for
that. We need men there, not machines. On the men in the forest millions
of dollars' worth of property depends. More than that, on the care of
the Forest Guards hangs perhaps the stopping of a forest fire that
otherwise would ravage the countryside, kill the young forest, denude
the hills of soil, choke with mud the rivers that drain the denuded
territory, spoil the navigable harbors, and wreck the prosperity of all
the towns and villages throughout that entire river's length."

"I hadn't realized there was so much in it," replied Fred, evidently
struck with the Forester's earnestness.

"You haven't any idea of how much there is in it. Not only for the work
itself, but for you. Wild horses can't drag a man out of the Service
once he's got in. It has a fascination peculiarly its own. The eager
expectancy of vast spaces, the thrill of adventure in riding off to
parts where man seldom treads, and the magnificent independence of the
frontiersman, all these become the threads of which your daily life is
made."

"It sounds fine when you put it that way, sir," said Fred, his eyes
kindling at the picture. "But it's hardly like that at first, is it?"

"Certainly it is! Does the life of a fireman in a big city fire
department strike you as being interesting or exciting?"

"Oh, yes, sir!"

"It isn't to be compared with that of the Forest Guard. A city fireman
is only one of a company huddled together in a little house, not
greatly busy until the fire telegraph signal rings. But suppose there
were only one fireman for the whole city, that he alone were responsible
for the safety of every house, that instead of telegraphic signaling he
must depend on his trusty horse to carry him to suitable vantage points,
and on his eyesight when there; suppose that he knew there was a
likelihood of fire every hour out of the twenty-four, and that during
the season he could be sure of two or three a week, don't you think that
fireman would have a lively enough time of it?"

"He surely would," said Wilbur.

"Aside from the fact that there are not as many people involved, that's
not unlike a Forest Guard's position. I tell you, he's not sitting
around his shack trying to kill time." Then, turning sharply to the
older boy, the Chief Forester continued:

"What do you want to be?"

"I had wanted to be a locomotive engineer, sir," was the boy's reply,
"but now I think I'll stay in the city."

"It was the excitement of the life that app