Chapter XI
The Secret Camp in the Wilderness
Their encounter with the bear made the two lads forget for a while their weariness. They made fast time along the fire trails. After a long tramp, they topped the final ridge and paused to rest and study the country. This they could do with ease, for the summit of the mountain was rather sparsely timbered. A very little search disclosed a tree that was at once tall and easy to climb, and that was surrounded only by low brush that would not obstruct the vision. From this lookout they gained a wide view in every direction.
"We can see for miles and miles," said Charley. "The forester was right in telling us to come often to this lookout. We can discover more from here in a minute than we could by a week of wandering about among the trees."
Slowly the boys swept their vision around the horizon. Everywhere the mountains appeared to bask in the warm spring sunlight, seemingly as secure as cats dozing by a fireplace. The fleecy clouds, passing across the face of the sun, threw shadows on the hillsides, making beautiful patterns of light and shade. The fresh, young growths gave forth a soft green tint, in pleasing contrast to the darker colors of the pines. Brooks sparkled in the bottoms. Far as the eye could reach this gorgeous panorama extended.
"Isn't it wonderful?" said Charley, after the two boys had surveyed the scene in silence. "The forest is one of nature's very finest gifts. And to think what we do to it by our carelessness. At any minute this green paradise may become a very hell of roaring flame, just because some smoker is too careless to blow out his match before dropping it, or some camper too lazy to make sure his fire is extinguished. Why, it seems to me that a murderer is an innocent angel compared to such a man. Think what he does! He kills the fish and the birds and the animals and perhaps some human beings, and he destroys not only the wood that civilization must have, but he ruins the very ground so that it cannot produce another forest. It seems to me that a man who does that ought to be punished more severely than any mere murderer. Why, a murderer kills only a single being. The man who starts a forest fire kills countless living things. I tell you, Lew, it makes me mighty proud to have a part in protecting this grand forest."
The boys were silent, wrapped in thought, until Lew suddenly pointed to a dense growth of evergreens directly below them, and not very far down the ridge. "That must be our camp site," he said. And both boys examined the spot with interest.
"That must be it," said Charley. "It's dense enough, goodness knows! And there is a little stream of water stealing out of the lower side of the thicket. So there is a spring in there. Let's go down and take a look at it."
They shouldered their packs, whistled the pup to their heels, and went down to the thicket. In a space not less than a hundred yards in diameter rhododendrons grew in indescribable density, while above them towered some huge hemlocks. The two boys came close to the thicket and peered into it. Even now, in the bright glare of the full sun, deep twilight reigned beneath the rhododendrons. Evidently they were growths of great age. Their stems were like young saplings. Their tops rose high and spread wide. And their branches were laced and interlaced and twisted and grown together so as to make a mass almost impenetrable.
"Great Ned!" cried Lew. "A passer-by would have about as much chance of seeing us in there as we have of discovering China from this hillside. The question is, how are we going to get into the place?"
Charley dropped on his hands and knees and crawled slowly under the low rhododendron branches.
"Keep right in my tracks, Lew, if you come in," warned Charley. "If there are any snakes in here, they'd bite a fellow before he could see them. I'll look sharp for them and if you follow me, you won't run any risk."
He picked up a fallen branch, trimmed it, and crept on, stick in hand. Suddenly he crowded back hard on Lew, almost kicking him in the face. At the same time he began to thrash about in the leaves ahead of him.
"Great Cæsar!" he exclaimed. "I almost crawled on a big rattler. He was so near the color of the ground that I didn't see him until he coiled and raised his head. Gee! That was a close shave."
"As long as you didn't get bitten," said Lew, "It's a good thing it happened. We'll be on our guard now."
"Yes, indeed. Did you put the potassium permanganate in the first-aid kit, and the hypodermic syringe?"
"Surest thing you know."
"We'll just carry them with us, Lew. We won't take any chances on death by snake-bite. These mountains are full of rattlers and copperheads."
"And we won't take any chances on being bitten in this thicket, either," answered Lew. "We'll put the pup in ahead of us."
They whistled in the dog and sent him scouring through the thicket. But either there had been no more snakes within it or else all had fled, for the dog raced eagerly about but found nothing to alarm him.
