sed and silent, the two lads continued along the brook. The
mountains on either side of them and the entire bottom between lay black
and desolate. But far up the run they could now see green foliage again,
where the fire had been stopped.

"Let's go on to those pines before we eat our breakfast," said Charley.
"It would make me sick to eat here in these ruins."

"That's exactly the way I feel, too," replied Lew. "It is the most awful
thing I ever saw. Let's get out of it."

As rapidly as they could, they forced their way up-stream. The valley
became narrower as they advanced. It was shaped like a huge wish-bone; and
they were nearing the small end, where the mountains came together and
formed a high knob. As the valley narrowed, the grade became much steeper,
and their progress was correspondingly slower.

The pines they were heading for stood almost at the top of the knob at the
crotch of the wish-bone. They were, therefore, at a considerable
elevation. From the edge of these pines one would have to travel only a
short distance to reach the very summit of the knob. After a hard walk the
boys reached the end of the burned tract. They penetrated into the living
forest far enough to shut out the sight of the dead forest they had just
traversed. Then they threw down their packs and hastily set about cooking
their breakfast.

"Gee!" cried Lew. "I never was so glad to get away from anything in my
life. I hope I shall never again see a sight like that. It fairly makes a
fellow sick."

In their haste to start cooking, they were not as careful as they might
have been in building their fire, and they made considerable smoke. Before
they were half done eating, a man appeared farther up the run, advancing
through the pines at great speed. He seemed to be in a big hurry until he
caught sight of the two boys as they sat on the dry pine-needles. After
that he came forward at an ordinary gait.

"Good-morning, boys," he said pleasantly, as he drew near. Then, catching
sight of their rods, he added, "If you came to get fish, you struck a
mighty poor place."

"It used to be the best place for trout I ever saw," replied Lew. "This
brook used to be full of 'em--big ones, too. But the season has been so
dry, the brook has almost disappeared."

"You mean that the fires that have swept this valley have burned it up,"
replied the stranger.

"It's too awful a thing to joke about," replied Lew.

"A joke!" exclaimed the stranger, fro