April 7, 2025 • 10 mins
During WWI, three college friends join the military and find themselves in the trenches, battling spies, subs, and sabotage in the Brighton Boys’ thrilling radio service adventures. Discover hundreds of ad-free audiobooks, soothing sounds for sleep and meditation, and more—unwind and learn at www.adfreebooks.com!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Recording by Tom Clifton. The Brighton Boys in the Radio
Service by James R. Driscoll, Chapter fourteen, Desperate Measures. Never
did three young men face a more terrible or more
horribly gruesome situation. Here they were locked in a natural dungeon,
behind a wall of dirt and rock, probably four or
(00:22):
five feet thick. Not only that, but the cave already
contained the bodies of six men, whose fixed and glassy
eyes stared at them as though in mockery and warning.
And the already foul air was becoming more stifling every moment.
In a dull way, they realized that they probably could
not survive more than two or three maddening hours in
(00:42):
that death chamber. It may not be so bad as
it seems, said Lieutenant, in a voice that seemed unnatural
in the vault. Perhaps it was only a slight cave in.
He flashed his light about the hole. It was difficult
to tell where the opening had been. Joe and Frank Hoskins,
cried Jerry, in a new terror in his voice. I
heard Joe shriek. Slim catching his meaning, stanched a rifle
(01:06):
beside one of the bodies, and with the butt of
it began pounding frantically upon the side of the cave
where the entrance had been. There was no answering. Knock, Joe,
shouted Jerry in a frenzied tone, Joe, can you hear me?
No answer came either from Joe or Frank. Pen under
tons of that stuff, gasped Slim, the words trembling upon
(01:27):
his lips, and a tear trickling down his cheek. I
do not think so, the lieutenant answered them. Both Joe
and Frank were upon the outside when we entered, But
they would try to get us out, said Jerry. If
they were out there, they would give us some signal
they were trying to help us. We might not be
able to hear them, answered Lieutenant, even against his own judgment.
(01:47):
But look at it this way. Even though they never
were inside, they had a fair idea what the place
was like. They knew from that that we needed help,
and needed it quickly. If one went alone and anything
happened to him on the way, the other might wait
here indefinitely, not knowing whether he had gotten assistance or not.
By going together, they took the safest course, and Lieutenant
(02:08):
Mackinson's reasoning was correct that was exactly the way Joe
and Frank had figured it out. The latter forgetting all
about his own wound. They had started as fast as
they could for the American front. Keith cool, conservative energy,
and I feel certain everything will be all right, the
lieutenant told his two friends, with whom in such a
short time he had already gone through many harrowing experiences.
(02:30):
At that very same moment, a quarter of a mile away,
Joe brought his companion to a halt, took out his flashlight,
and facing the American lines, began making him break into
connection in a way to give a number of short
even flashes. Presently a light appeared, was extinguished, and appeared
again At the edge of the French American lines. Joe
(02:51):
had resorted to another sort of wireless the blinker, and
not knowing the call signal for the station he was nearest,
had given the prescribed call in such a case as
Syria short flashes or dots. The station had acknowledged, and
he had begun sending his message out of the little
battery in his hand. Americans three of party caught in cave,
need help, and the answer was flashed back in the
(03:14):
same code approach. Keep light on countersign. Following these instructions,
with Joe and the lead and the flashlight held out
in front of him, they dashed onto the trenches. They
gasped out the countersign and were escorted by a sentry
to the quarters of the officer in that particular section.
In a few words, they told him what had happened,
(03:34):
without an instant's delay. The latter, a colonel of artillery,
reached through his telephone asked Captain Howeld come here immediately,
he said, and severed the connection. He seemed already to
have decided upon some sort of a plan, and his
decisive manner gave the two lads a feeling of confidence
in him. He reached into the drawer of his desk
and drew out a large map. He ran his fingers
(03:55):
across it, and then came to a stop at a
little black dot which appeared just in the angle of
the two converging red lines. Is that it? He asked,
turning to Jerry and Frank. They examined the map carefully
for a moment and told him that it was. Just
Then Captain Howell entered. His boots were splattered with mud,
his face was grimy, and his eyes were bloodshot, indicating
(04:16):
that he had been for many hours without sleep. Captain
said the colonel bluntly. These young men are the Signal Corps.
