The Motor Rangers' Wireless Station

Both men were arrested and Dolliver made a complete confession, admitting that Minory and he had been friends in the east many years before, and that knowledge of a crime he had committed in his youth had given Minory a power over him which he could not resist. Minory seemingly knew of Dolliver’s whereabouts and utilized his ranch as a hiding place, holding Dolliver powerless by his knowledge of his past.

The model and the plans of the wireless torpedo were recovered, and Ding-dong sent a message winging eastward to Professor Jenkins informing him of their safety. We perhaps may look ahead a little here and inform our readers that before many months had passed the Jenkins Wireless Torpedo was an accomplished fact, with headquarters on Goat Island. Prominent in the company formed to promote it were Nat Trevor, Joe Hartley, and William Bell.

But that is decidedly looking into the future. Just at present we must turn seaward and behold the Nomad struggling like a pigmy ant with a huge beetle at her task of bringing the Lightship into port. The authorities had already sent for a tug to tow the guardian craft back to the shoals, so that when the two vessels dropped anchor in the harbor, the Nomad’s part was over.

Two boats from the new arrivals were on their way shoreward when a messenger thrust a note into Ding-dong’s hand. It was addressed to Joe Hartley and was from the Chief of Police of the town. Ding-dong opened it, as the messenger had informed him that it was for the first of the three chums that he encountered.

“‘Thanks to your wireless, the two men who annoyed you have been arrested,’” he read. “‘The criminal they warned is also under arrest. I am authorized to inform you that a reward of five hundred dollars awaits you for your clever work in their apprehension’.”

It may be said here that Joe devoted the reward to the education of young Jim Dolliver, who, following the arrest of his father, was left homeless. He was taken on as an assistant at Goat Island when the Wireless Torpedo Company was formed and proved a valuable help to the boys and their elders in their work.

As for Minory and the Harleys, they all received heavy sentences for their evil doings, although the elder Harley and his sons did not receive as heavy penalties as that meted out to Minory, who, it transpired, had a long criminal record reaching back to his youth.

And now, amidst the enthusiastic crowd of their fellow townsmen, let us for the present take our leave of the Motor Rangers. Their Wireless Island, at first looked upon as a mere boyish freak, had proved its value in no uncertain way, and certified the worth of their training in the science of aerial telegraphy.

Busy, happy days lay ahead of them, and Goat Island, – its name now changed to Wireless Island, – became the scene of activities which attracted the attention of the scientific world. The wireless torpedo is now an assured success, and, thanks to the boys, the United States is the only country which possesses its secret. Had Minory and the promoters back of him succeeded in filching the secret, it was their intention to sell the valuable implement of war to a foreign power which had offered a large sum for it.

The boys often talk of that first message that came to them that drowsy afternoon when it seemed that there was, to use Joe’s phrase, “nothing doing.” The remarkable series of adventures that grew out of that sharp summons to the Iroquois forms a never-failing topic of conversation with them and with their friends.

And so, wishing the boys good fortune and pleasant times, we bring the tale of their Wireless Island to a close. Ahead of them, along the trail of life, lie new adventures and experiences in a novel field. Those who choose to do so may read of these in a succeeding volume devoted to the interests of the Motor Rangers.

THE END