“Report to me at my office at the earliest possible moment,” he said.  “If I dared risk being away from my headquarters so long,” he added regretfully, “I’d stay here and make an investigation.  But a fire may start somewhere else, and here I’d be with my fire crew.  A thousand acres might burn over before I knew it.”

“Isn’t there anybody in charge at headquarters?” asked Charley.

“Sure.  I have an assistant there.  But if an alarm came in he wouldn’t be of much use without a fire crew.”

“Send your fire crew back,” said Charley.  “You can stay here and make your investigation, and we can keep you in touch with your office easily.”

“Are you sure?”

“There isn’t any doubt of it.  Willie said he would listen in every few minutes, and Willie always does what he says he will.  You instruct your fire crew to tell your assistant to keep in touch with Willie by telephone, and we’ll tell Willie to keep in touch with us by wireless.  It’s as easy as rolling off a log.”

The forester looked doubtful.  “I’d like to stay,” he said.  “Are you positive you can do this?”

“Of course,” said Lew.  “We do that sort of thing right along.”

“Well,” said the forester, still hesitating, “I’ll risk it.  It is of the utmost importance that an investigation be made at once.  It might be days before the chief forest fire-warden could come here.  You are absolutely certain about this wireless business?”

Charley smiled.  “Absolutely,” he said.  “But to make sure, we’ll go to our camp and talk to Willie.  You can send a message to your assistant yourself.”

“That’ll settle it,” said the forester.

He called his fire crew together.  “Hustle right back to headquarters,” he said.  “The motor-truck will hold you all, though you may be a bit crowded.  Leave my car where it is.  I’m going to look around a bit.  I’ll follow you as soon as possible.  Tell the assistant forester to call up the boy in Central City who telephoned us about the fire and arrange to keep in communication with him.  We will communicate with that boy by wireless.  If fire occurs anywhere, let me know at once.”

The fire fighters looked their astonishment, but made no comment.  They were accustomed to obeying orders.  Soon they were gone and the forester and the two boys headed up the run toward the little camp by the windrow.

“I guess we might as well get better acquainted,” said the forester.  “My name is Marlin—­James Marlin.”

“And mine,” replied Charley, “is Charley Russell.  This is Lew Heinsling.  As we told you yesterday, we are from Central City and belong to the Camp Brady Wireless Patrol.”

“That is why you are now a fire guard,” said the forester.  “You don’t suppose I would appoint an unknown boy to such an important post, do you?  To be sure, I don’t know you personally, but I know about your organization and some of the things you have done.  I know your leader, Captain Hardy, very well.  You see your membership in that organization is recommendation enough for me.”