IN THE MUD
Belle saw the danger and began frantically sawing at the reins. It was
too late. The outraged animal had taken the bit in his teeth and started
to run. He was going to keep on running.
Sally began to scream, and Belle, beside herself with fear and not
knowing what she did, began to use the whip. That was the last straw. No
animal could be expected to stand such treatment.
Paralysed as they had been for a moment by the sudden turn of affairs,
the boys were galvanized to action by the screams of Sally and Belle.
They rushed headlong after the pony, the Radio Girls and Nell also in
pursuit.
Out upon the dock the pony raced, shying a little as he saw the water.
Sally and Belle took advantage of the momentarily slackened speed, and,
shrieking wildly, jumped from the pony cart into the water.
The pony reared, turned to one side, and at that moment Darry reached
his head and caught the reins, close to the bit. He pulled the pony’s
head down with all his strength, speaking at the same time reassuringly.
“Whoa, old boy. Steady now, steady. Nothing’s going to hurt you. That’s
the ticket. Nice little fellow, nice old boy.”
The pony stood still, bobbing his head and nervously pawing at the dock.
It was an easy matter then for Darry to turn him about and head him back
to shore.
Meanwhile the others had rushed to the rescue of the bedraggled and
raging girls. They had fallen into the muddy part of the lake, and had
literally to be dragged out upon the dock. Their natty suits were
covered with mud and slime, their hair had come loose from the pins, and
their faces were bespattered with mud. An unpleasant spectacle, and the
worst of it was that Belle and Sally knew it full well.
Without a word of thanks and with glances that were blacker than the mud
that covered them, they climbed once more into the pony cart and drove
away.
The boys and girls waited until they were out of sight before giving way
to their hysterical mirth.
“Poor Belle! Poor Sally!” gasped Amy, as they turned back toward the
lodge where Miss Alling was waiting for them. “I never saw anything so
screamingly funny in my life.”
“Served Belle Ringold right!” said Jessie, indignantly. “Imagine
whipping that darling pony!”
“Well, he got even with a vengeance,” chuckled Amy. “Belle and Sally
won’t forget that ducking in a hurry.”
It was arranged that early on the next day they would pack a lunch and
tramp through the woods to the station of the forest rangers. Miss
Alling, who said she had come up to the lodge for a much needed rest,
would not join them on this jaunt, declaring that forest rangers were no
novelty to her and that she would enjoy a quiet day in her hammock more
than a long hike through the woods.
The next day was an ideal one for their trip and, as Phrosy had packed
them a hamper of good things, they expected to enjoy themselves
thoroughly.
A little before noon they reached the station of the forest rangers and
regarded curiously the long, low buildings and towering antennæ of the
wireless.
“I would like to see their sending set,” said Jessie, eagerly. “It must
be a wonder.”
“Well, come along,” Darry answered. “We’ll probably find somebody to
show us the place.”
It was their good fortune that the first man they met was John Halsey,
head of the forest rangers and a very amiable and pleasant gentleman.
When the young folks explained the reason for their visit and he saw
that the girls were real radio fans, he made them welcome and
volunteered to conduct them personally about the station.
“We have a large dynamo here,” he said, as he led them into the
broadcasting room, where the girls examined with eager interest the huge
sending apparatus. “By means of this department of radio we keep in
constant touch with various points throughout the forest.”
“Then you must have receiving sets in the woods,” said Jessie.
“So we have,” replied Mr. Halsey, smiling. “The receiving end is,
naturally, of as much importance as the sending. The broadcasting
apparatus is the mouth, the receiving apparatus the ears, of the
service.”
“It is wonderful!” murmured Jessie.
“Do you suppose we could catch any of those messages on our set?” put in
Amy, curiously.
“All you have to do is to tune in properly,” answered Mr. Halsey, with a
pleasant laugh. “Our messages are your personal property. I’ll give you
the wave length,” and he did so.
“How thrilling! Then if there were a fire in the forest we would know
all about it!” cried Nell.
“Indeed you would. And there are occasions when it is quite necessary to
locate a forest fire,” returned Mr. Halsey, seriously. “These fires
sometimes travel with, seemingly, the swiftness of lightning, and it
takes good work to outdistance them.”
“Have there been many fires lately?” asked Jessie, with interest, and
was conscious of a distinct disappointment when he laughingly shook his
head.
“Not many, luckily. And I can only hope that we continue immune. I can
remember the time,” he continued, seriously, “when a great fire,
sweeping northward, encroached so perilously upon this station that we
were forced to dismantle our apparatus and take to the water. That was
in the old days when radio was in its infancy and we had not yet learned
to make airplanes the eyes of the service.”
“I have heard about that—about the use of airplanes in the service of
the forest rangers, I mean,” said Darry, “and I have heard the pilots do
a noble work.”
“They do,” said Mr. Halsey emphatically.
“Must be a lot of excitement,” observed Fol.
“Excitement—and danger,” amended Mr. Halsey. “Our airmen have to fly so
low in order to observe the progress of the fire that often they are in
the midst of a rain of burning embers. Plenty of chance for heroism in
the flying service of the rangers.”
“The airplanes must be equipped with radio or they couldn’t keep in
touch with the station,” suggested Jessie, and Mr. Halsey smiled at her
interest.
“Each plane is equipped with radio, Miss Norwood, and a very sensitive
apparatus, at that,” he said. “They keep in constant touch with the
fire-fighters and direct operations all through. They are, as I have
said before, the eyes of the service.”
The young people spent another delightful half hour, studying the
receiving apparatus, wandering through the interesting quarters of the
men, and listening to Mr. Halsey’s talk. Then, knowing that they had a
long tramp before them they said good-bye to Mr. Halsey, thanking him
for his kindness to them and promising to visit the station again before
they returned to New Melford.
Only a short distance from the station of the forest rangers they came
upon an ideal spot to eat the lunch Phrosy had put up for them, and
settled themselves comfortably for the feast.
When they had done full justice to the good things, they started on
again at a slightly quickened pace. It was later than they had thought,
and they were conscious of a queer eagerness to be at the lodge again.
They did not at first attribute this eagerness to the fact that the path
they were on did not seem as familiar to them as it should, considering
that they had so recently trod it on their way to the station.
It was only when the path became more and more indistinct, the foliage
thicker and almost impenetrable that they recognized the truth. They
were lost.