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 107 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.”