Danny Orlis Goes to School Read online

  Danny Orlis Goes to School

  by

  Bernard Palmer

  Illustrated by David Miles

  P. O. Box 1099 • Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37133

  (800) 251-4100 • (615) 893-6700 • FAX (615) 848-6943

  www.SwordoftheLord.com

  Copyright 1955 by

  The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago

  Reprinted 2009 with

  Permission of Marge Palmer by

  Sword of the Lord Publishers

  Distributed by Smashwords

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (printed, written, photocopied, electronic, audio or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

  All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible.

  Contents

  Chapter One - DANGER IN THE SKY

  Chapter Two - DANNY'S DISCOVERY

  Chapter Three - FLYING BLIND

  Chapter Four - AN ASSIGNMENT FOR THE YOUNG WOODSMAN

  Chapter Five - GETTING ACQUAINTED

  Chapter Six - A PAL FOR DANNY

  Chapter Seven - A DIFFICULT PROMISE TO KEEP

  Chapter Eight - THE RUNAWAYS

  Chapter Nine - THE CABIN ON THE MOUNTAIN

  Chapter Ten - THE CALL FOR HELP

  Chapter Eleven - AN SOS FROM A WRECKED PLANE

  Chapter Twelve - LARRY'S FEAR

  Chapter Thirteen - DANNY PRAYS FOR COURAGE

  Chapter Fourteen - LARRY'S PLEA

  Chapter Fifteen - DYNAMITE DAN

  Chapter Sixteen - DANNY'S PROMISE

  Chapter Seventeen - BUFF'S REBUKE

  Chapter Eighteen - A GOOD TURN FOR A FRIEND

  Chapter Nineteen - TEMPTATION RESISTED

  Chapter Twenty - MISSION COMPLETED

  Illustrations

  He can’t land with that float the way it is!

  Help me, Jimmy!

  Don’t be a fool. You’re coming in to see this movie, or I’ll know the reason why!

  Listen! Somebody’s sending Morse code!

  Larry took a step toward Danny, his fist drawn back menacingly.

  People were in that plane that crashed last night because of you!

  The little room was empty!

  Larry was below them about forty feet on a two-foot wide ledge.

  You boys really gave us a rough time.

  I’m on top of the pile.

  Larry’s always getting into some kind of trouble.

  That’s the price we have to pay for sin.

  O God, I don’t want to cheat.

  Danny sat without moving while the others filed out.

  Chapter One

  DANGER IN THE SKY

  IT was early morning in northern Minnesota, and the Lake of the Woods was just stirring back into life at the beginning of a new day. It mirrored out from the Orlis dock like a pane of glass, unbroken except for the rippling wake of a lone mallard duck swimming silently past. From across the muskeg a loon called to his mate, and from somewhere deep in the forest, behind the Orlis cabin, came the weirdly human cry of a lynx.

  Danny Orlis slipped quietly out of the house, without waking his folks, and walked slowly down to the dock. It wouldn't be long until the forests would become a blaze of color and then drop their splendor to huddle nakedly in the snow.

  Danny looked over the scene he loved so well, drinking in the quiet beauty, enjoying once more the morning hush on the northwest Angle. He dropped to one knee beside his faithful dog and ran his fingers through Laddie's soft hair.

  "You see, fella," he explained, "we don't have school up here any higher than the eighth grade and...and you wouldn't want me to grow up to be a...a dummy, would you?"

  It wouldn't be so bad, he told himself, if he could go some place where he knew someone, where he wouldn't have to be alone. But the Warroad School was so crowded there wasn't a chance of getting in there, and Iron Mountain, Colorado, where his aunt and uncle lived, was so far away that his folks didn't want him to go that far alone. He sighed deeply. That left only the boarding school down at Redlands where he was enrolled. It was small wonder that he felt weak and sick inside.

  He straightened quickly and threw a stick out into the placid water. With a yelp of excitement Laddie plunged into the creek and swam determinedly toward it.

