"Of course you don't," smiled the forester. "They teach you about the laws of gravity in school, but they don't bother to teach you about the laws of life. But life has its laws, and one of the strongest is the law of habit. A good habit is worth a million good resolutions. A man may possibly keep a good resolution, but he can hardly fail to keep a good habit. Your good habits are worth just about fifteen dollars a month to you now; for I wouldn't be paying you the top rate if you were a lad of bad habits. Just bear that in mind and be careful of the habits you form in future."
Charley was too much astonished for words. He had never thought of his habits as having any bearing on his possible earning capacity.
But the forester gave him no opportunity to consider the matter just then. "I want you to hurry back into the forest," he went on. "Get acquainted with as much of the forest as possible."
He reached in a drawer and pulled out a map, which he gave to Charley. "This is exactly like the big map on the wall," he said, "excepting that it is on a smaller scale. Here is where you had your camp."
As he laid his finger on the map, he continued, "That was a good location for a fisherman's camp, but a poor one for a fire guard. High up on this hill," and again he laid a finger on the map, "there is a fine spring. A dense rhododendron thicket surrounds it, and tall hemlocks grow above it. Make your camp in that thicket. It is so dense that I think nobody could possibly see a tent there. But make sure. If necessary, put hemlock boughs or rhododendron branches around it. Nobody but Mr. Morton and I must know that you are in camp in the forest or that you have any connection with the forestry department. I will tell him where your camp is and he will inspect it and give you more detailed instructions. But remember that yours is a secret patrol. I would rather that nobody should learn of your presence in the forest. But if you do meet any one, pose as a fisherman. Don't, under any circumstances, let anybody suspect your real purpose."
The forester paused a moment, in deep thought. "Smoke," he said at last, "would betray the location of your camp--at least in the daytime. Don't make any fires unless it be at night. Then be sure they are small, well concealed, and as smokeless as possible. Do your cooking with this."
He stepped to a closet and returned with an alcohol stove and a can of fuel, and continued: "From your spring to the summit of the mountain it is only a short distance. You can get a wide outlook there. Examine the forest carefully in every direction as often as possible. But leave no telltale marks to indicate that the place is a lookout point. And be sure you don't do anything to draw attention to your camp."
The forester then swore Charley in as a fire patrol and gave him his badge, with instructions to keep it out of sight.
"You'll need this, too," he said with a smile, handing Charley a portable telephone. "Your friends can't be at the other end of the wireless all the time, you know."
"Can we fish at all?" asked Charley. "I want Lew to have some fun on this trip. He's going to help me a lot with the work."