f "independent" oil operators engaged in a
bitter war with the Oil Trust known as the "Octopus," Jack begged so
hard to be permitted to go along that his father let him quit
Harrington Hall Military Academy two months before the end of the
term.

It was agreed that when school ended, June 28, Frank and Bob should
join Jack in the Southwest for their summer vacation. The two boys
owned an airplane in which they hoped to make the trip when the time
came. Mr. Temple, however, was dubious about letting them attempt to
make so long a flight alone.

"But, Dad," Bob would argue, whenever the matter was discussed, "we'll
be all right. We've made lots of flights without any accidents. We're
as capable as anybody. You know yourself what the instructors up at
Mineola told you. You say we are too young to fly away alone. But look
at the young fellows that got to be 'aces' in the War! Not much older
than we are now."

It must be confessed that Mrs. Temple thought little of the matter one
way or the other. She had so many social duties to take up her time
that there was little left for the boys. Accordingly, the boys had
only Mr. Temple to persuade and they felt pretty certain of doing that
in time. So the last two months of school were spent in poring over
maps and routes, and in studying up on landing fields and flying
conditions generally throughout the territory they would have to
cover.

Much of this study for the proposed flight was carried on at the
radiophone station on the Hampton estate. Mr. Hampton was an
enthusiast about the development of radio telephony and it was through
him the boys first had become interested in the subject. A year
earlier he had built a powerful station for the purpose of making
experiments in talking across the ocean. On that account the United
States Government had granted him a special permit to use an 1,800
metre wave length.

Before leaving for the Southwest, Jack told the boys his father
intended to build in Texas or New Mexico another radiophone station of
similar wave length. This would enable Mr. Hampton to communicate
with his New York confreres through his Long Island station. The big
thing to the boys, however, was that they would be able to talk to
each other across 2,000 miles of territory. Delays in construction in
the Southwest had occurred, however, and communication between the two
stations had not yet been established when our story opens.

As the boys re-entered the stat