"DANNY!" Larry said, his voice hoarse and trembling. "If you've ever prayed in your life, pray now!"
"But I have been praying," the young woodsman replied. "I've been praying ever since you started to broadcast."
"Well, pray some more!"
Danny knelt in the cold and began to pray aloud. He could hear his cousin's labored breathing above the whistling wind and could almost feel his eyes staring at him.
"Dear Lord," he prayed, "help Larry to find You as his personal Saviour. Help him to confess his sin and put his trust in You."
When he had finished and gotten to his feet, Larry said abruptly, "What do you think they'll do to me, Danny?"
Danny only shook his head.
"You won't squeal on me, will you?" Larry went on.
"I'll have to tell the truth," the young woodsman managed.
"But they'll send me to the reformatory!" he pleaded. "I'm out on probation now!"
Danny looked at him silently. There was nothing he could say. In a moment or two he saw that Larry was shivering, and for the first time he realized that it was getting colder and that he too was almost frozen.
"I'm going to look around in here," he said, starting to crawl toward the tail section of the plane. "Maybe we can find something to wrap up in." A minute or so later he came back with two torn, greasy overcoats. "These won't be much help, but they'll be better than nothing," he said.
Larry took one of them and, without speaking to Danny, wrapped himself in it and hunched down in the wreckage out of the wind.
"If you just hadn't stuck your big nose into things back home, everything would have been all right," Larry grumbled.
Danny did not answer him. He was already praying for Joe and Glen. Finally he drifted off to sleep.
The next thing he knew a big, burly state trooper was shining a flashlight in his eyes and shaking him roughly.
"Wake up, young man!" the officer said.
"I—" Danny began uncertainly. And then he was wide awake! He sat up straight and looked around. There were five or six officers standing there.
"You boys really gave us a rough time," the trooper said sternly. "Ever since the alarm was turned in after your note was found, we've been combing these hills. If we hadn't picked up your broadcast, we never would have found you."
Danny turned toward Larry. Uncle Claude was there and had his arms around him.
"Joe and Glen!" Danny shouted, remembering their companions suddenly. "We've got to get them!"
"Are there more?" the trooper echoed in surprise.
"Two of them," Danny told him excitedly. "They're out on the cliff about half a mile from here. One of them's hurt badly."
"Well, that's a fine mess!" the officer exclaimed.
They sent Larry and his dad back to the car while several officers and the state trooper followed Danny along the narrow, rock-strewn path where he and Larry had climbed up.
"This is the place we go down," Danny told them.
Just then Glen shouted, "Hello! Hello!"
"Are you all right?"
"I...I think so, but we're awfully cold!"
By this time two or three of the men had descended to the first ledge, and one was on his way down to where Joe and Glen were lying, huddled closely together. He examined Joe hurriedly and directed the others to come down to where they were and help move him. It seemed hours until they finally brought him up to the trail.
The trip over the mountain to the road was a nightmare Danny never wanted to live through again. His feet and legs ached, and the lump of ice still lay in the pit of his stomach. The wind was driving the cold deeply into his bones. But they made it, and it wasn't long until they were at the hospital with the injured boy.
Before Danny and Glen quite realized what was happening, both the boys were whisked into one of the doctor's offices and examined thoroughly.
"Staying up in the hills on a night like this is enough to give you pneumonia and shock," the doctor said kindly. "We'll put you to bed here tonight where we can watch you."
"I'll be back in the morning to see you guys," the trooper said as he got ready to go, his voice grown suddenly harsh.
While Glen and Danny stared after him as he stalked out of the room, a nurse wheeled Larry into the ward and helped him get into bed. His face was white and drawn, and his lips were trembling uncertainly.
As soon as she left the room, Larry half rose up on his elbow and stared into Danny's eyes. "Clarence is out there!" he whispered hoarsely. "He's come to get me and take me away!"