In a minute the boys had a fire going. When they had a deep bed of coals,
they dropped the ball of clay in it and made more fire on top of the bed.

While they were waiting for the clay to bake, Charley sat down at his
wireless key. As it was still early in the evening he did not feel certain
that any of the Camp Brady boys would be listening in. He called several
times with no response, so he threw over his switch and resumed his
conversation with his fellows. When he flashed out his signals a quarter
of an hour later, however, he got a prompt reply.

"I've got 'em," said Charley quietly to his comrades. "And it's Henry
talking." He was silent a while, listening to Henry's message. Then he
said, "Henry wants to know when Lew is coming home. Vacation is about
ended."

"Tell him that I think I'll go back with the ranger to-morrow. I've stayed
as long as I possibly can."

Again there was a pause. "Henry wants to know what we are doing and
whether or not we've had any adventures. I wish I could tell him the real
situation. But that would never do."

Charley turned to his key and began to tick off a message: "Everything as
quiet as--" He stopped abruptly. A cry that fairly made him shiver sounded
in the forest. He turned to the ranger. "What in the world was that?"

"A wildcat," replied the ranger. "He smells the meat you hung up. You'll
just have to be a bit watchful. He may hang around here for days, and
sometimes those fellows get nasty."