CHAPTER XIII

THE BAZAAR

When she had talked it over with Momsy and Miss Seymour, however, Jessie Norwood took up the thought of the radio lecture quite seriously. Somebody must explain and manage the entertainment in the radio tent, and who better than Jessie?

"It is quite wonderful how much you young people have learned about radio--so much more than I had any idea," said the school teacher. "Of course you can write a little prose essay, Jessie, get it by heart, and repeat it at each session in the tent, if you feel timid about giving an off-hand talk on the subject."

"You can do it if you only think you can, Jessie," said her mother, smiling. "I am sure I have a very smart daughter."

"Oh, now, Momsy! If they should laugh at me----"

"Don't give them a chance to laugh, dear. Make your talk so interesting and informative that they can't laugh."

Thus encouraged, Jessie spent all the forenoon of the Fourth shut up in her own room making ready for the afternoon and evening. She had already made a careful schedule of the broadcasting done by all the stations within reach of her fine radio set, and found that it was possible, by tuning her instrument to the wave lengths of different stations, to get something interesting into every hour from two o'clock on until eleven.

Naturally, some of the entertainments would be more interesting or amusing than others; but as New Melford people for the most part were as yet unfamiliar with radio, almost anything out of the air would seem curious and entertaining.

"Besides," Burd Alling said in comment on this, "for a good cause we are all ready and willing to be bunkoed a little."

"Let me tell you, Mr. Smarty," said Amy, "that Jessie's lecture is well worth the price of admission alone. Never mind the radio entertainment."

"I'll come to hear it every time," agreed Burd. "You can't scare me!"

The radio had been carefully tried out in the tent the evening before.

The boys had got the market reports and the early baseball scores out of the air on Fourth of July morning, before the bazaar opened. When Jessie came out after luncheon to take charge of the radio tent, she felt that she was letter perfect in the "talk" she had arranged to introduce each session of the wireless entertainment.

No admission was charged to the Norwood grounds; but several of the older boys had been instructed to keep an oversight of the entire place that careless and possibly rough youngsters should do no harm.

The Norwoods', like the Drews' was one of the show places of the Roselawn section of New Melford. Boys and girls might do considerable harm around the place if they were not under discipline.

The girls and boys belonging to the congregation of Dr. Stanley's church were on hand as flower sellers, booth attendants, and waitresses. Ice-creams and sherbets were served from the garage; sandwiches and cake from the house kitchen, where Mrs. Norwood's cook herself presided proudly over the goodies.

In several booths were orangeade, lemonade, and other soft drinks. The fancy costumes and the funny masks the girls and boys wore certainly were "fetching." That the masks were the result of a joke on Chip Truro's part made them none the less effective.

Amy was flying about, as busy as a bee. Darry and Burd were at the head of the "police." Miss Seymour took tickets for the radio tent, and after the first entertainment, beginning at two o'clock, she complimented Jessie warmly on the success of her talk on radio with which the girl introduced the show.

The lawns of the Norwood place began to be crowded before two o'clock.

Cars were parked for several blocks in both directions. Special policemen had been sent out from town to patrol the vicinity. Dr.

Stanley's smile, as he walked about welcoming the guests, expanded to an almost unbelievable breadth.

The noisy and explosive Fourth as it used to be is now scarcely known.

Our forefathers did not realize that freedom could be celebrated without guns and firecrackers and the more or less smelly and dangerous burning of powder.

"Now," stated Burd Alling pompously, "we celebrate the name of the Father of his Country with a dish of fruit ice-cream. How are the mighty fallen! A George Washington sundae, please, with plenty of 'sundae' on it. Thank you!"

Then he gave up twice the price that he would have had to pay at the Dainties Shop down town for the same concoction to the young lady in the Columbine skirt and the mask.

"Young Truro had it right," grumbled Darry. "It's a hold-up."

"But you know you like to be robbed for a good cause," chuckled Amy, who chanced to hear these comments. "And remember that Doctor Stanley is going to get his share out of this."

"Right-o," agreed Burd. "The doctor is all right."

"But we ought to pony up the money for his support like good sports,"

said Darry, continuing to growl.

"You'd better ask him about that," cried Amy. "Do you know what the dear doctor says? He is glad, he says, to know that so many people who never would by any chance come to hear him preach give something to the support of the church. They are in touch with the church and with him on an occasion like this, when by no other means could they be made to interest themselves in our church save to look at the clock face in the tower as they go past."

"Guess he's right there," said Burd. "I reckon there are some men on the boulevard whose only religious act is to set their watches by the church clock as they ride by to town in their automobiles."

However and whatever (to quote Amy again), the intentions were that brought the crowd, the Norwood place was comfortably filled. The goodies were bought, the sale of fancy goods added much to the treasury, and a bigger thing than any other source of income was the admission to the radio shows.

The children were not the most interested part of the audience in the tent. From two o'clock until closing time Jessie Norwood presided at eight shows. She sometimes faced almost the same audience twice. Not only did some of the children pay their way in more than once, but grown people did the same. Curiosity regarding radio science was rife.

Doctor Stanley came more than once himself to listen. And the minister's boys wanted to take the radio set all apart between shows to "see how it went."

"I bet we could build one our own selves," declared Bob Stanley.

"I betcha!" agreed Fred.

"Only, it will cost a lot of money," groaned the minister's oldest son.

"You can do it for about ten dollars--if you are ingenious," said Jessie encouragingly.

"Gee whiz! That's a lot of money," said Fred.

The girl knew better than to suggest lending them or giving them the money. But she told them all the helpful things she could about setting up the radio paraphernalia and rigging the wires.

"I guess Nell would help us," Bob remarked. "She's pretty good, you know, for a girl."

"I like that!" exclaimed Jessie.

Bob Stanley grinned at her impishly.

In the evening when the electric lights were ablaze the Norwood lawns were a pretty sight indeed. People came in cars from miles away. It was surprising how many came, it seemed, for the purpose of listening to the radio. That feature had been well advertised, and it came at a time when the popular curiosity was afire through reading so much about radio in the newspapers.

Among the hundreds of cars parked near by were those of several of the more prosperous farmers of the county. One ancient, baldheaded, bewhiskered agriculturist sat through three of the radio shows, and commented freely upon this new wonder of the world.

"The telegraph was just in its infancy when I was born," he told Jessie. "And then came the telephone, and these here automobiles, and flying machines, and wireless telegraph, and now this. Why, ma'am, this radio beats the world! It does, plumb, for sure!"

The surprise and the comments of the audience did not so much interest Jessie Norwood as the fact that the money taken in by the tent show would add vastly to the profit of the bazaar.

"You sure have beaten any other individual concession on the lot," Amy told her at the end of the evening. "You know, Belle Ringold bragged that she was going to take in the most money at the orangeade stand, because it was a hot night. But wait till we count up! I am sure you have beaten her with the radio tent, Jess."

JEALOUSY