Confidently the boys now pushed into the interior of the thicket. At the very heart of it lay the spring. It came bubbling up through pure, white sand, and had formed a deep basin, over the lower edge of which the crystal water went rippling away through the thicket.
"We'll put our tent right here," said Charley, indicating a level spot beside the spring basin. "We'll have to clear away some of the bushes to make room for it. We can use what we cut as a screen, though nobody would ever see a tent away in here, especially one of brown khaki, like ours."
He drew his little axe and began clearing a space for the tent, cutting the rhododendron stems a little below the surface of the ground. Lew piled the branches at one side. Then the tent was dragged in and set up, the rope being used as a ridge and tied to two strong saplings. The sides of the tent were squared and pegged down.
"Drive the pegs tight, Lew," directed Charley. "We don't want to have anything crawling under the sides. Thank goodness, we have a sod cloth."
After they had completed this task and set about bringing in the duffel, Charley remarked, "We can't go in and out this way, on our hands and knees. We've got to make a path. We'll find the best way out and trim the bushes so that we can walk upright."
"We'd better not make the path straight," said Lew. "If we zigzag it, nobody will know it really is a path."
After they had picked out a level route they trimmed back the rhododendron branches so that they could walk through the thicket, though the branches at the very edge were left undisturbed. The cut branches were added to the screen about the tent. Then the duffel was carried in and stowed in the tent.
"What bothers me," said Charley, "is to know how to put up our aerial. We don't dare hang it up where it can be seen, and I don't know how well it will work among these hemlocks."
"All we can do is to put it up and try it," said the ever practical Lew, "and the sooner we do it the better."
Quickly they had their wires suspended between two hemlock trees. The aerial reached almost from trunk to trunk, and the wires were completely hidden by the branches that stood out all about them.
"If she'll work," commented Charley, "it's a peach of an arrangement. Nobody would discover that aerial in a hundred years. I can hardly wait until evening to test it out."
"Willie might be listening in again to-day," suggested Lew. "It will take him several days to get that new outfit made. We'll try him on the hour."
"Good idea, Lew." He looked at his watch. "It's ten minutes to the hour now. If Willie is listening in, we'll soon know whether or not our aerial will work."
They began putting the tent in order, stowing the duffel in neat little piles. Just outside the tent Lew built a foundation for the alcohol stove, by leveling the earth and setting a flat stone for the stove to stand on. Meanwhile, Charley was stuffing the tick with dry leaves.
Exactly on the hour Lew sat down at the wireless key and sent a call flashing into the air. Promptly; his receiver buzzed in response.
"Got him," said Lew, and while Charley went on filling the tick and bringing in hemlock branches to use like springs under the tick, Lew conversed with Willie. The latter was still working at the new wireless set, and had listened in every hour during the day. All the other members of the Wireless Patrol were likewise hard at work, and it was practically certain that by the time the vacation was ended each would have earned his share of the money needed to buy the desired battery.
"I can't tell you where our camp is," rapped out Lew, "because that is a secret that we are not supposed to tell. The forester does not want anybody to know that Charley is employed by the forestry department. We are posing as fishermen. Tell the fellows not to talk about Charley and tell Charley's father the forester does not want it known for a time that Charley is a fire patrol. He thinks that we have a better chance to find things out if it is not known that we are connected with the forestry department."
Willie said that he would caution the boys and tell Mr. Russell. Also he said he would be in his workshop until supper time and would listen in most of the time. The club members would be at their instruments as usual to catch the time from Arlington and pick up some of the news. Lew replied that he would call Willie then, if he needed him.
For some time after Lew laid down the receivers, the two boys worked silently. They finished setting the hemlock branches in the earth, placed the stuffed ticking above them, and laid their blankets in position. They brought the wireless outfit into the tent and set the instruments in a corner. The grub was stacked in another corner. A little pool was dug in the stream just below the spring, to make a place for washing dishes. Their extra clothes were hung on the ridge-rope. The first-aid kit was fastened to the tent wall where it would be handy, and Charley put the permanganate and the hypodermic syringe in his pocket.
They had almost completed their task, when a low whistle was heard outside the thicket. The pup pricked up his ears and was about to bark. Lew grabbed him and held his jaws together. Then both boys sat silent, listening and looking questioningly at each other. Soon the whistle was repeated.
