ercial interest
hasn't designs on."

"That's one thing I mean to fight!" Ace squared his chin as the
DeHaviland whisked them to their particular ridge, a table mountain, or
butte, where half a dozen recruits had already been landed with tools and
grub.

"Sure seems as if these fires had been set," mused Long Lester, as
Radcliffe bade them good-by,--for he had to be in a dozen places at once,
that day.

"But who did it?" demanded Ace fiercely.

"No savvy dat kind feller," said a Canadian half breed, who was just
starting off with a pick. "'E's bad feller, dat!"

"Sure is!" agreed Ace. "I don't savvy him either,--any one who would
deliberately burn--_that!_" with a wave of his arm toward the forested
gorge, up which already rose a noticeable heat. The red tongues, racing
through the spruce and cedar tops, shone through the smoke gloom, whence
issued a distant roaring which was the wind created by the super-heated
stretch of territory.

To the left, a gleaming-eyed cougar crept through the shadows, himself a
shadow. To the right, a huge, furry looking shadow ran clumsily,
flat-footedly. A tiny shadow hopped from almost under their feet, and
above their heads flapped a small covey of lighter shadows. Writhing
above the dark tops of the doomed trees rose the yellow-gray smoke that
was their departing shades.

The faces of the fire-fighters were grimly blackened with smoke and
grime, their shirts clung wet with perspiration to their swelling
muscles, and their dry throats clacked when they tried to swallow.

"I'd sure like to find the fellow that started _that!_" muttered Ace.

CHAPTER V

A DARING FEAT

As sunset turned the wind down canyon, all hands made a sally down the
mountain side in the hope of establishing a line of back-fire, but the
ground soon became too hot for them, while the air was filled chokingly
with ash and char-dust. They had to retreat to the ridge. It was a night
never to be forgotten.

When the wind turned at dawn,--with their line still intact,--the
exhausted party took turn and turn about, snatching a few hours' sleep,
wrapped in their blankets on the rocks, or making coffee.

Ace had forgotten all about his wireless message when, shortly after
noon, his own ship arrived. It had had a search for him, and had landed,
apparently, on the very ledge of basalt where the DeHaviland had picked
them up.

The beauty of the Spanish ship was that it was built to land on a space
no big