AN ASSIGNMENT FOR THE YOUNG WOODSMAN
DANNY Orlis shivered and sat up straight, peering into the inky blackness outside. He could feel the sweat standing out on his forehead, and the palms of his hands were moist and cold.
He had never seen the mountains, but he knew what they were like from pictures—rugged, forbidding peaks that thrust dangerously into the thin, cold air. The plane had started to climb again, struggling to reach a safer altitude, but even that might not be enough. He had read of planes that had gotten off course and had crashed into one of those peaks before their pilots even realized what was happening. He leaned forward and stared out the window once more, swallowing hard to down the lump that had risen in his throat.
"We'll try to get up to a safe altitude and look for a hole in the clouds to let us down," Clarence said awkwardly a moment or two later. "We've got a couple of great pilots up front."
"But without the radio beam," Esther countered, "what can they do?"
"Trust to luck, I guess."
For an instant Danny sat there silently. Clarence Gray could trust to luck if he wanted to.
With his heart pounding and his stomach squeezed into a tight little ball of ice, the young woodsman bowed his head and began to pray silently, Heavenly Father, You know the way things are. You know how the radio beam is being jammed so we can't find our way. You know about all these mountains around us. Be with us and watch over us and help us to get safely back to the ground. In Jesus' name. Amen.
"I...I'm scared," Esther Gray stammered.
Clarence turned and saw that Danny was awake. "S-s-sh," he whispered, "we don't want to scare Danny."
"You don't need to worry about scaring me," the young woodsman said. He had been afraid before, but now he almost surprised himself by being so calm. "I just asked the Lord to help us. I'm not afraid."
At that instant the plane shuddered from nose to tail and lurched violently, as though some huge giant had hit it with his fist and had knocked it a glancing blow high into the air. Danny was almost thrown from his seat. A man behind him cried out in terror, and a woman across the aisle screamed.
For a split second Danny was certain they had crashed headlong into a mountain. But the motors continued to hum evenly.
The plane cabin was alive with fright. Everyone was talking at once. Some got to their feet and began to crowd into the aisle. Some clung tightly to their seats. Others fumbled hurriedly with their safety belts. Almost instantly the stewardess popped into the cabin and switched on the lights.
"Please sit down," she said firmly, "and fasten your safety belts. We just hit a strong updraft and are going into an area where we might find some turbulent air, so remain in your seats and keep your safety belts fastened. We'll be in Iron Mountain in a very few minutes."
A few minutes later Clarence Gray loosed his safety belt and got to his feet. "I'm going up front to check on that radio," he said. "Come on, Danny. I'd like to show you what unauthorized broadcasting can do."
Danny got to his feet and followed the government agent to the front of the plane. "That was some updraft," Clarence said to the crew.
"You don't know the half of it," the co-pilot answered. "Another few feet lower and we'd have taken the top off Iron Mountain. That updraft was all that saved us."
There was a long, unnatural silence.
"I tried to get those call letters for you, like you asked me, Mr. Gray," the pilot said at last. "But everything was so garbled that I couldn't pick them up. Anyway he's off the air now, and we're going in on the beam."
"That's one good thing," Clarence replied, putting his notebook back in his pocket and sighing deeply. "And as for our broadcaster, the monitoring stations probably got a fix on him."
"Boy, I hope they get him and get him off the air," the pilot said fervently. "I don't want to go through many nights like this one."
Even though the plane had been lost for a time, they were not far from the little mountain community. In a matter of minutes, trusting the firm, sure waves of the radio beam, the DC6 had circled through the clouds and dropped lightly onto the long cement runway. Danny bowed his head and thanked God for answering his prayer.
As the big plane rolled to a stop and the ground crew wheeled out the loading ramp, Danny pressed his face to the window and peered out into the darkness. Not many people had come out to meet the late plane, but there, on the edge of the little crowd, stood a man and woman and two boys.
"Are your friends going to be here to meet you, Danny?" Clarence asked.
"I...I think so," the young woodsman said excitedly, pointing toward them.
They seemed glad to see him. Bob and Larry crowded about him, asking questions rapidly.
"That's enough of that, guys," Uncle Claude said at last.
"But I just wanted to find out if Danny plays football," Larry answered.
As they walked back to the car, Clarence Gray hurried over and called Danny to one side.
"Listen," he said softly, "there are a few amateur radio stations here in Iron Mountain. It might be that whoever is jamming the radio beam lives right here, so keep your eyes and ears open. If you get wind of anything, let me know."
"O.K.," Danny whispered.
"My address is on this card," Clarence went on, slipping a small white card into the young woodsman's fist.
They all crawled into the car then, and Uncle Claude began to drive toward town.
"You know," Danny said. "This is the first time I ever rode in a car."
"You mean you never rode in a car before—not even in an old wreck like this one?" Bob repeated.
"I've always been going to ride in a car when I got down to Warroad," Danny said defensively, "but I never got the chance."
"What a hick!" Bob declared under his breath.
"Robert!" Aunt Lydia scolded. "You remember what I told you!"
Uncle Claude changed the subject quickly, but the young woodsman still felt the hot shame in his cheeks as the car crunched to a stop on the graveled driveway. So that was what they thought of him—a backwoods hick who didn't know how to take care of himself. He was someone they were going to be ashamed of!
Nobody said much until after they had gone into the house and Aunt Lydia had given them some milk and cookies.
Danny watched the others start to eat hungrily. Then he slowly bowed his head and silently asked God's blessing upon the food.
"What's the matter, Danny?" Larry asked when he raised his head.
Danny turned to his cousin hesitantly. "I...I...was just praying before I ate," he explained.
Both boys looked at him questioningly.
"Praying?" Bob repeated scornfully. "We might have known it!"