"We've got to find out who's whistling," said Charley. "Keep the pup quiet and I'll slip out and take a look."
He left the tent, but had hardly gone ten feet before a voice cried, "Hello, Russell! Are you in the thicket? This is Morton, the ranger."
"Sure we're here," replied Charley, an expression of relief coming on his face. "We didn't know who it was and kept quiet until we could take a look. I'm coming out now."
He hurried from the thicket and shook hands warmly with the newcomer. Instinctively he knew that he was going to like his ranger. Big, broad-shouldered, quite evidently powerful, with a kindly expression, a winning smile, and a deep voice that instantly created confidence, the ranger was a picture of honest manhood. No one could look into his deep blue eyes, set far apart, or examine the lines on his face, at once betokening strength of character with gentleness, and not feel that here was a man in very truth. One knew instinctively that he would never hesitate a second to risk his life to save another's, and that he would be as gentle as a woman in his dealings with all creatures. But the great, strong jaw and the straight mouth and long nose all foretold fearless courage, and were ample warning that the man would be terrible if stirred to wrath.
"Come in and see our camp," said Charley, after the two had conversed for a moment. And he led the way into the thicket.
The ranger followed, his practiced eye noting everything. "You've made a good job of it," he said with commendation, when he was at last seated in the tent. "Nobody will ever find you here, unless you do something to betray your position. You'll have to be a little careful about fires. I wouldn't make any during the daytime."
"We aren't going to make any at all," explained Charley. "Mr. Marlin gave us an alcohol stove to cook with."
"I don't believe you need go so far as that. Use your alcohol stove during the day. At night nobody can see smoke, and if you screen the blaze, nobody will ever discover you. It would be pretty dismal here at night without any light. Let's see if we can't fix up a little fireplace that will help you out."
He got a number of large, flat stones, which he set on edge, fashioning a high, square fireplace that opened toward the front.
"The stones will screen the flames on three sides, if you don't build too big a fire," he said, "and your tent will shut off the view on the fourth side."
"Thank you," said Charley. "It will be a whole lot more cheerful with a fire. We have a candle lantern that we intended to use, but a fellow just ought to have a fire when he's in camp."
As they began to discuss the work ahead of them, the ranger inquired, "What instructions did Mr. Marlin give you?"
"He said that we should keep our connection with the department secret," said Charley, "and if possible, avoid meeting any one. If we do bump into anybody, we are to pose as fishermen. He said you would give us detailed instructions."
"Very well. First, about your outfit. Have you any firearms?"
"A light, high-powered rifle and a pistol."
"You can't carry a rifle in the forest at this season without exciting suspicion. Leave your rifle here. Let me see your pistol? Have you another?"
Charley handed him his pistol and said that he had no other.
"Then take this," he said as he handed Charley his automatic. "Let your chum carry your pistol. I'll get another at the office. It isn't likely that you will ever need to use a weapon in the forest. I have been a ranger for years and have never yet drawn one, but I never travel without one. You'll meet some pretty tough characters in the forest and sometime your life may depend on having your pistol. My advice is never to patrol without it. But keep it out of sight. Keep your badge out of sight, too. And since you are supposed to be nothing more than fishermen, you'll have to play the parts. Carry your rods and catch a few fish each day during the season."
"Where are we to patrol, and what hours are we to observe?"
"You are especially employed to guard this virgin timber, though, of course, you must protect any part of the forest you happen to be in. Take some good hikes over the region right away and get acquainted with it. Use your map and, if possible, learn the region by heart. Then your map will mean something to you. Learn where the virgin timber lies. Keep a close watch on it, and on any fishermen or campers. I'll spend at least two days a week out here and you must report to me each time I am here. Meantime, you must report to the office every night the last thing before you turn in. The chief said you had a wireless and could do it. Maybe you can, but it beats me to know how."
"We'll show you in a little while," smiled Charley as he glanced at his watch. "Willie will surely be listening in within twenty minutes and we'll call him."
"I'll have to take your word for it," said the ranger. "I can't wait a minute. It will be long after dark before I get out of the mountains. I telephoned my wife I'd be late, but she always worries when I'm out after dark. You know snakes are bad up here, and they're all out at night. And by the way, you'd better carry some of this permanganate. Do you know anything about it, and what to do with it if you're bitten?" The ranger started to pull a bottle from his pocket.