As you can see, they were detailed tonight. The established
an outpost wire communication to he'll Thember eight. You know
it very well, sir, the captain replied, his interest increasing well,
continued the colonel. They got there all right, but the
other three in the party had hardly entered the hole
(04:37):
when the entrance caved in. Great Scott ejaculated the captain.
I know that cavern. They can't last there long, exactly,
affirmed the colonel. What's your suggestion for a full moment?
Captain Howell was silent. There's only one way, he said finally,
and that is a dangerous way. Blast them out. Blast
them out, repeated the colonel, but apparently without surprise. How
(05:00):
it would take too long to dig them out? Captain
Howell answered, and decides that could hardly be done without
some sort of light, and that would attract enemy fire.
There is but one chance, and that is to blast
him out with one of our big guns. Can you
do it? The colonel demanded again, in his blunt, insistent way,
I will do my utmost to save them, Sir, Captain
Hal replied very well, then answered his superior officer, if
(05:24):
you feels certain that is the only way, go ahead
personally going the place as I do. I see no
other method myself. Have you the range I did have, sir,
said Captain Howell, But in such a delicate matter as this,
it would be necessary to be absolutely accurate. We've been
firing practically all day, and the position of the guns
changes slightly. Of course, I would want to find a
(05:45):
new and exact range. He had noticed Frank's limp arm
and turned to Joe. Take this flashlight, he ordered. It
is more powerful than yours. Get back there as quickly
as you can, and follow to the letter these directions.
Keep between us and that until you get there. Stay
on this side of the hill and crawl round towards
the entrance until you get to a point where you
(06:05):
can see this light facing us two feet above the
ground and one foot from the outer surface extremity. Leave
it there until you see three quick successive rockets go
straight up in the air from here. After that, I'll
give you three minutes in which to get back to
a place of safety. I'll put that flashlight out of business,
and I think I can liberate your friends. Is your
(06:26):
injury a serious one, the colonel demanded of Frank. Very slight, sir,
only a flesh wound. Frank responded eagerly. Then take this light,
the colonel ordered, and follow him at a distance of
one hundred yards. If anything should happen to your friend,
you follow the directions you have just heard. Yes, sir,
The lads responded in unison, and with a hasty salute,
were off. Three times that Joe dropped to the ground
(06:49):
as his shadows seemed to move somewhere out in the
distance before him, But each time he was up and
off again, almost upon the instant, thinking of his own
safety only as that of his three friends depended upon it,
and what of those inside. Even the courageous Lieutenant Mackinson
was beginning to show the anxiety he felt, while Jerry
and Slim, despite their bravest efforts, gave way to occasional
(07:11):
expressions of the horror of the thing. They had pounded
upon the walls until they had been overcome with despair.
Then they had set to work digging with the only
instruments in hand that bayonets on the Germans rifles, But
soon they realized that this too was as hopeless as
the pounding, for further exhausted the energy which the foul
air was rapidly sapping without making any apparent opening in
(07:34):
the thick earthen wall that surrounded them. Well, said Slim
at last, gulping back his nausea and smiling almost in
an old time way. I'm as anxious as anybody to
keep up hope to the last. But if this is
to be our end, I guess we can face it
as Americans should. Bravo, exclaimed Lieutenant Mackinson. I always knew
(07:55):
that each one of you fellows had the right sort
of stuff in you, and Jerry too, slapped him affectionately
on the back. Slim, he said, smiling over his chum
and ready for his pawn. Even under such circumstances, my
head is feeling a trifle heavy, but I'm game to
stand up to the last. Thus they set down to
wait for just what they did not know. While at
(08:15):
the very moment, four feet away from them, on the
other side of the wall, Faithful Joe was setting up
the flashlight exactly according to directions. For a few seconds
he waited, and then three times in quick succession, a
rocket went into the air from just behind the American lines.
