“Gee!” said Lew, as he surveyed the packs, “I hope we don’t meet any state cops.  They would arrest us for peddling without licenses.”

There was small chance, however, of their meeting any one, unless it might be some lone fisherman.  On every hand the forest stretched, seemingly interminable.

“I guess we’d better get our bearings,” said Charley.

He drew the map from his pocket and spread it on a flat rock.  The two boys pored over it for some minutes.

“We have to cross these two mountains,” said Lew, “and camp just the other side of the summit of the third.  That’s about the same as climbing over three mountains.  There are two valleys that we’ll have to get across.  I judge we’ll be just about as far from the road as our old camp was.  That’s twelve miles or so.”

“Gee!” laughed Charley.  “That means I’ve got to hike twelve miles over these mountains every time I want to talk to anybody on the telephone.  I’m glad Mr. Marlin doesn’t care much for talk.  The telephone is all right, but compared to the wireless it’s like a candle beside an electric light.  Mr. Marlin was right when he said the fellows couldn’t be listening in for me all the time, but you just bet I’m going to figure out some way to use my wireless.  Why, I’ve got to, if I’m going to make good.  This whole neck of the woods could burn up while I’m hiking twelve miles to call help and twelve more to get back to the blaze.  And I reckon I’d feel like putting up a stiff fight after hiking twenty-four miles over these mountains.  Mr. Marlin is all right, but he isn’t quite up to date.  He still thinks the wireless is a sort of plaything.”

“What you need, Charley, is a battery powerful enough to carry a message to some regular wireless station, where an operator is on duty all the time.”

“I’ve been thinking of that, too, Lew.  It wouldn’t take so very much more power to carry to the government station at Frankfort.  I’m sure the operators there would be glad to help us out.  You remember how Henry Harper helped Mr. Axton, the day operator over there, when he had appendicitis.  The operators have been mighty nice to us fellows of the Wireless Patrol ever since.  The difficulty would be to get the battery.  Things cost so much now that I don’t see how I could ever save enough to pay for it.  You know I’ll have to give Dad about all I earn.”

“I’m going to talk to the boys about it, Charley,” said Lew.  “Maybe somebody can think of a way out.  Gee!  We ought to be able to do something, with Roy a regular steamship operator and Henry almost as good as a substitute government wireless man.”

By this time they were well into the forest.  They were climbing through a notch over the first range of mountains.  When they reached the valley beyond, they had to turn to their left and go up the valley two or three miles, until they struck a fire trail.  This trail led straight over the second mountain, which was really the knob at the head of the burned valley.  It was on this knob that they had found the rude watch-tower after their meeting with the ranger, Mr. Morton.  Beyond this knob they had still to traverse a wide valley and climb a third mountain before they reached their camp site.  But there was a good fire trail almost the entire distance.