ranger, noticing what they were about. "Mr. Marlin sent
this to you. I almost forgot about it." He reached into the capacious
inner pocket of the hunting-coat he wore and drew forth a bulky package.

"Beefsteak!" cried Charley, opening the package. "Oh boy! And enough for
two meals. We're certainly obliged to you and Mr. Marlin both."

Meantime, the pup, neglected, fawned upon them and began to whine, when
suddenly the ranger cried out, "I've got it. It was the pup."

"The pup?" echoed Charley. "What about the pup?"

"Why, it was the pup that betrayed the camp. In some way those men got
within hearing or smelling distance of this place, and the pup must have
barked or whined. You know how a lonely dog will howl and carry on. I'm
sorry, but I guess that pup will have to go, Charley."

Charley's face expressed almost as much mental agony as the pup's whine
had shown, though he said nothing. The ranger, looking up, caught the
expression, however, and understood. He knew how lonely it would be for
Charley after Lew returned to Central City. "The harm's already done," he
continued, "and I suppose it never does any good to lock the stable after
the horse is gone. You may keep your pup, Charley; but I do wish he was a
dumb brute in fact as well as in name."

"I can train him to be quiet," said Charley eagerly. "I trained Judge
Gordon's dogs to hunt and I can train this little fellow not to make a
noise. If I could keep him, sir, I'd be mighty glad. He'll be a lot of
company."

"Keep your dog, noise or no noise," said the kindly ranger with
determination. "If you can really train him well, he'll do us a thousand
times more good than he does harm. Now that I know Bill Collins is in
these woods, I don't like the idea of leaving you here alone. You train
that dog as fast as you can. Train him to warn you of the approach of
strangers, and train him to fight, too--and to fight hard."

Again the ranger lapsed into silence. After a while he said, "What
puzzles me now is this: Should we move your camp to another place or leave
it where it is? Bill Collins knows there is a camp here. He saw you two
boys in the forest and he has probably seen no one else. He will likely
infer that it is your camp. But he has no way of knowing that you are
connected with the Forest Service, unless, unless--By George! Why didn't I
think of that sooner? Ten to one he hid close by and watched for you to
come back. If he did, he saw us when we came dow