"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 borrowed 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."
Smiling, he reached out and rumpled Danny's hair. "I've never done much about being a Christian myself, but I know this much: when a guy finds a boy who is a Christian and tells the truth, it isn't hard to figure out that you can trust him."
That night when Danny and Jimmy, who was spending the night with him, finally went to bed, the younger boy said, "Man, but you were in a jam for a little while! It certainly does pay to be a Christian, doesn't it?"
Before going to sleep, Danny prayed about going to school at Iron Mountain, and so did his friend. The next morning he learned the answer to his prayers.
"Your mother and I have been talking it over," his dad began, his eyes twinkling and a smile flickering at the corners of his mouth, "and we've decided that it would be best for you to go to school out at Iron Mountain and stay with Uncle Claude and Aunt Lydia since Mr. Gray has kindly considered to take you with him to Colorado."
"That is if you still want to go there to school," his mother put in quickly.
"Boy, do I!" he cried, a broad smile breaking across his face.
The lake was still and clear that morning, and in a little more than an hour Danny and Jimmy had taken Clarence past Magnuson's Island where old Fort Charles used to stand, past the little store and post office at Penasse, and among the islands to Oak. There they helped him find Don Wilmer, who owned the Sea Bee that was kept there.
"I'll meet you down at Warroad a week from today, Danny," Clarence Gray said as he swung into the little plane.
Danny had never thought there was so much to do getting ready to go away to school. There were clothes to clean, suitcases to pack, and all of his friends to see for one last time. A week had seemed like an awfully long time; but before he knew it, it was over; and he and his folks were sitting at the supper table that last night he was going to be home.
"Danny," his dad said softly when they had all finished eating, "one of the big reasons Mother and I decided to let you go to school way out at Iron Mountain was the way you stuck by the truth and testified to Clarence Gray. That convinced us that we could safely let you go that far from home to attend school."
His mother nodded.
"I...I'm sure glad it's that way," he said slowly. "But I'll be staying at Uncle Claude's. They'll be looking after me."
"That's just the point, Danny," Mr. Orlis went on. "Your Uncle Claude and Aunt Lydia aren't Christians."
"They're not?" he echoed in surprise.
"No," said Mr. Orlis. "They're good, moral people and have good reputations as far as the world goes, but they don't know Jesus as their personal Saviour."
"We weren't telling you something that wasn't true when we said that we didn't want you to travel so far away from home," his mother put in quickly. "But we were worried about this other thing too."
"It won't make any difference as far as I'm concerned," Danny assured them.
"It's going to be hard for you, son," his dad told him. "Unless your Uncle Claude has changed, he's bitter about Christian things, and I imagine Larry and Robert are too."
Danny was quiet for a long while. "Maybe," he said at last, "maybe I'll be able to do something to help them."
"That's what I wanted to hear you say, Danny," his dad smiled. "Mother and I will be praying for you."
Danny went out with Cap on the Island Queen at half-past six the next morning. When they pulled in to Warroad, Clarence and his young wife, Esther, were standing at the dock waiting for him.
Clarence had rented a private plane to take them down to Bemidji where they caught the regular flight to Minneapolis.
It was cloudy as they took off from Wold-Chamberlain, but the weather forecast was good, and the DC6 rose quickly through the overcast into the starlit sky above.
"I like to fly at night," Esther said dreamily.
That was the last Danny heard. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. In another breath he was fast asleep. How long he had been sleeping he did not know, but when he awoke he heard Esther whisper to her husband who was standing in the aisle.
"Did you get to talk to the crew?" she asked.
"Yes," he said shortly.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"S-s-sh," he cautioned. "They don't want to get the passengers excited."
"But what's the matter?"
"It's the radio," he whispered softly. "Something's jamming it so they can't get their bearings."
"And we're in the mountains!"
"That's right," he said shortly. "And some guy with an illegal radio station is ruining our signal!"
Danny caught his breath. In the mountains like that, and without the radio to guide them, they could crash into a peak before they even knew it was there!