nt to look after things during his absence, and in another
minute Mr. Marlin and Lew and Charley were whirling along the highway.
They reached the point at which they were to enter the forest, jumped to
the ground and unloaded their duffel. Mr. Marlin said good-bye, turned his
car, and sped back to his office, leaving the two young fire guards alone
in the heart of the wilderness.

Chapter X

An Encounter with a Bear

Rapidly the duffel was made into two packs. These were both heavy and
bulky.

"Gee!" said Lew, as he surveyed the packs, "I hope we don't meet any state
cops. They would arrest us for peddling without licenses."

There was small chance, however, of their meeting any one, unless it might
be some lone fisherman. On every hand the forest stretched, seemingly
interminable.

"I guess we'd better get our bearings," said Charley.

He drew the map from his pocket and spread it on a flat rock. The two boys
pored over it for some minutes.

"We have to cross these two mountains," said Lew, "and camp just the other
side of the summit of the third. That's about the same as climbing over
three mountains. There are two valleys that we'll have to get across. I
judge we'll be just about as far from the road as our old camp was. That's
twelve miles or so."

"Gee!" laughed Charley. "That means I've got to hike twelve miles over
these mountains every time I want to talk to anybody on the telephone. I'm
glad Mr. Marlin doesn't care much for talk. The telephone is all right,
but compared to the wireless it's like a candle beside an electric light.
Mr. Marlin was right when he said the fellows couldn't be listening in for
me all the time, but you just bet I'm going to figure out some way to use
my wireless. Why, I've got to, if I'm going to make good. This whole neck
of the woods could burn up while I'm hiking twelve miles to call help and
twelve more to get back to the blaze. And I reckon I'd feel like putting
up a stiff fight after hiking twenty-four miles over these mountains. Mr.
Marlin is all right, but he isn't quite up to date. He still thinks the
wireless is a sort of plaything."

"What you need, Charley, is a battery powerful enough to carry a message
to some regular wireless station, where an operator is on duty all the
time."

"I've been thinking of that, too, Lew. It wouldn't take so very much more
power to carry to the government station at Frankfort. I'm sure the
operators there would be gla