Chapter VIII
Making an Investigation
The fire crew, hardy woodsmen and rangers, accustomed to severe toil, soon beat out what was left of the fire. Then they went over the entire line of the fire to make sure every spark was extinguished. The forester and Charley found Lew, and the three crossed the valley to the brook where the two boys had begun their battle with the flames. When the fire crew had returned and the forester was satisfied that there was no further danger, he turned and held out his hand.
"Report to me at my office at the earliest possible moment," he said. "If I dared risk being away from my headquarters so long," he added regretfully, "I'd stay here and make an investigation. But a fire may start somewhere else, and here I'd be with my fire crew. A thousand acres might burn over before I knew it."
"Isn't there anybody in charge at headquarters?" asked Charley.
"Sure. I have an assistant there. But if an alarm came in he wouldn't be of much use without a fire crew."
"Send your fire crew back," said Charley. "You can stay here and make your investigation, and we can keep you in touch with your office easily."
"Are you sure?"
"There isn't any doubt of it. Willie said he would listen in every few minutes, and Willie always does what he says he will. You instruct your fire crew to tell your assistant to keep in touch with Willie by telephone, and we'll tell Willie to keep in touch with us by wireless. It's as easy as rolling off a log."
The forester looked doubtful. "I'd like to stay," he said. "Are you positive you can do this?"