can send out storm warnings to the air pilots so that they can descend until the storm is past. If they are in doubt as to where they can find a safe landing field, all they have to do is to radio and find out. In that way they can avoid the danger of wreck that is always present when they have to make forced landings. In storm or fog the radio is like an invisible thread guiding the plane to safety.

“Especially will you find it indispensable in the work you are planning to do in Texas,” he continued. “Your plane might be disabled and you be forced to descend in a desert, where, if left alone, you might perish of hunger and thirst. The radio will tell your troop where you are and bring them to your rescue. Or if you are flying on reconnoitering service, you can tell the men on the ground below just what you are seeing without having to return to the ground. On the other hand, if your commanding officer wants to give you additional orders, he can radio the message to you up there in the sky just as easily as he could give it to you if you were seated at his desk. In a hundred ways you will find it a vast convenience, and in many cases an absolute necessity.”

They felt the force of the reasoning and worked heartily with his assistance in the perfecting of the set. And when one day the installation was complete, Phil and Dick went up on a trial flight to try it out, Tom remaining at the radio station in Phil’s home to send and receive.

To the delight of all three, the set worked to perfection. Phil and Dick were wearing the special helmet constructed for aviators to shut out the roar of the motor so that they could perceive the radio signals, and they had no trouble at all in receiving Tom’s messages. He on his part had equal luck in catching without difficulty the signals of his friends, and all were in high, good humor at the success of the tests.