“Well, Oliver and Johnson and I caught up with the other Rangers by the time they were ready to leave the trail and break into the woods. They had drafted every tourist and Indian they met on the road, and we had quite a squad to fight against the fire. I was given a spade and told to get busy when the orders were issued.
“Then we were sent in units to different sections.
“We three, Oliver, Johnson and myself, were sent to a point up the trail for some distance and told to work down to the others.
“Oliver, pausing in the run, said to Johnson: ‘Looks like a mess over there, Johnny. But the wind is for us to-day; it’s blowing in the direction of the open trail and the Ruins.’
“Johnson nodded understandingly, but rode on. Later they met a number of men and several Rangers who had been summoned by the telephone call from other stations. Tally was not to be found at the bridge, neither had the aids, when questioned, seen him or his pony.
“The ‘Ruins’ proved to be a vast area of great bowlders with not a green blade growing there. As this barren, rocky place covered more than five acres, from the stream on one side and the upward slope of the mountain on the other, the fire-fighters could devote their entire attention to that side where the tall trees offered excellent fuel to the fire.
“Working side by side, cutting and chopping away with the double-bitted axes, spading up fresh earth wherever it was possible to turn under any inflammable timber, the dauntless men progressed step by step, yard by yard, till the solid green wall on the up-side began to gap widely.
“But the fire had been advancing, too. Now the men could feel the heat from the flames, and the air became filled with choking smoke and fine, falling wood-ashes. Cries and terror-stricken calls from wild denizens of the forest served to increase the energy and zeal of these systematic fire-fighters.
“As the men and the fire came nearer each other, the trees seemed to drip red-hot cinders. The heat became unbearable, and the fire seemed to win the battle for supremacy, but the wide swath made by the axes now began to have its effect on the encroaching blaze.
“Ranger Oliver blew his patrol whistle to signal the men away from their positions. Here and there he saw spots where a little extra work would save the situation, and to such places he sent his aids.