Over there, Captain Howell himself found the range, submitted it
(08:35):
to the most expert gunner, who verified it, and then
they waited for the three minutes to elapse, during which
Joe was to seek a place of safety. It was
in the interval, too, that fate intervened for those within
the cave, for they were sitting with their backs to
the very point against which the shell was to be directed.
We need all our strength, Lieutenant Maxim was saying, so
long as possible, we want to remain in full possession
(08:57):
of our senses. The air is purer near the floor.
I think it would be better to lie down, And
following his suggestion and example, the other two stretched themselves
out in the middle of the cavern, within the American
lines at that point, where a regiment of heavy artillery
was stationed. Captain Howell raised his hand in signal to
his gunner. Out on the parapet of the front trench,
(09:19):
an anxious colonel was standing regardless of all danger, a
pair of powerful glasses to his eyes. His vision was
focused upon a little light far out in no man's land.
Two hundred feet away from that light, Joe and Frank
Hoskins light prone upon the ground, silent, impatient, fearful, hoping.
With a quick motion, the artillery captain swung his outstretched
(09:41):
arm downward. There was a roar, a flash, and a
great shell tore through the air. Out in no man's land.
There was a second explosion as shell hit and the
target a flashlight was blown to atoms. Over in the
German trenches, a sentinel chuckled at the thought of another
wasted American shell. But out of the that shell had torn.
Three pale, haggard and exhausted youths were crawling to safety
(10:05):
in God's fresh air, and across no man's land asked
two pals to greet them. American determination in American markmanship
had saved three American lives. The German Sentinel might have
his laugh if he liked it. Was hours later before
the three who had been in prison learned how their
rescue had been effected, but they gotten inklean of it
as they came within four hundred yards of the American
(10:26):
French front. What are you doing, Lieutenant Mackinson had asked,
as Joe brought the party to a stop. Just a moment,
and you'll see Joe had responded, and first in wonder,
and then with the dawning of understanding, the other three
read off his last message, Signal corps men and whole
party safe. End of Chapter fourteen.
Recording by Tom Clifton. The Brighton Boys in the Radio
Service by James R. Driscoll, Chapter fourteen, Desperate Measures. Never
did three young men face a more terrible or more
horribly gruesome situation. Here they were locked in a natural dungeon,
behind a wall of dirt and rock, probably four or
(00:22):
five feet thick. Not only that, but the cave already
contained the bodies of six men, whose fixed and glassy
eyes stared at them as though in mockery and warning.
And the already foul air was becoming more stifling every moment.
In a dull way, they realized that they probably could
not survive more than two or three maddening hours in
(00:42):
that death chamber. It may not be so bad as
it seems, said Lieutenant, in a voice that seemed unnatural
in the vault. Perhaps it was only a slight cave in.
He flashed his light about the hole. It was difficult
to tell where the opening had been. Joe and Frank Hoskins,
cried Jerry, in a new terror in his voice. I
heard Joe shriek. Slim catching his meaning, stanched a rifle
(01:06):
beside one of the bodies, and with the butt of
it began pounding frantically upon the side of the cave
where the entrance had been. There was no answering. Knock, Joe,
shouted Jerry in a frenzied tone, Joe, can you hear me?
No answer came either from Joe or Frank. Pen under
tons of that stuff, gasped Slim, the words trembling upon
(01:27):
his lips, and a tear trickling down his cheek. I
do not think so, the lieutenant answered them. Both Joe
and Frank were upon the outside when we entered, But
they would try to get us out, said Jerry. If
they were out there, they would give us some signal
they were trying to help us. We might not be
able to hear them, answered Lieutenant, even against his own judgment.
(01:47):
But look at it this way. Even though they never
were inside, they had a fair idea what the place
was like. They knew from that that we needed help,
and needed it quickly. If one went alone and anything
happened to him on the way, the other might wait
here indefinitely, not knowing whether he had gotten assistance or not.
