Only luck, Charley realized, and the best of luck, had brought him and Lew out victorious in their recent contest.  The next time fire started—­and he knew well enough that there would be a next time—­there might be a strong wind, or to reach the blaze might take him hours, or he might not be able to summon help with his wireless, or other unfavorable conditions might arise to render his efforts useless.  Then the forest would go roaring up in flame.  And even though he might not have been unfaithful to his trust, the result would be the same.  The timber would be destroyed.  This great forest would be consumed.  And he, especially selected to guard and protect it, would have failed.  The thought was overwhelming.

More and more Charley turned to his wireless as a drowning man clutches at a straw.  He saw that when Lew had gone and he had nothing but his own powers to depend upon, the wireless was going to be like a life-line to him.  He realized that to have the powerful battery he wanted was imperative, if he was to have even a chance to make good in his efforts to protect the forest.  And as he and Lew patrolled the timber, he made it evident to his chum what a vital part that battery would play in his success.  But neither of them saw any way for Charley to come into immediate possession of it.

As the days passed and the forest still slumbered in safety, the sharp edge of Charley’s anxiety wore off.  That, too, was normal, for he could not naturally remain at such a pitch of emotion.  So his interest in the life about him gradually returned.  And indeed there were innumerable objects to interest a nature lover like Charley.

The country itself was enough to make a nature lover happy.  When Charley climbed his watch tree and looked about, he could see nothing but forest.  East, west, north, south, league upon league, far as the eye could see and much farther, stretched the forest, like a huge green sea.  The mountains rose like great waves; and from his lofty perch Charley could see several parallel ridges rearing their crests aloft on either side of him.  Distinctly he could see the two bottoms at the foot of the mountain on which stood his watch tree.  Splendid stands of timber filled these valleys with swelling streams of water that flashed in the sunlight here and there through little openings in the trees.  But what lay in the farther valleys he could only guess, though he knew that each must have its stream and some timber.  What else there might be Charley did not know.

It was part of his work as a patrol to find out.  And eagerly he looked forward to the daily hikes that would take him here or there or elsewhere in the great forest.  Already he loved it; and he wanted to share all its secrets.  Had Charley but known it, that very attitude of mind made him more valuable both to his ranger and to the forester.  It meant that his work would not be done in a perfunctory manner, but with that genuine interest born of love that alone leads to perfect service.