"Don't want to," said Merritt, "there's a lot of good timber between here and the river."
"Nothin' to it," said one of the miners. "Unless the wind shifts, it's an easy gamble she goes over the river and don't notice it none."
The Supervisor put his horse to the gallop, followed by the party, all save one miner, who, familiar with the country, led the way, finding some trail utterly undistinguishable to the rest. Seeing the vantage point, as Rifle-Eye had done, he made for the crest of the hill.
"Any chances?" asked the Supervisor.
"I reckon not," said Rifle-Eye. "You can't hold it here; there's a blaze down over yonder and another below the hill."
"Who set that fire?" said Merritt suddenly. Wilbur jumped. It had not occurred to him that the fire could have started in any other manner than by accident, and indeed he had not thought of its cause at all.
The old Ranger looked quietly at his superior officer.
"It's allers mighty hard to tell where a fire started after it's once got a-going," he said, "and it's harder to tell who set it a-going."
"I want to stop it at the river."
The old woodsman shook his head.