  Just then Mrs. Orlis came to the cabin door and called, "Danny, come to breakfast!"

  From his perch just outside the back door Danny's talking crow, Blackie, called, "Breakfast! Danny! Breakfast! Breakfast!"

  The young woodsman grinned. "Come on, Laddie," he called, turning toward the cabin.

  Carl Orlis, Danny's dad, who was usually laughing and joking, was strangely quiet during breakfast. When they finished eating, he reached for the big family Bible that lay on the desk just behind him, and opening it to the regular place, began to read.

  They were just finishing their devotions when there was a knock at the back door, and Jimmy Baxter, who lived in the cabin just behind the Orlises, came in. He was a tall, thin lad with a scattering of freckles across his nose and a shock of sandy hair that was almost red.

  "Hi," Danny said, pushing back from the table.

  "Hi," his friend grunted, shifting from one foot to another nervously. He too was strangely solemn. "Thought maybe you'd like to go fishing this morning."

  "Sure thing," Danny answered, "just as soon as I get my work done."

  For a while, out fishing along Little McCoy Island, Danny forgot about having to leave the lake country to go away to school. The walleyes were biting, and he and Jimmy had located a big school.

  "Boy, look at that string!" Jimmy cried excitedly. "I'll bet you won't be able to catch fish like this down at Redlands."

  The smile fled from Danny's face.

  "I...I'm sorry," his friend replied.

  "That's all right," the young woodsman answered. "To tell you the truth, I was thinking the same thing myself."

  Danny laid aside his rod and reel and looked out over the quiet, shimmering lake as though he could never get enough of looking at it.

  "You know, Jimmy," he said at last, "I've never told anyone else about this, but whenever I think of going to school at Redlands, I get weak and cold all over."

  At that moment the low, monotonous hum of a plane interrupted them. Danny turned, shielding his eyes with his hands, as he tried to spot it. There were a good many planes in the Lake of the Woods country, especially small ones, but he always stopped whatever he was doing to watch them.

  "He's probably going to Kenora," Jimmy said. "Acts more like he's headed this way."

  For a couple of minutes they watched the sleek aluminum craft. Then Danny noticed something wrong.

  "Look!" he cried.

  One landing float was securely in place, but the other dangled uselessly from the landing gear.

  "Look!" he cried again. "He can never land with that float the way it is!"

  Jimmy's eyes bugged wide.

  "We've got to signal him!" Danny exclaimed.

  With a prayer on his lips he tore off his shirt, stood in the boat, and began to wave it frantically.

  Hurriedly Jimmy did the same. "But he can't land anyway, Danny!" he exclaimed. "When the plane hits the water, he'll be drowned."

  Danny did not answer. His heart was a lump of ice, and his breath was coming in short, quick gasps.

  "O God," he prayed, "help us to save that man in the plane!"

  He can’t land with that float the way it is!

  Chapter Two

  DANNY'S DISCOVERY

  "LOOK!" Danny cried, his heart choking in his throat. "He's
going on! He didn't see us!"

  The plane was indeed headed away from them. It was already over the wide expanse of the Canadian mainland, headed north into that vast region that was without roads or towns.

  "He's gone," Jimmy said dismally.

  Almost at that very instant the plane banked to the right. The boys sucked in their breath sharply. Maybe—sure enough! He was! The plane swung about and headed straight toward them, cutting speed and dropping lower and lower over the water.

  The pilot banked sharply around them, so close that the boys could see his tousled hair and leather jacket. A second time he circled them, and a third, while the boys kept waving and motioning to him.

  The plane gained a little altitude, circled until it was headed into the wind, then began to glide toward the water, the flaps down and the speed so slow it seemed to hang in the air.

  "He's going to land!" Danny exclaimed.

  With a prayer in his heart the young woodsman leaped into action! He jerked the starter rope on the big outboard motor. It responded with a roar. The sudden lurch as the prow of the boat raised out of the water almost sent Jimmy sprawling across the seats.