By going together, they took the safest course, and Lieutenant
(02:08):
Mackinson's reasoning was correct that was exactly the way Joe
and Frank had figured it out. The latter forgetting all
about his own wound. They had started as fast as
they could for the American front. Keith cool, conservative energy,
and I feel certain everything will be all right, the
lieutenant told his two friends, with whom in such a
short time he had already gone through many harrowing experiences.
(02:30):
At that very same moment, a quarter of a mile away,
Joe brought his companion to a halt, took out his flashlight,
and facing the American lines, began making him break into
connection in a way to give a number of short
even flashes. Presently a light appeared, was extinguished, and appeared
again At the edge of the French American lines. Joe
(02:51):
had resorted to another sort of wireless the blinker, and
not knowing the call signal for the station he was nearest,
had given the prescribed call in such a case as
Syria short flashes or dots. The station had acknowledged, and
he had begun sending his message out of the little
battery in his hand. Americans three of party caught in cave,
need help, and the answer was flashed back in the
(03:14):
same code approach. Keep light on countersign. Following these instructions,
with Joe and the lead and the flashlight held out
in front of him, they dashed onto the trenches. They
gasped out the countersign and were escorted by a sentry
to the quarters of the officer in that particular section.
In a few words, they told him what had happened,
(03:34):
without an instant's delay. The latter, a colonel of artillery,
reached through his telephone asked Captain Howeld come here immediately,
he said, and severed the connection. He seemed already to
have decided upon some sort of a plan, and his
decisive manner gave the two lads a feeling of confidence
in him. He reached into the drawer of his desk
and drew out a large map. He ran his fingers
(03:55):
across it, and then came to a stop at a
little black dot which appeared just in the angle of
the two converging red lines. Is that it? He asked,
turning to Jerry and Frank. They examined the map carefully
for a moment and told him that it was. Just
Then Captain Howell entered. His boots were splattered with mud,
his face was grimy, and his eyes were bloodshot, indicating
(04:16):
that he had been for many hours without sleep. Captain
said the colonel bluntly. These young men are the Signal Corps.
As you can see, they were detailed tonight. The established
an outpost wire communication to he'll Thember eight. You know
it very well, sir, the captain replied, his interest increasing well,
continued the colonel. They got there all right, but the
other three in the party had hardly entered the hole
(04:37):
when the entrance caved in. Great Scott ejaculated the captain.
I know that cavern. They can't last there long, exactly,
affirmed the colonel. What's your suggestion for a full moment?
Captain Howell was silent. There's only one way, he said finally,
and that is a dangerous way. Blast them out. Blast
them out, repeated the colonel, but apparently without surprise. How
(05:00):
it would take too long to dig them out? Captain
Howell answered, and decides that could hardly be done without
some sort of light, and that would attract enemy fire.
There is but one chance, and that is to blast
him out with one of our big guns. Can you
do it? The colonel demanded again, in his blunt, insistent way,
I will do my utmost to save them, Sir, Captain
Hal replied very well, then answered his superior officer, if
(05:24):
you feels certain that is the only way, go ahead
personally going the place as I do. I see no
other method myself. Have you the range I did have, sir,
said Captain Howell, But in such a delicate matter as this,
it would be necessary to be absolutely accurate. We've been
firing practically all day, and the position of the guns
changes slightly. Of course, I would want to find a
(05:45):
new and exact range. He had noticed Frank's limp arm
and turned to Joe. Take this flashlight, he ordered. It
is more powerful than yours. Get back there as quickly
as you can, and follow to the letter these directions.
