ting mad. That must be it. Plant chuckled a
cavernous chuckle. Nevertheless he ordered his ranger to knock off fence
mending for the present.

By two o'clock Thorne pushed back his chair and stretched his arms over
his head. Plant laughed.

"That pretty near finishes what we have here," said he. "There really
isn't much to it, after all. We've got things pretty well going.
To-morrow I'll get one of the boys to ride out with you near here. If
you want to take any trips back country, I'll scare up a pack."

This was the usual and never-accepted offer.

"I haven't time for that," said Thorne, "but I'll look at that bridge
site to-morrow."

"When must you go?"

"In a couple of days."

Plant's large countenance showed more than a trace of satisfaction.

On leaving the Supervisor's headquarters, Thorne set off vigorously up
the road. He felt cramped for exercise, and he was out for a tramp.
Higher and higher he mounted on the road to the mill, until at last he
stood on a point far above the valley. The creak and rattle of a wagon
aroused him from his contemplation of the scene spread wide before him.
He looked up to see a twelve-horse freight team ploughing toward him
through a cloud of dust that arose dense and choking. To escape this
dust Thorne deserted the road and struck directly up the side of the
mountain. A series of petty allurements led him on. Yonder he caught a
glimpse of tree fungus that interested him. He pushed and plunged
through the manzanita until he had gained its level. Once there he
concluded to examine a dying yellow pine farther up the hill. Then he
thought to find a drink of water in the next hollow. Finally the way
ahead seemed easier than the brush behind. He pushed on, and after a
moment of breathless climbing reached the top of the ridge.

Here Thorne had reached a lower spur of that range on which were located
both the sawmill and Plant's summer quarters. He drew a deep breath and
looked about him over the topography spread below. Then he examined with
an expert's eye the wooded growths. His glance fell naturally to the
ground.

"Well, I'll be----" began Thorne, and stopped.

Through the pine needles at his feet ran a shallow, narrow and
meandering trough. A rod or so away was a similar trough. Thorne set
about following their direction.

They led him down a gentle slope, through a young growth of pines and
cedars to a small meadow. The grass had been eaten short to the soil and
tr