t clothes. Finally I asked leave to take them off. Bud,
who had come back in the meantime, helped me, or I should never have got
out of them. Herky brought up my coat, which, fortunately, I had taken
off before the ducking. I did not have the heart to speak to Dick or
look at him, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

It was another day when I awoke. I felt all right except for a soreness
under my arms and across my chest where the lasso had chafed and
bruised me. Still I did not recover my good spirits. Herky-Jerky kept on
grinning and cracking jokes on my failure to escape. He had appropriated
my revolver for himself, and he asked me several times if I wanted to
borrow it to shoot Greaser.

That day passed quietly, and so did the two that followed. The men would
not let me fish nor move about. They had been expecting Stockton, and
as he did not come it was decided to send Bud down to the mill; in fact,
Bud decided the matter himself. He warned Greaser and Herky to keep
close watch over Dick and me. Then he rode away. Dick and I resumed our
talk about forestry, and as we were separated by the length of the cave
it was necessary to speak loud. So our captors heard every word we said.

"Ken, what's the difference between Government forestry out here and,
say, forestry practiced by a farmer back in Pennsylvania?" asked Dick.

"There's a big difference, I imagine. Forestry is established in some
parts of the East; it's only an experiment out here."

Then I went on to tell him about the method of the farmer. He usually
had a small piece of forest, mostly hard wood. When the snow was on he
cut firewood, fence-rails, and lumber for his own use in building. Some
seasons lumber brought high prices; then he would select matured logs
and haul them to the sawmill. But he would not cut a great deal, and he
would use care in the selection. It was his aim to keep the land well
covered with forest. He would sow as well as harvest.

"Now the Government policy is to preserve the National Forests for the
use of the people. The soil must be kept productive. Agriculture would
be impossible without water, and the forests hold water. The West wants
people to come to stay. The lumberman who slashes off the timber may get
rich himself, but he ruins the land."

"What's that new law Congress is trying to pass?" queried Dick.

I was puzzled, but presently I caught his meaning. Bill and Herky-Jerky
were hanging on our words with unconcealed