had told
them of Charley's situation, the club had voted unanimously and
enthusiastically to send the battery to Charley for him to use as long as
he needed it in the forest.

Furthermore, Lew informed him, Henry had been talking to the wireless men
at the Frankfort station, and not only were they willing to work with him
to protect the forest, but they were also sending an amplifier to Oakdale
so that Charley would be sure to get their messages with the greatest
distinctness. The battery would be forwarded as soon as it reached the
Wireless Club and had been inspected, and the amplifier would go with it.

No wonder that Charley rolled up in his blankets, with shining eyes,
careless alike of cats and Collinses. With the pup and the new battery he
felt that he should indeed be in position to render efficient service to
his forester and his ranger, both of whom he was coming to love, and to
the grand old forest around him.

Chapter XVII

An Accident in the Wilderness

As though she also were pleased at Charley's good fortune, Dame Nature
smiled her best in the days that immediately followed. The sun rose warm
and grateful. The forest was instinct with the spirit of spring, of
new-born life, of hope eternal. Wilderness birds sang in the branches. The
brook babbled and gurgled and ran madly down the slope. The leaves
overhead whispered of the new life that had come. All the forest animals
seemed filled with the joy of living. And Charley was not a whit behind
them. His whole being thrilled with happiness.

Now he could see matters in their true light; or if his vision were a
trifle clouded, the clouds were tinged with rose instead of black, as they
had been previously.

Charley thanked Providence that he was just where he was. In some respects
an unusual boy, he was mentally no abler than many of his fellows. He
possessed a trueness of vision and an understanding of things that were,
however, unusual in a lad of his age. Always he had had to earn the
things that he wanted. And always he had been able, within reason, to get
what he desired. Early in life, therefore, he had come to understand that
everything has its price, and that he who is willing to pay the price can
get almost anything he wishes. So now, instead of bewailing the fact that
he was where he was, as many another lad would have done under the
circumstances, he rejoiced. He rejoiced because he had sense enough to
understand that his opportunit