The train was a few minutes late, but the time did not seem long to them. They hired a taxicab in advance, and by the time that transaction was finished they could see the train in the distance. As it drew into the station, they eagerly scanned the alighting pa.s.sengers.
Larry was one of the last to alight, and the boys were almost beginning to fear that he was not on the train when they spied him on the last car.
With one accord they rushed in that direction, and in a few seconds Larry found himself on the platform, with the boys bombarding him with questions and congratulations.
"How did it seem to be performing for the benefit of about half a million people at one time?" inquired Joe.
"Not very different from performing for only a few," laughed Larry. "I wasn"t worrying much about the half million. What was bothering me was to please just one--Mr. Allard."
"I suppose that"s about the size of it," agreed Bob, as they started toward the taxicab. "I guess he was satisfied, though, wasn"t he?"
"Well, he didn"t say much directly, but he took me on permanently, and is going to pay me almost twice as much as Cha.s.son did; so I guess that"s a pretty good indication that he likes the act," replied Larry. "But where are you Indians taking me to, anyway?"
"Don"t ask questions, but just come along," said Bob. "We"ve got a taxi waiting here, and Mr. Brandon has hired a room for you at his hotel, so you see you"ve got nothing to worry about."
"It certainly looks that way," agreed Larry. "Well, I"m in the hands of my friends. I"ll be good and do as I"m told."
"You"d better, until you get your strength back," threatened Bob. "We can lick you easily now, you know, so you"d better speak nicely to us."
"Well, when people treat me to a ride in a taxicab, I speak nicely to them anyway, so that they"ll be encouraged to do it again," said Larry. "So, you see, I have a double incentive."
"You"d better make the most of this ride," laughed Joe. "When you begin to get your pay checks, we"ll expect you to hire the taxicabs, shan"t we, fellows?"
"You bet we will," said Jimmy. "This is the life! Taxicabs must have been made especially for me, I like to ride in them so."
"It"s too bad Tim can"t be with us now," said Bob. "Have you heard how he is getting along lately, Larry?"
"Oh, that reminds me!" exclaimed Larry. "You can bet your bottom dollar I"ve heard from him lately. Not an hour after I had gone through my act last night I got a telegram from him congratulating me. It seems that he was listening in at a radio set somewhere, and I guess it must have pretty nearly knocked him off his pins when he heard the announcer give my name.
As soon as I finished he must have rushed out and sent the telegram. Here it is, and you can read it for yourselves."
He fished through his pockets, and at last produced the crumpled slip of yellow paper.
Bob took it up and read aloud.
"Fine work, old man. Keep it up. Have got engagement, too. More by letter. Tim."
"Good for him!" exclaimed Bob. "We were speaking about him last night, and wondering how he was making out. I"m mighty glad to hear that he has landed an engagement."
"So am I," said Larry. "Although, now that I"ve got one, he would have had half of what I made until he did drop into something. It"s always been share and share alike with us."
By this time the taxicab had reached the hotel, and the boys helped Larry out. He was regaining his strength rapidly now, and his friends were delighted to note the improvement in him.
"You won"t need that crutch much longer, Larry, I can see that," Bob told him.
"I hope not," responded Larry. "And won"t it be a happy day when I can throw it into the discard? Believe me, it"s a terrible thing to have to rely on one."
"I hope we never have to make the experiment," said Bob, soberly. "But you"re mighty lucky to be getting along the way you are. When they first took you to the hospital, the doctor didn"t think you"d pull through. He didn"t say so in so many words, but we could see that he thought it."
"I don"t doubt it," said Larry, as they slowly mounted the steps leading to the lobby. "You can believe that I felt as though the roof had caved in on top of me."
At that moment a tall boy pa.s.sed them rapidly, going out of the door into the street. It was Buck Looker, and he had pa.s.sed the others without recognizing them.
"Did you ever hear any more from Buck?" questioned Bob of Larry.
"No," and Larry"s face clouded. "But I suppose he still thinks me guilty of that robbery."
"Forget Buck!" cried Joe. "He isn"t worth worrying about."
"Perhaps not. Just the same, I wish that matter was cleared up. I hate to have a cloud over my name," answered Larry seriously.
CHAPTER XIX
LISTENING IN
Larry registered at the desk, and then they were whisked up in the elevator to the lad"s room. Bob had inquired at the desk for Frank Brandon, but was informed that he had left early that morning and had left word for the boys that he would not be back in Clintonia before the following evening.
Larry"s room was only two removed from that of the radio expert, and was fairly large and comfortably furnished. The young actor was delighted when he saw it.
"Say, this is great!" he exclaimed. "This has got the hospital beat a thousand ways. If the eats are only as good as the room, I"ll be in clover."
"You won"t find anything the matter with the eats," said Bob. "This hotel has a reputation for setting a good table, and I don"t think you"ll have any fault to find with it."
"When I get my first pay check, we"ll try it out together," promised Larry. "You"ll all be my guests, for a change, and we"ll make the chef step around a bit."
"Hooray!" crowed Jimmy, "that"s the kind of talk I like to hear, Larry. It certainly sounds like sweet music to me."
"It is rather pleasant," added Bob. "All you"ve got to do is set a date, Larry, and we"ll be there with nickel-plated appet.i.tes and cast iron digestions."
"You fellows haven"t said much about your radio lately. How is it coming along? I"m afraid you"ve spent so much time on me lately, that you"ve gotten behind on that new set you were telling me about."
"No, that"s coming along all right," said Bob. "We haven"t set any hard and fast date to have it finished, you know. We"ve all had to bone down pretty hard at school this term, too."
"Could you hear me plainly last evening?" inquired Larry.
"If you"d been sitting in the room with us, it couldn"t have sounded any different," Joe a.s.sured him. "Doctor Dale has a good set for shorter ranges, but except under very favorable conditions he can"t get the distant stations, like Detroit, for instance."
"Do you expect to be able to hear Detroit?"
"We"ll be able to hear any station in the Eastern States," Bob informed him. "This is going to be a set that is a set, Larry."
"Well, so much the better," said Larry. "If you can hear as far as that, you won"t have to live in fear of not hearing my performance only a few miles away. I know it would break your hearts if you couldn"t."
"It makes me sad just to think of such a terrible thing," sighed Herb.
"Wait till I get my handkerchief, fellows, and mop up the flowing tears."
"Aw, chase yourself," grinned Larry. "The only thing that would bother you radio bugs if you didn"t hear me, would be the fear that your blamed old set wasn"t working just right. You"d be down under the table fussing around with a few thousand wires, but you"d never stop to think that maybe I"d been fired by the manager, or run over by a trolley car."