“It would seem so,” agreed Mr. Bentley. “But the difficulty of transportation through a wilderness, that often has faint trails instead of beaten paths and sometimes not even those, is so great that I doubt whether machinery can ever be utilized on a large scale.
“We have made a little progress though in that direction. There’s a clever little pump that is operated by gasoline and weighs only one hundred and twenty pounds, so that two men can carry it along a forest trail. Each pump is provided with twelve hundred feet of hose, which gives it an effective radius of about a quarter of a mile, and a very small brook will suffice to supply it with water. It’s a dandy little machine, and I’ve known it to do the work of from sixty to seventy-five men working with shovels, hose and axes.”
“Some pump!” ejaculated Joe, in admiration.
“Almost as good as an engine,” came from Bob.
“Yes,” agreed Mr. Bentley. “But of course it can be used only when there happens to be water near at hand. No doubt the time will come when chemicals will be used instead of water, and then the pumps can work anywhere. But chemicals are of use chiefly at the start of a fire, and perhaps wouldn’t be feasible for anything on the scale of a forest fire.
“So for the present at least, and probably for some time to come, we’ll have to rely on the men in the Forest Service. I don’t mean that they have to do their work alone. When the alarm is given everybody pitches in and works like a beaver. There’s never any lack of volunteers. All in the vicinity unite to fight the common peril.”
“Gee!” exclaimed Jimmy, his eyes shining, “I wish I had a chance to fight a forest fire.”
“Same here,” came in a chorus from the other Radio Boys.
CHAPTER IX
OFF FOR SPRUCE MOUNTAIN
Mr. Bentley and Frank Brandon smiled appreciatively at the boys’ enthusiasm.