Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol

by Henry Harley Arnold

The firebug stopped his car and ran around the first building, which appeared to be an old barn. He then disappeared from view on the other side. There was no way now of telling where he had gone. He might be in the old barn or he might have gone into the underbrush beyond. Bill continued his wide circles and wrote another message to the pursuers on the ground. It read: “Search abandoned homestead over which I will circle. Bruce.”

Earl received this message and, after reading it, nodded his approval. Bill continued his circling so that he could watch both the road and the building. The foresters’ car came into view, tearing up the mountain road. Bill flew low to attract its attention and then, when it had stopped, Earl again demonstrated his ability as an aerial marksman by dropping the weighted message into the edge of the woods alongside the car. Bill did not wait to see if they picked it up, for he did not want to lose track of that brown roadster.

He circled around over the old homestead. The car was still there, but there was no sign of the firebug. He might by this time be in any one of the three buildings or be in the woods a good distance away. Bill tried to catch a glimpse of anything moving under the thick trees, but came to the conclusion that if he did, it would be by the merest chance.

The foresters came up the road and stopped at the entrance to the deserted clearing. Four men jumped from the car and started toward the brown car. One of them stayed by the roadster while the others began a search of the buildings. I saw one of them enter the old barn and wondered if the firebug was armed. If he was and started shooting, he might get away before the foresters could surround him.

The time passed mighty slowly for Earl and Bill as they watched the developments from their aerial grand-stand seats. Neither one could get any idea of what was happening on the ground. The only one of the foresters whom they could see was doing something to the roadster, just what, neither one could make out. The others were still in the buildings. Both Earl and Bill were eager to be of some active assistance, but realized that it was impossible.

Just then they saw two of the foresters run toward the old barn. Evidently things were coming to a climax. The man by the car stopped his work and watched the old building. A cloud of smoke shot out of the roof of the barn. The firebug was true to form even when cornered: he had set fire to the old barn as a last resort. He hoped to escape under cover of the smoke and excitement when the fire started burning.

His ruse failed, for in a few minutes Bill saw four men emerge from the rapidly burning building. As they came out into the open some distance from the burning building, they stopped to make their captive fast to a nearby log and then the foresters returned to prevent the spread of the fire from the burning building.

Bill flew low over the tree tops. He wanted to get a look at this demon who had deliberately fired the woods. As he flashed by, the firebug raised his head and shook his fist at the plane. One glimpse was sufficient for Bill to establish the identity of this criminal. His old enemy, Andre, was again in the hands of the law. The forest fire season in Oregon was over.