Before he had finished eating, he heard the distant chugging of the
forester's car. Sometime later a cheery voice called up the slope, and
looking out of his door, Charley saw Mr. Marlin climbing up the mountain.
Charley hustled to get a cup of coffee ready for his chief.

"I came early," said the forester, "for it will take us some time to go
over these plans. Also I brought Lumley's figures for you to check up your
estimate by." And he handed Charley some slips of paper.

While Mr. Marlin was drinking his coffee, Charley compared Lumley's
figures with those he had made on a bit of paper. At first he looked
crestfallen. Then he appeared puzzled. Then an expression of great
indignation came into his face. He seemed greatly agitated.

The forester was studying his expression closely. "What's the difficulty,
Charley?" he asked.

"I told you I never trusted Lumley," he burst out. "Just look here."

He laid his figures beside Lumley's. Mr. Marlin ran his eye over them. At
first he, too, seemed puzzled. Then his face grew black as a thundercloud.

"Are you certain that you know how to scale a log right, Charley?" he
asked.

"Absolutely, Mr. Marlin."

"How do you estimate a log?"

Charley got his rule and laid it across the end of an unburned log in his