Keep between us and that until you get there. Stay
on this side of the hill and crawl round towards
the entrance until you get to a point where you
(06:05):
can see this light facing us two feet above the
ground and one foot from the outer surface extremity. Leave
it there until you see three quick successive rockets go
straight up in the air from here. After that, I'll
give you three minutes in which to get back to
a place of safety. I'll put that flashlight out of business,
and I think I can liberate your friends. Is your
(06:26):
injury a serious one, the colonel demanded of Frank. Very slight, sir,
only a flesh wound. Frank responded eagerly. Then take this light,
the colonel ordered, and follow him at a distance of
one hundred yards. If anything should happen to your friend,
you follow the directions you have just heard. Yes, sir,
The lads responded in unison, and with a hasty salute,
were off. Three times that Joe dropped to the ground
(06:49):
as his shadows seemed to move somewhere out in the
distance before him, But each time he was up and
off again, almost upon the instant, thinking of his own
safety only as that of his three friends depended upon it,
and what of those inside. Even the courageous Lieutenant Mackinson
was beginning to show the anxiety he felt, while Jerry
and Slim, despite their bravest efforts, gave way to occasional
(07:11):
expressions of the horror of the thing. They had pounded
upon the walls until they had been overcome with despair.
Then they had set to work digging with the only
instruments in hand that bayonets on the Germans rifles, But
soon they realized that this too was as hopeless as
the pounding, for further exhausted the energy which the foul
air was rapidly sapping without making any apparent opening in
(07:34):
the thick earthen wall that surrounded them. Well, said Slim
at last, gulping back his nausea and smiling almost in
an old time way. I'm as anxious as anybody to
keep up hope to the last. But if this is
to be our end, I guess we can face it
as Americans should. Bravo, exclaimed Lieutenant Mackinson. I always knew
(07:55):
that each one of you fellows had the right sort
of stuff in you, and Jerry too, slapped him affectionately
on the back. Slim, he said, smiling over his chum
and ready for his pawn. Even under such circumstances, my
head is feeling a trifle heavy, but I'm game to
stand up to the last. Thus they set down to
wait for just what they did not know. While at
(08:15):
the very moment, four feet away from them, on the
other side of the wall, Faithful Joe was setting up
the flashlight exactly according to directions. For a few seconds
he waited, and then three times in quick succession, a
rocket went into the air from just behind the American lines.
Over there, Captain Howell himself found the range, submitted it
(08:35):
to the most expert gunner, who verified it, and then
they waited for the three minutes to elapse, during which
Joe was to seek a place of safety. It was
in the interval, too, that fate intervened for those within
the cave, for they were sitting with their backs to
the very point against which the shell was to be directed.
We need all our strength, Lieutenant Maxim was saying, so
long as possible, we want to remain in full possession
(08:57):
of our senses. The air is purer near the floor.
I think it would be better to lie down, And
following his suggestion and example, the other two stretched themselves
out in the middle of the cavern, within the American
lines at that point, where a regiment of heavy artillery
was stationed. Captain Howell raised his hand in signal to
his gunner. Out on the parapet of the front trench,
(09:19):
an anxious colonel was standing regardless of all danger, a
pair of powerful glasses to his eyes. His vision was
focused upon a little light far out in no man's land.
Two hundred feet away from that light, Joe and Frank
Hoskins light prone upon the ground, silent, impatient, fearful, hoping.
With a quick motion, the artillery captain swung his outstretched
(09:41):
arm downward. There was a roar, a flash, and a
great shell tore through the air. Out in no man's land.
There was a second explosion as shell hit and the
target a flashlight was blown to atoms. Over in the
German trenches, a sentinel chuckled at the thought of another
wasted American shell. But out of the that shell had torn.
Three pale, haggard and exhausted youths were crawling to safety
(10:05):
in God's fresh air, and across no man's land asked
two pals to greet them. American determination in American markmanship
had saved three American lives. The German Sentinel might have
his laugh if he liked it. Was hours later before
the three who had been in prison learned how their
rescue had been effected, but they gotten inklean of it
as they came within four hundred yards of the American
(10:26):
French front. What are you doing, Lieutenant Mackinson had asked,
as Joe brought the party to a stop. Just a moment,
and you'll see Joe had responded, and first in wonder,
and then with the dawning of understanding, the other three
read off his last message, Signal corps men and whole
party safe. End of Chapter fourteen.
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