  There wasn't a moment to lose! Danny headed straight toward the path of the plane, veered just enough so the pilot would know he wasn't going to crash into the plane, and came around in a shower of spray.

  The plane made a good landing, but the instant the dangling float touched, it thrust crazily into the water. The light craft shuddered from nose to tail and heeled over before the startled pilot realized what was happening. The knife-like wing plowed deeply into the lake; the propeller stopped with a sputtering cough; and the plane began to settle back into the water.

  Danny had the big motor wide open, sending the boat skimming over the lake toward the hapless plane.

  "Hurry!" Jimmy shouted breathlessly. "Hurry!"

  Danny reached back and shoved hard against the throttle, but the motor was already laboring as hard as it could.

  It seemed to the two boys as though it took them an hour to bring the boat alongside the rapidly sinking craft, but actually it was only a matter of seconds. Danny missed the tail assembly by inches and stopped expertly at the cabin door.

  "Come on!" the young woodsman cried to the pilot, standing in the boat and reaching for the door. "Hurry!"

  The door was a little out of reach, but Jimmy grabbed an oar and manipulated the boat close enough for Danny to grasp the latch. Somehow they managed to get the door open. Danny gasped when he saw the pilot, face ashen white, sprawled half out of the seat, a big knot rising on his forehead.

  "Help me, Jimmy!" he gritted, grasping the pilot beneath the armpits and pulling him.

  The plane lurched suddenly and slipped another six or eight inches into the water as both boys scrambled to lift the unconscious pilot out of the plane cabin. As they dropped the injured man heavily into the bottom of the boat, the plane pitched again and slid silently beneath the water.

  For a couple of minutes the two boys sat there staring at one another, their faces white and their hands trembling.

  "Thank God!" Danny breathed reverently.

  The pilot stirred a little and groaned softly. Danny leaned over him, feeling his pulse and wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

  "We'd better get him back to the house as quickly as we can, Jim," Danny said. "He might be badly hurt."

  The stranger stirred again, shaking his head and brushing feebly at his eyes. "W-w-what happened?" he stammered.

  "You had one landing float loose," the young woodsman told him.

  He felt the knot on his forehead tenderly. "Is that why you boys were signaling me?" he asked. "I thought you were in trouble."

  Danny started the motor and headed at top speed toward his home on Pine Creek. The injured man lay quite still in the bottom of the boat, but he was conscious and able to get to his feet without help when they pulled to a stop at the dock in front of the Orlis cabin.

  Laddie barked loudly as the boat edged up to the dock, and both Mr. and Mrs. Orlis came running out. They helped get the man into the cabin and had him lie down on the couch in the living room.

  After Clarence Gray, for that was the pilot's name, drank the tea Danny's mother made for him and ate a little toast, he swung his feet over the side of the couch and sat up uncertainly. "I feel a little better now," he said, "but I was certainly lucky that you guys spotted that damaged landing float and signaled to me."

  "I wouldn't exactly call it luck, Clarence," Danny said. "It doesn't seem like luck to me considering the large area of lake you could have flown over and yet you came over us, and low enough so we could see what was wrong and signal to you. I think God was watching over you."

  There was a long silence. "What do you mean by that?"

  "God does watch over us," Danny replied quickly. "He even sent His own Son into the world to die on the cross for us so that we could believe in Him and have everlasting life."

  "You sound like a preacher," Clarence replied good-naturedly, "just like an old preacher we used to have back home."

  "I certainly don't know anything about preaching," Danny answered, "but I do know what the Bible tells us about sin and needing a Saviour and going to Heaven."

  Clarence Gray squirmed awkwardly as though he didn't know what to do or say. And when Mrs. Orlis came in moments later to call them to supper, Danny heard him sigh gratefully.

  When they had finished eating and were sitting around the table, Clarence said, "I want to get back to Warroad tomorrow. I've got to notify my superior about the plane and make arrangements to get my work up here finished."

