Larry grasped the young woodsman by both shoulders. "Then you will help me?" he pleaded.
"I don't know," Danny said slowly. "I just don't know."
All afternoon Danny could think of little else. What Larry said was true. Telling on him wouldn't help anybody. It would only make more trouble. The young woodsman sighed deeply and picked up his history book, but the words ran together, and the page blurred.
Perhaps he could tell Larry that he would do as he had asked him if his cousin would promise to go to church and Sunday school and youth group every week for the rest of the year. Perhaps he could win Larry's confidence that way. And yet—the problem tumbled endlessly through his mind.
Chet Bryson passed by Danny's desk just then, a twisted smirk on his face.
"Hello, Dynamite Dan," he said, "have you blown anybody up with those bombs of yours?" He jerked his finger toward two or three tracts that were sticking out of Danny's pocket.
"I'm praying that something will happen."
"Well, don't pray for me," Chet snapped.
The other guys took up Chet's new name for the young woodsman, and by the time they went racing down to the locker room to dress for the first baseball practice of the season, everyone was calling him "Dynamite Dan."
"Preach us a sermon, Dynamite," one guy called loudly.
Danny got slowly to his feet. He could feel the color flooding his cheeks, but his voice was clear and firm.
"I don't know anything about preaching a sermon," he said evenly, "but I'd certainly like to tell you what Jesus means to me and what He can mean to you."
A hush descended over the locker room.
The coach called from the doorway, "Come on, you guys; snap it up."
As they trotted onto the field, a senior jogged up beside Danny.
"That's the stuff, kid," he said approvingly. "Don't be afraid to stand up for what you believe."
That night when Danny got home, his cousin called him into his room. "Man, have I got some news!" he exclaimed happily.
"You mean you're not going to have to go to trial?"
"It's almost that good," Larry went on. "Dad went to see Joe and his dad today. We're going to pay the hospital bill for them, and Joe isn't going to say anything about me running the transmitter."
"You...you mean you're going to buy him off?" the young woodsman asked.
"Oh, no," Larry said quickly. "They practically offered to help us out. We're just paying the bill as a favor."
"What about the other kids who were there?" Danny asked lamely. He felt a little sick inside. "Won't they tell on you?"
Larry shook his head. "They know what's good for them," he said. "They're just glad that Clarence hasn't rounded them up yet." For the first time he smiled a little. "It isn't them I'm worried about, Danny. If you'd just help me out now, everything would be all right."
Danny shook his head uncertainly.
That night he dropped to his knees at the side of the bed and began to pray that the Lord would guide him. But there didn't seem to be any help for him, even there.
The next morning when he went to school, he was just as miserable, just as uncertain of what he should do.
Somehow he got through the afternoon classes and baseball practice that followed. Every moment had been torture, but there was youth group that night. It was strange how much going to church and praying meant at a time like this.
After supper, when Danny was in his room dressing for the meeting, his cousin came down and knocked on his door.
"I think I'll go along with you, Danny," he said.
Perhaps this was the time when Larry would see that he needed a Saviour. Perhaps tonight? There was a prayer in the young woodsman's heart as he and his cousin walked to church together.
The meeting seemed to be planned just for Larry. The testimonies were better than usual, and the message hit sledgehammer blows at sin. When the invitation was given, Danny could feel his cousin's shoulder quiver as they stood together.
"Wouldn't you like to go forward?" Danny whispered hopefully.
But Larry shook his head. "I want to talk to you first."
As the two boys started out the door together, someone touched the young woodsman on the shoulder. He stopped and turned quickly to see Eric Tanner and Peggy Denton standing there. They were both juniors at school and had never been to youth group before.
"Could we talk to you, Danny?" Eric asked.
"I...I don't know," Danny hesitated, looking desperately at Larry who was already moving away. He had hoped to talk with him more about the Lord.
"It's awfully important," Peggy said, her blue eyes serious and pleading.
While the young woodsman stood there helplessly, his cousin disappeared out the door.
Chapter Sixteen
DANNY'S PROMISE
IT was easy to see that something was wrong with Eric Tanner and Peggy Denton. Her deep blue eyes were large and luminous, and she looked as though she could start to cry at any moment. Eric was staring at her awkwardly.
"I've got to talk to you, Danny," Peggy repeated.
"Sure thing," Danny answered.
"Let's go some place where we can talk," Peggy went on.
"We can go over to the drugstore and sit in one of the booths," Eric suggested lamely.
The three of them walked up the next block and across the street to the drugstore where most of the kids congregated. Nobody spoke until after they had found a booth and ordered something cold to drink.
"I...I want to ask you about this," Peggy said softly at last, leaning forward and handing him a crumpled tract. He saw in an instant that it was one of those that he had handed out at school. "What does it mean?"
"I tried to tell you that it doesn't mean anything, Peg," Eric broke in irritably. "It's a lot of malarkey. I'd never have showed it to you if I'd thought you were going to make such a fuss about it."
But she acted as though she hadn't even heard him. "You gave it to Eric yesterday," she explained. "And he showed it to me. I haven't been able to get my mind on anything else since. "
Danny picked up the tract and fingered it, praying for the right words to say.
