Danny Orlis and the Hunters

By Bernard Palmer

Danny Orlis and his friends are helping Danny's dad with a hunting expedition. One of the hunters doesn't follow instructions and appears to be lost. While searching for him, Danny finds evidence of illegal hunting. As the boys determine to find out who has been threatening the game population, they find themselves trapped by the criminals. Trusting God and doing the Christ-like thing brings another opportunity for Danny to bear fruit for the Saviour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sword of the Lord Foundation
• Release date: Jun 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311350329

Book preview

Danny Orlis and the Hunters

by

Bernard Palmer

Illustrated by David Miles

P. O. Box 1099 • Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37133

[phone] • [phone] • FAX [phone]

www.SwordoftheLord.com

Copyright 1955 by

The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago

Permission Given by Marge Palmer

Sword of the Lord Publishers

Distributed by Smashwords

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (printed, written, photocopied, electronic, audio or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible.

Contents

Chapter One – Strange Hunters

Chapter Two – Work of the Market Hunters

Chapter Three – A New Indian Friend

Chapter Four – Wanted by the Mounties

Chapter Five – Phantom Boat

Chapter Six – Trapped in a Lonely Cabin

Chapter Seven – Eric’s Real Occupation

Chapter Eight – Caught by Lawbreakers

Chapter Nine – Escape Blocked

Chapter Ten – Jim Comes Through

Chapter Eleven – A Night in the Woods

Chapter Twelve – Kindness to an Enemy

Chapter Thirteen – Market Hunters Bound

Illustrations

It’s a good day for hunting.

Boy, what a crazy thing to do!

All right, now turn around.

It’s about time! I’ve been waiting for you almost all night!

Have you seen anything of Joe Ladeena?

I don’t know what I’d do if I hadn’t met you two.

I don’t think anyone’s there, do you?

Now, let’s see what’s on this map.

A strange, longing look came over Jim’s face as they spoke about the Lord Jesus.

O God, help us to get away from them!

The boys froze where they were standing.

Joe took the lead with Jim and Danny following.

They knelt by Eric’s bed and prayed that God would spare him.

With a grunt of surprise Kip thudded to the floor.

Chapter One

Strange Hunters

The little packet boat, the Island Queen, was plowing through the rough seas toward the Canadian side of the Lake of the Woods. The wind had come up during the night, and snow was spitting from dark, overhanging clouds. Danny Orlis and his companion, Jim Smith, tightened the draw cords on their parkas and stepped out into the biting cold wind.

It's a good day for hunting, Danny said, looking out over the island-dotted water.

It's a better day for hunting than for going to school, Jim replied. He was not so tall as Danny by two or three inches, and his face was white and sallow.

He had been living on the Angle with his grandparents only a month or so, and he didn't have that bronzed, healthy look of Danny and the other kids.

It was too bad Mrs. Olson had to get sick, Danny said; but as long as she did, I'm kind of glad it was today, so we didn't have to go to school. I was afraid we were going to have to miss out on this trip.

Me too.

The boys were with Danny's dad, Carl Orlis, and a party of hunters from Minneapolis who were headed for the deer-inhabited islands on the Canadian side. They would help the cook in the galley, help dress the deer, ducks and geese that were shot, or do any of a hundred other things that needed to be done on a hunting expedition.

Boy, this is a lot more fun than I ever had in the city. Jim grinned excitedly, wrinkling up his freckled nose. I was kind of mad when Aunt Elizabeth said she couldn't keep me any longer, and that I'd have to come up here and stay with Grandpa Bates, but I'm not any more. This is more fun than I ever had in my life before.

You just wait until the lake freezes over and we get a lot of snow, Danny told him. That's when we really have the fun.

They sat down in the stern of the boat with their backs to the wind. The men were huddled in the cabin keeping warm, and Carl Orlis was forward breaking out the hunting gear.

I thought for a while Dad wasn't going to let us come along, Danny went on. He doesn't like this bunch of hunters very well. I heard him tell Mother last night that he wished he hadn't promised to take them on.

Why? Jim asked quickly.

I don't know for sure, Danny replied, but some of these fellows sure don't look very much like hunters to me.

What would they be doing up here if they weren't hunters? Jim persisted. You—

At that instant the cabin door opened and a tall, swarthy hunter bundled in a heavy wool mackinaw came out. Danny jabbed Jim in the ribs to silence him.

What are you two doing out here? the stranger asked. He sounded pleasant enough, but Danny shivered involuntarily. This Eric Densmor, for that was the hunter's name, had piercing eyes, and his mouth was set in a thin, hard line. A faint scar was visible across his cheek. He had a quick, nervous way about him. What are you doing out here in the cold? he asked again.

Just sitting here talking, Danny told him.

That's a good way to keep out of trouble. Eric lifted a powerful pair of binoculars and began to scan the horizon carefully, searching out first one island and then another.

Danny poked Jim in the ribs and nodded significantly toward the stranger with the field glasses. A hunter on vacation was relaxed and carefree. Eric was as taut and nervous as the tiger Danny had seen at the zoo in Duluth.

After a few minutes Eric put down the binoculars and began to rub his bare hands to warm them. Thought maybe I could see a deer or a moose, he explained, but no such luck. With that he turned and went quickly back into the cabin.

Now what do you make of that? Jim asked as soon as the hunter was gone.

Danny shook his head. He wasn't looking for deer. I know that much, he replied. Even a tenderfoot knows that as cold and raw as the wind is this morning, no deer's going to stand out along the shore like they do in the summer time.

I—I'm beginning to get sort of scared, Jim chattered. Aren't you?

No, Danny said truthfully. I'm just awfully curious about Eric and what he's doing here, but I'm not scared. You see, I put my trust in the Lord to watch over me, so I'm not afraid.

His friend looked at him quickly. Now what do you mean by that? he asked.

The Bible tells us that Jesus watches over us and cares for those who believe in Him, Danny went on. It tells how He healed the sick, and made blind people see, and even raised people from the dead. If He could do all those things, He can surely watch over me. It's like Dad says. Jesus is the same now as He was then.

Jim was quiet for a long while. I never thought about it like that before, he said at last.

The important thing, Danny continued, is for us to realize that we're sinners, then to confess our sins and take Jesus as our Saviour.

I don't know that I'm so bad as all that, Jim said defensively. I've never been in any real trouble. I mind Grandma, and do my chores, and don't lie or cheat or steal. I don't see why I'd need a Saviour.

The Bible tells us that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,' Danny said. And in another place, that 'all we like sheep have gone astray.' That means you and me and everyone—

Just then Mr. Orlis and Eric Densmor came out onto the deck.

I tell you, Orlis, Eric was saying angrily, I'm paying good money for this trip, and I'm not going to be on a stand with anyone else. I'm going to be alone.

But that isn't the way we hunt, Danny's dad said evenly. We go out by two's to our stands, and the guides will drive the deer toward us. You'll get plenty of shooting, and be safer than you would be alone.

Just the same I'm going to be alone!

Carl Orlis shook his head, and Danny saw his eyes narrow like they did when he had been pushed just as far as