kill all the blacksnakes I can. Whatever harms the squirrels, hurts the
forest."

"What do you mean?" asked Lew.

"Why, you know that squirrels help to plant the nut trees in a forest.
Some tree seeds, like pine and maple seeds, are so small or light that
they are carried easily by birds and winds, and so scattered about. But
acorns and nuts are so heavy that they fall straight down to the earth. If
the squirrels didn't carry them away and bury them in such quantities, how
could we ever have had these great stands of nut and oak trees?"

"I never thought of that," said Lew.

"It looks as though what Mr. Marlin said was right--walking about through
the forest is only a small part of a forest guard's work. He's got to know
an awful lot about things before he can be sure just what he ought to do."

"I never had any idea how big a job it is, Lew. And think what a forester
must have to know. I tell you it takes a man to fill a job like that."

Noon came. The boys grew hungry. "I could eat all the sandwiches we have
myself," smiled Charley. "I wonder if we couldn't catch some trout to help
out. It would be all right to make a fire over here, I'm sure. And we'll
keep it so small it won't make any smoke. And even if it did, it couldn't
possibly betray the location of our camp."

They made their way to the stream in the middle of the valley, baited
their hooks, and dropped them into the water. In no time they had half a
dozen fine trout.