The summit was sparsely timbered and they had no difficulty either in finding their landmarks or in mapping out their way down the farther slope and across the valley to the gap beyond.  This second valley was also well timbered.  In the middle of this second valley another fine brook flowed.  And here they rested and had a bite to eat, with a cold drink from the stream.  Then they filled the canteen again and pressed on.  The afternoon was well advanced before they had climbed through the pass and reached the valley that was to be their home for the next few days.

Like the valley in which they had met the forester, this bottom contained some wonderful pines, though it was really a mixed stand of timber with hardwoods beneath and the pine tops rising high above them.  There were countless numbers of these mammoth pines that towered a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five feet in air.  The hardwoods, though shut out from some of the light, were also wonderful for size and vigor.  It was a splendid example of a “two-storied-forest.”  The resulting shade was so dense that it was like twilight at the ground level.  And the stream that went rushing among the trees was a joy to behold.  Deep, dark, crystal clear, and almost as cold as ice, it was an ideal haunt for trout.

By the time they reached it, Charley had recovered his spirits.  “Oh boy!” he cried, when they reached the margin of the run.  “Look at this brook.”  As he stopped and dipped his hand in the water, he added, “It’s cold enough to freeze a fellow.  Thank goodness, there isn’t any underbrush here.  We won’t have to wade.  I’ll wager this place is full of fish.”

Hardly had he spoken before a great trout darted across the stream, almost at their feet.  Charley extended his rod over the water and waved it vigorously a few times.  Instantly trout darted out from a dozen different points.

“Gee whiz!” shouted Charley.  “Did you see ’em, Lew?  I can hardly wait to get a line in.”

“We’ve got to get our camp made before we do any fishing,” replied Lew.  “Let’s hustle up and find a good camp site.”

They walked rapidly up the valley, keeping a few yards back from the brook so as not to alarm the trout.

“I don’t know how our wireless will work among all these trees,” said Lew.  “If we could find an open spot I’m sure it would be better.”

Presently they came to exactly the sort of place they desired.  At some time, evidently within a few months, for no brush had as yet sprung up, a hurricane had swept through the forest:  and where it had passed lay a windrow of trees as flat as a swath of grain after the scythe has gone through it.  The windrow was several rods in width, and not a tree remained standing within that space.  The fallen trees were piled upon one another in confused masses.

For a time the boys gazed at the scene with awe.  “That opening will make a fine place to hang our aerial if we can get the wires up,” said Lew.  “I believe that we have enough wire to hang ’em up pretty high and still have a long lead-in wire.  If there is, then we can camp back here under the trees close to the run.  We have no tent and the dense tops will protect us from dew.  It’ll be much warmer back among the trees, too.”