"Well," the young woodsman said slowly, "when we're born into this world, we're born with a sinful nature, according to the Bible. But when we see that we're sinners and need a Saviour and put our trust in Jesus for salvation, then we're born again. We really and truly become children of God."
Peggy looked at him blankly.
"It doesn't mean a thing, Peg," Eric put in angrily.
"It's this way," Danny went on. "The Bible tells us that we 'all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God'!" Quickly he turned to the verse in his New Testament and let her read for herself.
"I know that we all do things that we shouldn't," she admitted, "but we try to live the best we can. Isn't that good enough?"
"The Bible tells us that it isn't," he countered. He turned to another verse. "Now if the wages of sin is death," he said, "and we've all sinned, then we've all earned death, haven't we? That's the price we have to pay for the wicked things we've done."
"I...I suppose so," she said hesitantly. Her lips began to tremble.
"That's why Jesus came into the world," Danny continued, "and died on the cross and arose again. 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'" Danny was silent for a moment. "That was for you and for me, Peggy, so that we wouldn't have to accept the payment of death for our sins."
Peggy sat there for a long while, staring down into the untouched cold drink on the table in front of her. Then, without warning, she began to cry. Danny had seen people cry before, but never as Peggy was doing now. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Her whole body trembled, and she sobbed until the kids three booths away turned to stare at her.
"Aw, now, Peg," Eric said awkwardly. "Don't cry like that."
She tried to speak, but could not. Finally she got
to her feet and fled.
"Here," Eric snapped to Danny as he threw fifty cents on the table, "pay the check!"
Danny hurried home as fast as he could, his heart still pounding with excitement. To think a tract he had given out had brought Peggy to the place where she saw that she needed a Saviour! If only he could have talked with her for another ten minutes!
Larry too had been challenged by the message of Christ. Conviction had been written on his face as he hurried out of the church after youth group. Danny started to walk a little faster. If he could just get to talk to his cousin before he got to sleep!
The young woodsman intended to talk to Larry. When he walked up on the porch, Uncle Claude and Aunt Lydia were sitting in the living room talking with Larry.
The next morning Danny planned on walking to school with Larry, but Uncle Claude took Larry downtown with him to some lawyer's office. When he reached the schoolhouse a few minutes before the final bell, he found Eric Tanner waiting for him.
"I want to talk to you, Orlis," the lanky basketball star began.
"Sure thing."
Eric took Danny's arm and guided him off to one side. "Listen." he said harshly, "If you tell anyone what happened in the drugstore last night, I'll slug you."
"You don't need to worry," Danny said quickly. "I won't say a thing."
Larry came back to school after lunch, but the superintendent called him out of class about half-past one, and Danny didn't see him the rest of the afternoon. When the young woodsman finally got home after school, Larry was there alone, but he was in no mood to talk about spiritual things.
"Dad and I went down to the lawyer's office this morning," his cousin said uncertainly. "He said that I don't have a chance unless we can get you to testify for us. He said that I'm as good as in the reformatory right now." Tears flooded Larry's eyes. "It won't make any difference whether I go to church or become a Christian, I'm going to the reformatory anyway."
For two or three minutes Danny sat there staring at his cousin. He couldn't let that happen! He just couldn't!
"You don't need to worry, Larry," he said softly, every word burning his lips. "I'll testify the way you want me to!"
“That’s the price we have to pay for sin.”
Chapter Seventeen
BUFF'S REBUKE
"DO you mean that you'll do it?" Larry asked as though he could scarcely believe what he had just heard Danny say.
The young woodsman nodded numbly. "I know I shouldn't, Larry," he managed, "but I will. I'll tell them you weren't using the sending set."
Now he had done it. He had promised Larry that he'd lie for him. He felt sick and weak inside. He had promised to lie!
"Oh, boy!" Larry exclaimed, the words tumbling out excitedly. "I don't know how I can ever thank you, Danny. I'll do anything. I'll go to church and Sunday school with you. I'll read my Bible and pray and everything. You just don't know what this means to me!"
The young woodsman grinned at him feebly. His throat was tight and dry, and that dull ache had come back to his heart again as he realized a little more what he had promised to do. But at least Larry would go to church with him now, where he'd hear about the Lord Jesus who died to save him from sin. He'd be getting acquainted with more Christian kids and associating with them and seeing that Christ really made a change in a guy's life.
And yet Danny didn't get to sleep until after four the next morning. Every time he closed his eyes he saw a judge in a long black robe standing and pointing at him. "You told a lie!" he was saying. "You were under oath, and you lied!"
The trial had been set for the fifteenth of the following month to give Joe a chance to recover enough to get out of the hospital so he could testify.
"At first I was glad they had set the trial so far ahead," Larry confided, "but now I wish we could have it over with, now that I know what you're going to say on the stand."
Danny winced a little at that.
Larry kept his word about going to church regularly. He was the first one ready for Sunday school and even suggested staying for church on Sunday night.
