Walter and the Wireless   By: Sara Ware Bassett (1872-1968)

By Sara Ware Bassett

The Invention Series

PAUL AND THE PRINTING PRESS STEVE AND THE STEAM ENGINE TED AND THE TELEPHONE WALTER AND THE WIRELESS

[Illustration: "K Y W Chicago, Illinois. Stand by fifteen minutes for ." FRONTISPIECE. See page 208.]

The Invention Series

WALTER AND THE WIRELESS

BY SARA WARE BASSETT

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILLIAM F. STECHER

BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1923

Copyright, 1923 , BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

All rights reserved

Published March, 1923

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To PAUL MARBLE AND HIS COLLIE BOBS, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I HIS HIGHNESS 1

II THE NEW JOB 17

III WHAT WORRIED MRS. KING 36

IV WALTER MAKES HIS BOW TO HIS EMPLOYER 50

V THE CONQUEST OF ACHILLES 64

VI HIS HIGHNESS IN A NEW ROLE 75

VII THE PURSUIT OF LOLA 92

VIII A BLUNDER AND WHAT CAME OF IT 104

IX MORE CLUES 116

X BOB 127

XI THE DECISION 138

XII LESSONS 147

XIII INFORMATION FROM A NEW SOURCE 162

XIV BOB AS PEDAGOGUE 169

XV TIDINGS 183

XVI MIRACLES 197

XVII THE LAWS OF THE AIR 210

XVIII THE NET TIGHTENS 228

XIX WALTER STEPS INTO THE BREACH 238

XX THE RETURN OF THE WANDERERS 248

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"K Y W CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. STAND BY FIFTEEN MINUTES FOR " Frontispiece

PAGE

THE TWO BOYS WOULD DISCUSS BOATS, FISHING AND KINDRED INTERESTS 76

"YOU WILL GET ALL THE WIRELESS COMING TO YOU, THAT'S ALL. TAKE IT FROM ME" 154

CLEARLY AND EVENLY THE MESSAGE TICKED ITSELF OFF. THEN THERE WAS SILENCE 240

WALTER AND THE WIRELESS

CHAPTER I

HIS HIGHNESS

His Highness came by the nickname honestly enough and yet those who heard it for the first time had difficulty in repressing a smile at the incongruity of the title. In fact perhaps no term could have been found that would have been less appropriate. For Walter King possessed neither dignity of rank nor of stature. On the contrary he was a short, snub nosed boy of fifteen, the epitome of good humor and democracy.

His hair was red and towsled, his face spangled with great golden freckles which sea winds and sunshine had multiplied until there was scarce room for another on his beaming countenance. Hands and arms were freckled too, for when one lives in a bathing suit six months of the year and is either in the water or on it most of the time the skin fails to retain its pristine whiteness of hue. But His Highness did not care a fig for that. He was far too busy baiting eel and lobster traps, mending fish nets, untangling lines, and painting boats to give a thought to his personal beauty.