“That makes it certain that he must leave the forest soon.  It’s a good many miles from the lumber camp to this neighborhood, so the three fugitives must be traveling in this direction.  If they keep on for fifteen or twenty miles further, they will come out of the mountains near Pleasantville or Maple Gap.  They can board a train at either place.  The state police already are watching both stations.  If Lumley and his fellows went straight on after they started the fires, and Goodness knows they wouldn’t hang around here, they could reach the railroad in six or eight hours.  That means they would be there by this time.  There is a train that reaches Pleasantville about eleven o’clock.  They would have time to make it.  I should not be at all surprised, when I get back to the office, to find a message saying that the police had caught them.”

“Let us hope you do,” said Charley.

The forester arose.  “Would you like to go see?” he asked.

“Surest thing you know,” replied Charley.

“Then we’ll hike back to the road and slip out to Lumley’s house in my car.  We can get that window-sash and put it in a safe place in my office and be back here before Jim brings his gang out.”

Rapidly the two walked back along the fire trail.  “Charley,” said the forester suddenly, “just how did you manage to get that message to Jim?  It’s all that saved the forest.  The telephone was put as completely out of commission as your wireless was.”

Charley then told the forester how he had used a tree for an aerial.  “It was my last chance,” he said.  “If it hadn’t worked, the forest would have burned.  I had read about the use of trees to receive by, and I thought I had read that messages had been sent through trees, but I wasn’t sure.  It was my only chance and I took it.”

“You’re a wonder, Charley.  I take back everything I ever said about the wireless.  I have telegraphed for the Commissioner to come on from the capital.  I shall put this entire matter before him and urge the installation of a wireless outfit in every district of the state forests.  No matter what is done elsewhere, we’re going on a wireless basis here as soon as we can get the outfit, just as I told you.  If I can’t get money from the state for the outfit, I’ll pay for it myself and have your Wireless Club make it.  This coming winter we’ll start a radio school and you shall have charge of it.  Maybe Jim can help you now.”

“That will be grand,” said Charley with sparkling eyes.  “If only we had the money Lumley robbed the state of, we could buy a dozen outfits.”

“We’ll get every cent of it,” said the forester with decision.  “Don’t you worry about that.  When we went to the lumber camp after Lumley last night, I stopped all cutting.  Before another stick is felled, you and I are going in there and measure every stump.  Then we’ll estimate the timber that came from those stumps and the lumber operators will pay for it or they will face a criminal prosecution.  If we catch Lumley, we’ve got the operators dead to rights.  He’s the kind of a rat that will squeal quick when he’s caught.”