at his
work would not be done in a perfunctory manner, but with that genuine
interest born of love that alone leads to perfect service.

The two chums made themselves familiar with their own valley from the
border line of the state lands above the beaver dam, to a point many miles
below their own camp. They found that they were in the heart of the stand
of virgin timber, and that the location of their camp was by far the best
that could have been chosen for the purpose of guarding the stand.

Charley thought it wonderful that the forester could offhand select such a
strategic point. He felt more certain than ever that Mr. Marlin must have
an intimate knowledge of the territory over which he had jurisdiction.
Could Charley have known how intimate that knowledge was, he would have
been amazed. And what he did not even guess was the fact that the forester
had planned just such a secret watch on the big timber as Charley was now
keeping, and that he had selected the camp site only after days of
investigation.

Nor did Charley so much as dream that for some time Mr. Marlin had been
looking about for some one he could trust to do the work. The native
mountaineers did not command Mr. Marlin's entire confidence, nor did many
of them possess the intelligence or education he desired in the man he
selected.

Yet his sudden choice of Charley was characteristic of the forester. He
always acted quickly when he thought the time for action had come.
Charley's grit and pluck in voluntarily fighting the fire, coupled with
his membership in the Wireless Patrol, were the factors that led Mr.
Marlin to engage him at once. Had Charley known these facts, he might have
felt a bit conceited or at least elated over the situation. But his belief
was, as Mr. Marlin wished it to be, that the forester had taken him only
as a last resort. And Charley was working hard to make good. He could
hardly have taken a better way than the road he had chosen--to make
himself familiar with all the territory he was to guard, and so to prepare
himself for the emergencies that lay ahead of him.

Every day, and every hour of each day, the two boys found much that
excited their wonder, for now they were studying nature at first-hand.
Taking their dog, they one day climbed the mountain beyond the one on
which their watch-tower stood, and came down into a lovely valley. But
what instantly arrested their attention was the face of the mountain on
the far side of thi