"Thanks," said Charley. "It's mighty good of you to offer to share with us. But we have permanganate and a syringe both, and we know what to do with them."
"Good. But be careful where you step. What do you wear on your feet?"
He examined the boys' shoes and canvas leggings. "They're all right. I don't believe any snake will bite through them. But high leather boots would be safer. Bear it in mind when you buy new shoes. Now I must go."
"When and where am I to report to you?" asked Charley.
They agreed upon a place of meeting, half-way between the highway and Charley's camp, whereupon the ranger, holding out his hand, said, "Good-bye and good luck to you."
"Do you have to go?" asked Charley. "Couldn't you stay overnight with us?"
"I'd like to, but the wife would worry herself sick."
"Suppose she knew that you were going to stay here. Would that make it all right?"
"I'm often away overnight during the fire season," smiled the ranger. "It's the snakes that she's afraid of. She'd rather have me stay here all night than come through these mountains after dark. You see her father was bitten by a snake when she was a girl and she is mortally afraid of them."
"Then you're going to stay here all night," said Charley, with decision. "I'll get word to her right away."
The ranger smiled incredulously. "I wish you could," he said. "It would relieve her mind."
Charley threw aside the pack cover that had been placed over the wireless instruments. The ranger looked at the outfit with wondering interest. Charley glanced at his watch and threw over the switch.
"Willie might be listening in," he explained, as the sparks began to leap between the points of his spark-gap. Twice he called, then a bright smile came over his face. "Got him," he said.
For some moments he alternately worked his key and listened to the return buzzing in his receiver. Then he turned to the ranger. "Willie has the forester on the telephone," he said. "What shall I tell him?"
"Ask him to tell Katharine that I shall stay here with you in your camp overnight, as I could not get home until long after dark."
With fascinated gaze the ranger watched the sparks fly under Charley's manipulation of the key. Then there was a long silence as the three sat waiting for the reply.
"Katharine says to tell Jimmie she's awful glad," said Charley, relaying the forester's message literally, "and to thank the new patrol for taking care of him."
Then and there Charley knew that he was going to like not only the ranger, but also the ranger's little wife. As for the ranger, he was almost spellbound.
"I know you talked to the chief," he said, "but what gets me is how you did it. Why, if I knew how and had an outfit like that, I could talk to Katharine any time and anywhere."
"We'll make you an outfit and teach you how to use it," cried the two boys together. "You shall have your first lesson to-night."
Twilight drew near. Lew brought out the grub bag, and Charley began cooking some food over the little alcohol stove.
"I think that you can safely take a chance on a wood-fire at this hour," said the ranger. "I'll build it myself."
He placed a few dried leaves within the fireplace and stacked some twigs, broken into short lengths, in a cone-shaped heap above the leaves. At once he had a bright little fire that made almost no smoke but gave lots of heat, though the flames did not reach as high as the stone sides of the fireplace. Quickly a little bed of coals formed, and Charley put his frying-pan directly over them. In no time the air was savory with the odor of sizzling bacon and hot coffee.
Squatted about the little fire, the three guardians of the forest ate their evening meal. From time to time the ranger thrust a stick into the fire, and so kept the flames alive. But it was a dim little blaze at best. Yet it was mighty cheering and comforting as the darkness wrapped the forest, and the gloom beneath the rhododendron thicket became inky and impenetrable.
For a long time after supper was eaten and the dishes cleaned, the three sat before their little fire. Spellbound, the recruits listened to this veteran guardian of the forest as he told them of his work in the woods, of his encounters with beasts, of birds and reptiles, harmful and otherwise, and of the rocks, and flowers, and trees. For the ranger loved the forest even as Charley did.
When the evening was farther advanced, and the air was vibrant with the voices of the wireless, Lew and Charley took turns reading the news, while the ranger's expression of amazement and admiration grew deeper and deeper, and his liking and respect for his young subordinate increased rapidly. Finally the ranger was given his first lesson in radio-telegraphy. While Lew was writing down for him the wireless alphabet, Charley was showing him how to make the letters on the spark-gap. Before they turned in for the night, the ranger had learned to distinguish the difference between the sound of a dot and of a dash as the signals buzzed in the receiver.