n.

New experiences came to him frequently. The forester surveyed and laid
out a road through the forest. Charley helped with the surveying and
learned much about levels and grades and the theory of road making. And
after the road was fairly started, the forester left its completion
largely to Charley. This new road was to lead into the big timber
operation which was shortly to begin in Charley's territory.

Already a great crew had been assembled and much timber had been cut in
Lumley's district. Lumley had to oversee this operation and he was kept
far busier than he liked to be. So Charley saw little of him.

In overseeing the operation in his own tract, Charley would have to select
and mark the trees for cutting, see that they were felled so as to save
the young growths, compel the prompt removal of trees that had fallen
across little saplings that had been bent under them, and make sure the
tops were properly lopped off and either burned where possible or piled so
that they would quickly rot. Then he would have to be particular that the
trees were thrown away from the roads and lines, and that a strip at least
one hundred feet wide was kept cleared of brush between the cutting
operations and the remainder of the forest, as a protection against the
spread of fire. Then there would be timber to scale and a hundred other
things to be looked after. To safeguard the state's interests would
require both experience and determination should the timber operators
wish to be tricky. Mr. Marlin intended that Charley, as a reward for the
fine spirit he was showing, should handle the lumber operation in his own
district entirely alone, just as a full-fledged ranger would do. It was
both a high compliment to Charley and a fine reward, for the timber
operation was large, involving great sums of money, and even with the most
careful supervision the state might easily be defrauded of thousands of
dollars.

But Mr. Marlin was far too wise to put Charley in such a position without
adequate training. Personally, therefore, he began to prepare him for the
work. Accompanied by Charley, he went entirely over the operations in
Lumley's territory. He carried a duplicate of the contract under which the
wood was being cut. Together they discussed every phase of the contract,
and the forester showed Charley how each step in the operation should be
carried out; how the trees should be selected and marked, how they should
be felled and trimmed