The ranger sighed. “Just got the forecast before you got here. Fair and hot for the rest of the week. I’ve been on twenty-four-hour duty for the past two days. Headquarters has declared a state of emergency.”
“Why don’t you grab a couple of hours’ sleep?” Sandy suggested. “We’ll keep a careful watch for you.”
“Thanks,” Dick said, “maybe I will. I’ve been sleeping with one eye open these nights, and one ear on the alarm clock. How long are you fellows going to stay around?”
“Until tomorrow morning,” Russ told him.
“We’ll cover the ground between here and Red Lake next trip.”
It was 2:30 P.M. Dick Fellows had been asleep for about an hour. Quiz and Jerry had left to take a bath in a nearby stream. Russ Steele was relaxing in the big easy chair with his pipe and a book from the ranger’s library. Sandy was on watch. Standing at the north window, he swept the horizon from east to west with a pair of binoculars. Three-quarters of the way across, he stopped and trained them down on a tall trunk that stood out bleak and spare against the thick foliage of the other trees. With a frown, he dropped the glasses and blinked his eyes, squinting through the distant haze.
“Uncle Russ,” he said steadily, “it’s probably an illusion, but I think I see smoke.”
Russ Steele rose quickly, dumping the book off his lap onto the floor. “Where?” he asked tensely, coming to the window.
Sandy passed the binoculars to him. “That big snag due north-northwest.” While his uncle was studying the location, Sandy went back to the table and picked up a pair of sunglasses specially treated to penetrate haze. “Well, what do you think?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” Russ said tightly. “It could be heat waves shimmering through the ground haze.” He turned to look at the sleeping figure of the ranger on the bunk. “In any case, I think it rates the attention of an expert. Better wake Dick.”