Victory
In due time Ranger Morton came out of the forest with his big crew. The
men were black with smoke and their hands and faces were blistered and
scratched. But they were a happy crew for all that. They had extinguished
what at first bade fair to be the worst fire ever seen in their district.
By this time every man in the gang had heard the story of Lumley's
dastardly act and Charley's quick wit. Most of the men lived in or near
the forest, and a great fire might have consumed their homes just as truly
as it would have destroyed the forest. It was small wonder, then, that to
a man they had only admiration and gratitude for Charley. The last vestige
of ill-will that any of them might have had for Charley was gone. Like men
of the forest, they said little. But Charley knew that this little meant
much. He had won the good-will and respect of every man in the district.
No wonder he was happy.
This thought did much to offset the feeling of regret that he could not
help experiencing at the realization that his days as a ranger were
numbered. When he became a patrol again, or a member of Jim's crew, for he
believed that Mr. Marlin would grant him that wish, he knew that he would
stand on a par with the men in their own estimation. So he waved good-bye
to the departing trucks with a mixture of happiness and regret.
But he was not allowed many hours to indulge in either emotion. Very early
next morning the telephone, which Ranger Morton had promptly repaired,
began to ring. Charley answered the call and received a brusque order from
the forester to remain at the tower, as the forester was coming out to see
him.
"I wonder if Mr. Marlin ever sleeps," said Charley to himself. "He's
probably on his way here now and I'm hardly out of bed. I'll make him a
cup of coffee and some toast anyway."
But when Charley came to make the toast, he could find only three slices
of bread. Lumley had cleaned him out of food. It seemed no time at all to
Charley before he heard the chugging of the forester's motor in the
valley. A short time afterward two men ascended to the cabin. Charley was
surprised.
"Let me introduce you to the Chief Forester of Pennsylvania," said Mr.
Marlin. Charley was suddenly abashed. He held out his hand and responded
to the Commissioner's greeting, but was at a joss for anything further to
say. He thought of his toast and coffee and was more than ever
embarrassed, because he had only three slices to offer. Nevertheless, he
set what he had before his guests.
"I'm awfully sorry this is all I can offer you," he said, "but I had some
visitors yesterday who cleaned me out of food."
"So I have heard," replied the Chief Forester, with a smile.
"You will be glad to know, Charley," said the forester, "that those same
visitors have confessed to their crime, or rather Lumley did. When we
produced the thumb-prints in the putty and in the clay and compared them
with Lumley's thumbs, he made a clean breast of everything. It won't
surprise you to learn that he set the previous fires in this virgin
timber. He wants to be state's evidence."
"Excellent!" cried Charley. "They won't burn any more forests--or rob any
more cabins. By the way, Mr. Marlin, did you bring me any more supplies?"
"No," said the forester.
Charley looked vastly perplexed, but said nothing. He didn't want to
bother the forester, but how he was to live without food he could not
imagine. Evidently his face must have mirrored his thoughts, for the
forester, after studying Charley's countenance, burst into a laugh.
"Charley," he said, "it's clear that you don't pay much attention to your
Bible."
"What do you mean?"
"Why, don't you recall that we are admonished to take no thought for the
morrow, as to what we shall eat, and so on? Here you are worrying over a
little matter like food. Don't you have any ravens out in these mountains
to bring you grub if you get hungry?"
"It isn't any laughing matter," replied Charley. "What am I going to do? I
haven't an ounce of food left in the cabin."
The forester's eyes sparkled. "Shall we tell him what he's to do,
Commissioner?" he asked.
The Chief Forester turned toward them with a smile. "I guess you had
better. It would be a shame to torment this young man after what he has
accomplished."
"Very well, then. Listen, Charley. Here are your orders. To begin with,
Jim is now on deck again and you are relieved of your position as
temporary ranger."
Charley tried hard to choke back the lump that came into his throat.
Evidently his face betrayed his feelings.
"Look at him, Commissioner," said the forester. "I believe he's going to
pout."
Charley bit his lip and tried to smile.
"In the second place," continued the forester, "you are to remove your
belongings from this post and oversee the cutting of the lumber
operation."
The smile that now came to Charley's face was not forced.
"In the third place," the forester went on, "you are hereby appointed a
ranger in the Pennsylvania Forest Service to succeed one George Lumley."
"Oh! Mr. Marlin," cried Charley, "you don't mean it honestly?"
"I sure do. And there is nothing temporary about your appointment. You
are a full-fledged ranger. You have earned the place and I congratulate
you heartily on having won it." He held out his hand and clasped Charley's
warmly.
"Now, that is all I have to say to you," concluded the forester, "but I
think the Commissioner wants to speak a few words with you."
Charley turned to the Chief Forester and stood expectant.
"Mr. Marlin tells me that it is your ambition to become a forester," said
the Commissioner.
"It is," replied Charley.
"He also tells me that you are hindered by lack of funds and some family
obligations and that you cannot see your way clear to take the regular
course of studies at the state forestry academy and so achieve your
ambition."
"That is true, sir," said Charley. "There is nothing I would rather do
than become a forester if only it were possible. I love the forest."
"The way you have striven to protect it is proof enough of that. How would
you like to become a forester without attending Mont Alto?"
"Oh! Sir, if there is any way it could be done, I would work until I
dropped to accomplish it."
"There is, and you shall have the chance. It is the policy of this
department to promote men for merit and to make it possible for good men
to advance in the service. Mr. Marlin tells me that you came into the
forest absolutely ignorant of forestry practice, but that in a short time
by great application to your work and by study at night you have become
one of the best men he has. All you lack is experience. Time will remedy
that. If you could become a forester through a continuation of such study
and work, would you like to do it? Mr. Marlin is willing to teach you the
technical branches that you would study if you went to Mont Alto. He will
take you into his office in winter and you can assist him in technical
work from time to time in the forest, thus obtaining a complete training
for the position of forester. What about it? Do you wish to do it?"
"Oh! Mr. Commissioner," cried Charley, "I can't tell you how much I want
to do it. If you will just give me that chance, you'll find I'm no
shirker."
"Then the chance is yours. You have earned it. Now we must hurry back to
headquarters, Ranger Russell. I hope that some day I shall be able to call
you Forester Russell."
Charley's heart was too full for utterance. He grasped the proffered hand
and wrung it, but was afraid to say a word, for a big lump had come into
his throat.
A moment later he was bustling busily about the cabin collecting his
luggage. His heart was singing merrily.
"Some day," he said to himself, "we may get enough timber back on these
hills so that when a poor boy wants to build a boat he can do it, and so
that a working man can build a house without having to slave for a
lifetime to pay for it. I tell you it makes a fellow feel mighty big to
think he's going to have a hand in making life easier for so many million
people."