  "Your work?" Danny echoed.

  "I'm with the Federal Communications Commission," Clarence Gray replied. "My job is keeping illegal broadcasting stations off the air."

  Danny slid to the edge of his chair and leaned forward intently.

  "There are all sorts of illegal broadcasting being done on short wave," Clarence went on. "Gamblers, smugglers, and enemy agents would all like to be able to get away with using our airways to suit their purposes."

  "W-what do you do with them?" Danny asked. "After you catch them, that is."

  "Oh, it just depends," the agent answered. "Right now I've got a case up here that I've got to clean up so I can get out to my new post in Colorado."

  "Colorado?" Danny echoed.

  "That's right. About sixty or seventy miles west of Iron Mountain."

  Danny's face lit up. "Do...do you suppose I could go along with you?" he asked. "I've been praying and praying that I'd get to go to school in Iron Mountain, but I haven't had anyone to go with, and the folks don't want me to travel so far alone."

  "I'd certainly be glad to take you with me," the government man said, "if it's all right with your folks."

  "We'll see," Mr. Orlis answered simply. And Danny, who usually could tell what his dad meant, didn't know for sure whether or not he would get to go.

  "It shouldn't take me over a couple of days, after I get some more detecting equipment up here, to find the guy who's messing up the army weather station's short wave reports from the Arctic. We've determined that he's broadcasting from around here somewhere. It'll just take a little work to find him."

  Danny looked over at Jimmy. "Just think! Maybe spies or gamblers or smugglers are working right here in Angle Inlet!"

  "It's a funny thing, though," Clarence continued. "He's using the call letters QNVD. Those are the letters of a licensed amateur over on Oak Island."

  The color drained from Danny's face, and he felt the cold sweat come out on his forehead and the palms of his hands.

  "That's me," he stammered. "I borrowed Red Hanson's broadcasting stuff from his folks. I...I'm the one!"

  “Help me, Jimmy!”

  Chapter Three

  FLYING BLIND

  "DO you mean that you've been broadcasting with Hanson's equipment?" Mr. Orlis asked.

  Danny nodded. "I...I didn't think it would do any harm," he said. "I borrowe
d it from Red's mother after he was called into service."

  The smile had gone from Clarence's face. "This could be a serious thing, Danny," he said. "Didn't you know that you are supposed to have a license before you can broadcast, and even then you have to be extra careful to stay on the wavelength the government allotted to you?"

  Danny shook his head.

  "Didn't you know that it's against the law for an unauthorized person or station to broadcast, even for fun?" the government agent continued.

  "No," Danny answered truthfully. "And I know Red's mother wouldn't have let me use the transmitter if she had known about it."

  "It's like this," Clarence said. "There isn't more than enough room for the legitimate broadcasters. That's one reason we have to keep such a close check on things like this. And, of course, illegal stations are a big help to all sorts of crooks.

  The young woodsman nodded. "But, of course, we weren't doing anything wrong," he said. "We were just having a little fun."

  "I know that," Clarence went on. "But you were jamming the weather reports that the army gets from the Arctic Circle. Supposing a storm was headed down toward the United States and your broadcasting messed up the signals so the report couldn't get through. There might be a lot of cattle killed by the blizzard just because there wasn't any advance warning. People might have been stranded in their cars; some of them might even have been killed—all because you were playing around with an amateur radio station."

  "I...I never dreamed it was as serious as…" his voice trailed off miserably.

  There was a long, breathless silence.

  Finally the government man said, "I know you didn't mean to do it, Danny. And, while I've got to report it, I'm sure there won't be any prosecution."

  Danny sighed with relief. "I'll never do a thing like that again," he said fervently.

  "I know that, Danny," Clarence Gray replied. "You see, I had already stopped at Oak Island. You used Red's call letters, so I flew out there to check with him and his folks first. The things you told me were exactly the same as what I got over there."