“And does the state pay you for doing this work?”

“Certainly.  Pays me well, too.”

“Tell me how I could-----” began Charley.

But the ranger interrupted him.  “I can’t tell you another thing now,” he said.  “I must be moving.  You never can tell when some careless fisherman will set the forest on fire.  The fact is I ought to be at headquarters with the other rangers.  The chief keeps us pretty close to the office during the fire season, so as to have a fire crew at hand to respond instantly to an alarm.  But we have had such difficulty in securing fire patrols this spring that some of us rangers have to do patrol duty.  This piece of timber you are in is the most valuable part of this entire forest.  It is virgin pine.  It would cut close to 100,000 feet to the acre.  There is very little timber left in all Pennsylvania as fine as this.  A good part of it has already been burned.  We are keeping close watch on what is left.  You never can tell when or where fires will start and we want to grab them at the first possible minute.  So I must shake a leg.”

“How do you grab a fire?” demanded Charley.  “Please tell us.  Maybe we could help put one out some day if we knew how.”

The ranger laughed.  “You’re a persistent Indian,” he said, “and I’m glad you like the forest.”

“Like it!” exclaimed Charley.  “I love it.”

He poured a cup of hot coffee and handed it to the ranger.  “Tell us how you put out a fire,” he pleaded.

The ranger chuckled.  “You’re a diplomat as well as a forest lover, I see,” he said.  “Well, I shall keep moving through this tract of timber all day long.  If I see a fire I shall hurry to it, the way I came down to your big smoke.  I’ll put it out, if possible.  And if I can’t get it out, I’ll summon help.  Then we’ll fight it until we do get it out.”

“How could you get help, when you’re alone in the deep forest?”

“I’d make my way out to the highway where our wire runs and connect up this portable telephone,” and the ranger pointed to a little leather case, like a kodak box, that hung from his shoulder by a leather strap.  “In a minute’s time a fire crew would be on the way to my assistance in a motor-truck.”

The ranger handed Charley the empty cup and thanked him.

“Have some more coffee?” urged Charley.

“‘Get thee behind me, Satan,’” quoted the ranger.  “I believe you’d keep me here all day if you could.  I must be moving.”

“Just a minute,” pleaded Charley.  “You said it was difficult to find fire patrols.  Could I get a job as a fire patrol?  I don’t know as much about fighting fire as you do, but I can patrol the forest and report fires as well as anybody.”

“I wish you could be a patrol,” replied the ranger heartily.  “I’m sure you’d make a good one.  You seem to like the forest.  But I don’t believe it is possible.  The chief never hires anybody under twenty-one years of age excepting in very unusual circumstances.  In fact, I know of only two such cases.  And those two boys were almost of age and were unusualy well qualified.  I’m sorry, for I’d like to see you in the Forest Service.  Good-bye.”  He turned on his heel and was gone.