"I didn't have any idea it would be so much fun to go to church, Danny," he said. "It's really great."
"The important thing is to take Christ as your personal Saviour, Larry," Danny said. "That's what church is all about. Just going on Sunday without becoming a real, born-again Christian isn't enough."
"I know," Larry said. "But I'm not ready to become a Christian yet."
"When will you be ready?" Danny asked seriously.
"Don't worry," Larry replied, smirking. "I'll let you know."
At the youth group the following week the young woodsman was happy to see that Peggy was there. She had been out to Sunday school and church with Eric, but now she was back for the Thursday night youth meeting alone. She stood at the back of the room and looked over the group, then came and sat down beside Danny.
Once again it seemed as though the program was meant just for her. She sat on the edge of her seat, her eyes glued to the faces of those who testified.
Mary Carpenter, who was a junior too, gave her testimony, telling how happy she had been since she had given her heart to Jesus. Dick Brand was next. He told how being a Christian had helped him to solve his personal problems.
"God doesn't promise any of us an easy life just because we take Him as our Saviour," Dick concluded. "But He does promise to help us work things out for ourselves and give us strength and courage. I've found that out from experience."
The speaker spoke on the privileges of Christians, and Peggy's eyes were glistening through the tears by the time he finished. When the meeting was over, she touched Danny on the arm.
"Danny," she almost whispered, "I can't stand it any longer. I...I've got to take Christ as my Saviour. Can you help me?"
"Just a minute," he whispered back. In a moment or two he returned with Mary Carpenter, a pretty, round-faced girl with a happy smile.
"You know Mary, don't you?" he asked.
Peggy nodded. "I guess I should," she said hesitantly. "I've made fun of you for your Christian stand often enough, Mary."
"A lot of people have made fun of me," Mary said simply as the three of them went into a little room in one corner of the church basement where they could be alone.
"I think I secretly envied you even when I made so much fun of you," Peggy went on, "because you seemed so happy and everything. You had something that I didn't have; I knew that."
"But you can have it, Peggy," Mary said gently. "All you have to do is to open your heart and let Jesus come in."
They sat around one of the Sunday school tables, and Mary very slowly and carefully explained the plan of salvation. She used her Bible to show Peggy that the Word of God says no one can live a life that is good enough to get him to Heaven, that the only way we can be saved is to confess that we are sinners and need a Saviour and then put our trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation. When she finished, they knelt beside the table, and Peggy poured out her heart to Jesus.
Danny felt a warm glow inside. To think that this had come about because he had dared to take a few tracts to school and distribute them! The next morning he was going out of the house, his pockets filled with tracts, when Buff Gordon walked past.
"Hi, Danny, buddy," Buff said, his voice so warm and friendly that it surprised the young woodsman.
By this time they had walked a block or so from the house.
"Here," Buff said, "have a cigarette with me. Nobody'll see us way out here."
Danny shook his head. "I don't smoke."
"Come on now," Buff replied. "Don't give me that stuff. You aren't such a lily-white angel as all that."
"But I am a Christian," Danny answered, trying to keep his temper. "And I feel that it's best for a Christian not to smoke."
With that he reached in his pocket and handed Buff a tract.
"I'd like to have you read this some time," he said. "It explains what it means to be a Christian and tells you how to becom
e one."
Buff Gordon stopped on the sidewalk and read part of the tract while the young woodsman stood there praying. Then a sarcastic little smile twisted the older boy's face.
"You think you're pretty holy, don't you, Danny boy?" he said slowly. "But I know what kind of a guy you are. I was talking to Larry last night, and he told me how you've promised to lie for him at the trial!"
Chapter Eighteen
A GOOD TURN FOR A FRIEND
SOMEHOW Danny Orlis got through the morning classes. Buff's bitter accusation kept ringing in his ears. "I know what kind of a guy you are," Buff had said. "I know what kind of a guy you are, Danny Orlis!"
The young woodsman was still quivering inside. To think that he had tried to tell Buff what a change becoming a Christian made in a guy. He tried to explain to him that being born again took away all the old, evil things and made him like new. He had even tried to testify about what Jesus had done for him. And all the time Buff had known how unclean he really was. Buff knew that he had promised to lie for Larry. It was no wonder he laughed when Danny tried to talk to him about the Lord.
What was the quotation his dad always used? "What you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." Danny had never known how true that was until now.
He could still see big Buff Gordon standing there, his hands in his pockets, a superior, egotistical grin on his face. How could he make Buff see that taking Christ really changed a person? How could he make him know that becoming a Christian really meant something? He sat there miserably and waited for the period to end.
When Danny came home that night for supper, there was a telephone call waiting for him.
"It's some girl, Danny," Uncle Claude said, smiling.
The young woodsman's face flushed.
"She certainly did sound nice, though," Uncle Claude went on.
"Now you hush that, Claude," Aunt Lydia scolded. "Don't pay any attention to him, Danny. You were supposed to call her back as soon as you got home."
Blushing furiously Danny went into the other room and called the number. It was Peggy.
Danny Orlis Goes to School Page 6