It’s a book by Richard Bon­ner, pub­lished in 1929 by M. A. Dono­hue & Com­pany. The chap­ter titles clue us in to the drama to come:

A Marine Game of Blind-Man’s Bluff

Ned Bangs’ Story

The Chad­wick Gas Guns

Draw­ing a Rascal’s Fangs

Her­rera Is Not Caught Napping

“It’s Death To Remain Here!”

Dad! — It’s Jack!

and the ever wonderful

The Boy Inven­tors Solve a Problem

*Spend­ing this after­noon with My Two Grand­bal­loons makes me aware of Boy Inven­tors in ways never before con­sid­ered. When the bal­loons go into their zone together, the world around them ceases to be as it is to you and me.

“Sus­pend­ing his task of wrap­ping some new con­denser plates with glit­ter­ing tin-​foil, he gazed about him. In front of the bun­ga­low was a strip of daz­zling white sand, — the beach. At a small wharf lay a capable-​looking motor cruiser, painted white and about forty-​five feet in length…

“Jack Chad­wick gal­va­nized from his nap into vibrant action with hardly less sud­den­ness than had marked Tom’s arous­ing. Three times the gong, con­nected by an inge­nious arrange­ment of Jack’s with his detec­tor, beat out brazenly the call of Lone Island. Then came the signature:

“S-​K”

…

“The few dozen yard between the bun­ga­low and the shed of raw, resinous-​smelling pine lum­ber that housed the wire­less was cov­ered in less time than it takes to tell it.”

Less Time Than It Takes to Tell It

So, as one seeks to assem­ble drama within a blog post, it behooves one (that 1 being me) to recall my rea­son for sit­ting down tonight, here at this desk. It was to check the obit­u­ar­ies for good names to use in sto­ries (today’s lead­ing con­tender will not be used, since Alexan­der Haig’s name will appear often, I’m sure)

Today’s win­ning name:

Ver­netta

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