“Yipes! I can’t even see the ground.”
The ranger pushed the door open, flicked on a wall switch, and a pale amber light bulb flashed on in the middle of the ceiling. Sandy realized that the one-roomed structure was larger than it had appeared from the ground. There was a double-decker wooden bunk against one wall, a comfortable-looking leather easy chair in the nearest corner, and three straight-back wooden chairs. The wall opposite the bed was occupied by a sprawling table; most of the table was taken up by a huge topographic map, dotted with colored pins. A compass and a variety of other instruments were scattered over the table. An impressive short-wave radio rig sat in one corner. The other furnishings included a small refrigerator, a foot locker and a bookcase. The four walls were solid plate glass from waist-height to ceiling.
“This is all right,” Jerry said. “Boy, I’d give plenty to have a little hideaway like this.”
Quiz walked across to the well-stocked bookcase and examined the titles. “What a wonderful place to read and study,” he said enviously.
“It has its advantages,” the ranger admitted. “But it sure gets lonely at times.”
It was the first time Sandy had got a good look at Dick Fellows. He was a pleasant-faced young man with straight black hair, piercing eyes and an aquiline nose. He wore the brown uniform of the Forest Service and heavy storm boots.
Quiz walked to one of the big picture windows and peered out. “I can’t see anything,” he complained.
“Light reflection,” the ranger explained, and flicked off the wall switch, plunging the room into darkness. Immediately, the broad canopy of the forest leaped into prominence, stretching away on all sides beneath them.
“What a view!” Sandy breathed.
“Wait till you see it in the daylight,” Dick Fellows told him. He turned the light on again and went across to the radio gear. “Have you ever worked one of these things, General Steele?”