ped on
two different wave lengths at once, he took a hand and helped out. For
the most part he merely looked, listened and learned.

His pal he held in the greatest admiration. And who would not? Had he
not, when this great big new thing, the radiophone, came leaping right
into the world from nowhere, been able to take a hand from the very
beginning and become at once a valuable servant of his beloved country?
Had he not at times detected meddlers who were endangering the lives of
men upon the high seas? Had he not at one time received the highest of
commendations from the great chief of this secret service of the air?

To Joe there was something weirdly fascinating about the whole business.
Here they were, two boys in the tower of the highest building in a great
city. Five people knew of their presence. These five were high up in the
radio secret service. No message sent out by them could ever be traced
back to its source. They did not use the air. That would be dangerous,
easily traced. They did not use the telephone alone. That, too, would be
dangerous. But when a radiophone had been connected to the telephone
wire and tuned to a certain wave length, then they talked and not even
the person they talked with would ever know whence came the message.
This was a necessary precaution for, from this very tower, dangerous
bands of criminals, gangs of smugglers, and all other types of
law-breakers would ultimately be brought to justice. And if these but
knew of the presence of this boy in his tower room, some dark night that
tower would be rocked by an exploding bomb and the boy in his room would
be shaken to earth like a young mud-wasp in his nest.

"I'll tell you," said Curlie, as he rose to answer a tap on the door, "I
believe that affair last night was some big thing; but what it was I
can't even guess."

He opened the door to let in Coles Masters, his relief, then motioning
to Joe he took his cap and left the room. Down the winding stairs which
led to the elevator several stories lower down they made their way in
silence, at last to enter a cage and be silently dropped to the ground
hundreds of feet below.

CHAPTER II

SOMETHING BIG

"You see," Curlie began as he crossed his slim legs beside a small table
in an all-night lunch room, buried somewhere in the deep recesses of
this same skyscraper, "that fellow sent the message about the easterly
breeze that blew west and I located the station at that hotel.