plied Charley.

"It's making a tremendous smoke for such a little blaze, then," said the
forester.

He turned to his men. "Get right at it and beat it out," he ordered. "This
is all there is to it."

Again he faced Charley. "Are you sure?" he demanded. "When we came over
the pass it looked as though the entire bottom was afire."

"It was," said Charley. "That is, everything this side of the run was
afire. We have got it all out but this."

"Have you seen anything of two boys with a wireless outfit? They notified
me of this fire."

"Why, I am one of them, sir. It was I who asked you yesterday for a job as
fire patrol."

The forester looked at him narrowly for several seconds. "See here," he
said severely. "Did you boys set this forest afire?"

Charley looked aghast. "Set the forest afire!" he exclaimed in amazement.
"Certainly not. Why should we?"

"Are you telling me the truth?"

Even through the grime Charley's face was red. "See here," he said
angrily, "I don't care whether you are the forester or the President of
the United States. You are not going to call me a liar. If Lew and I
hadn't been here fishing, you wouldn't have any forest by this time. We've
fought this fire for hours and it's only a piece of luck that Lew isn't
dead. He'd have been burned to a crisp if I hadn't found him just when I
did. We've done everything we could to save the forest. I demand to know
your reason for suggesting that we started the blaze."

"Young man," said the forester, "more than one forest fire has been set by
persons who wanted a job fighting fire. You wanted a job. You told me what
an advantage your wireless would be.

"My ranger reported to me by telephone last night that excepting for
yourselves he had seen nobody in this region all day. This morning a fire
breaks out; you report it promptly by wireless; and when we arrive, you
have it almost out. Isn't that a suspicious chain of circumstances?
Doesn't it look as though you might be trying to show the forester
something?"

"A fellow who would set the forest afire just to prove his own
qualifications as a fire fighter ought to be put in prison," said Charley
indignantly. "Do you think I'm that kind of a skunk?"

"No, I don't," said the forester. "I believe you boys had no hand in
starting this fire and that you have risked your lives and done heroic
work to save the forest. But I had to be sure. There is something queer
about this fire. With no railroads near