As he listened, he heard the latest stock market quotations given out, among them being the last minute prices of some shares he happened to be interested in. He slapped his knee enthusiastically, and when the last quotations had been given, he s.n.a.t.c.hed off the headset and leaped to his feet.
"I"m converted!" he fairly shouted. "I"ll buy this outfit right as it stands for almost any price you fellows want to put on it. What will you sell it for?"
The boys were taken aback by this unexpected offer, and all looked at Bob expectantly.
"Why, we hadn"t even thought of selling the set," he said slowly. "We wouldn"t sell it right now, at any price, I think. But when we leave here to go back home, I suppose we might let you have it. How about it, fellows?"
After some argument they agreed to this, but Mr. Robins was so determined to have the set that he would not be put off.
"Now look here," he said. "I"m a business man, and I"ll make you a business proposition. I"ll buy that outfit right now, before I leave this room, at your own figure. But you fellows can keep it here and have the use of it just the same as you have now, only it will be understood that I"ll have the privilege of coming over here once a day in time to hear those market reports. At the same time you can teach me something about operating the thing. How does that strike you?" and he threw himself back in his chair and waited for his answer.
"We"ll have to talk over that offer for a little while," said Bob.
"Give us ten minutes or so, and we"ll give you an answer."
"That"s all right," replied Mr. Robins. "While I"m waiting I"ll just put on those ear pieces again and see what"s doing."
The radio boys left the room and held an excited conference downstairs. After some discussion they agreed to sell their set, as long as they could have the use of it during their stay at the resort, but the matter of price proved to be a knotty problem. Bob produced pencil and paper, and they figured the actual cost of the set to themselves, and then what the same set would have cost if bought ready made in a retail store.
"The actual material in that set didn"t cost us much over forty dollars, but we put a whole lot of time and experience into it," said Bob, "It would cost him close to a hundred to get as good a one in a store."
"It"s a mighty good set, too," said Joe, a note of regret in his voice. "We might make another as near like it as possible, and not get nearly as good results."
"Oh, don"t worry. We"re some radio builders by this time," Herb reminded him. "Besides, that isn"t the only set we"ve got."
"Let"s ask him eighty dollars," ventured Jimmy. "He"ll be getting it cheaper then than he could buy it retail, and we"ll be picking up a nice piece of change."
"I think that ought to be about the right figure," agreed Bob. "Does that suit this board of directors? Eighty hard, round iron men?"
The others grinned a.s.sent, and they returned to the room where the older men were still seated about the radio set.
"Well, what"s the verdict?" inquired Mr. Robins, glancing keenly from one to the other.
"We"ve decided to sell," replied Bob. "The price will be eighty dollars."
Without a word Mr. Robins produced a roll of greenbacks, and counted off the specified amount in crisp bills.
"You"ll want a receipt, won"t you, Robins?" inquired Mr. Layton.
"Not necessary," replied the other. "I"ve got a hunch that your son and his friends are on the level and won"t try to cheat an old fellow like me. I"ll have to be going now, but I"ll be around about the same time tomorrow morning to get the stock quotations. Coming, Blackford?"
CHAPTER XI
A MOUNTAIN RADIO STATION
Left to themselves, the boys looked at one another.
"That"s what I call quick work," remarked Joe. "I hate to let the old set go, but they say you should never mix sentiment with business."
"Maybe this will lessen your grief," said Bob. "Eighty divided by four makes twenty, or at least that"s what they always taught us in school.
Take these four five-dollar bills, Joe, and dry your tears with them."
"Oh, boy!" exclaimed Joe.
"Money, how welcome you are!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Herb, as he pocketed his share. "What I can"t do with twenty dollars!"
"That will buy exactly two thousand doughnuts," calculated Jimmy, a rapturous expression on his round countenance. "Hot doughnuts, crisp brown doughnuts, doughnuts with jelly in them, doughnuts----"
A human avalanche precipitated itself on the corpulent youngster, and he found himself writhing on the floor with his three companions seated comfortably on different parts of his ample anatomy.
"Hey! Quit, quit!" stuttered Jimmy. "Get off me, you hobos! You"ll have me flattened out like a dog that"s just been run over by a steam roller."
"And serve you right, too," retorted Joe. "What do you mean by talking about doughnuts when it"s almost dinner time, and we"re starved to death, anyway. Besides, you know there isn"t a place at Mountain Pa.s.s where we can buy them."
"Yes, and if I"d known that before I started, I would probably have stayed at home," retorted Jimmy. "Get off me, will you, before I throw you off?"
"We"ll let you up, but I doubt if you should be trusted with all that money," returned Bob, grinning. "You"d better whack it up among us, Jimmy. You"ll just buy a lot of junk with it and make yourself sick."
"Well, I"ve got a right to get sick if I want to," said his rotund friend, struggling to his feet. "If you get that twenty away from me, it will have to be over my dead body."
"It doesn"t seem worth while to kill him for just twenty dollars,"
said Bob, pretending to consider. "That"s just a little over six dollars apiece."
"No good," said Joe, decisively. "It would cost more than that to bury him."
"You"re a cold-blooded set of bandits," complained Jimmy, in an aggrieved tone. "I"m glad I haven"t got a hundred dollars with me. I"d be a mighty poor insurance risk then, I suppose."
"I wouldn"t give a lead nickel for your chances," said Bob. "But don"t let that worry you, Jimmy. You"ll probably never have that much money all at one time as long as you live."
"I won"t if I wait for you fellows to give it to me," admitted his friend. "But I"m going over to the hotel and see if dinner is served yet. I"m not going to be the last one in the dining room at _every_ meal."
"When you get the hang of this place, you"ll always be the first one,"
said Herb. "After a little while they"ll make you up a bunk in a corner, and you can even sleep there."
"Oh, go chase yourself!" exclaimed Jimmy. "You never learned how to eat, Herb, and that"s why you"re such a human bean pole," and with this parting shot he slammed the door behind him before Herb could think of a suitable reply.
"He got you that time, Herb," said Bob, with a grin. "I guess we might as well all get ready for dinner. Dad says they hate to have people coming in late."
Every day after that Mr. Robins dropped in in time to hear the market reports, sometimes alone, and at others accompanied by his partner, Mr. Blackford. The latter was not quite so enthusiastic as his colleague, but he was nevertheless greatly interested, and was always glad to don a head set and hear what was going on.
True to their agreement, the boys instructed the new owner of the set how to adjust it and get the best results. He always paid the closest attention to what they told him, and in a few days could pick up signals and tune the set fairly well.
"Not bad for an old fellow, eh?" he exclaimed delightedly one day, when he had accomplished the whole thing without any aid from the boys. "If Blackford and I sell out to your father, Bob, I"ll have a little leisure time, and blame it all if I don"t think I"ll do some experimenting and possibly some building myself."
"You"re pretty badly bitten by the radio bug," observed his partner.