fireplace. It was ten inches in diameter.

"If that were a twelve-foot log," he said, consulting the scale, "it
would have three board feet in it. If it were sixteen feet long, it would
have six feet."

"Absolutely correct, Charley. Did you measure those logs that way
yesterday?"

"Yes, sir."

The two men looked at each other for a full minute. "Charley," said the
forester, "I've been as blind as a bat. I never liked Lumley, any more
than you did, though I couldn't tell you that. But I trusted him because
he had been in the department a good many years and was fairly efficient.
He has betrayed my trust and attempted to rob the state by false
measurement. I understand now why my estimate seemed so far out of the
way. The estimate was probably close enough. Lumley has sold out to the
lumber operators. I'd like to know how they reached him."

The forester fell into a deep study. His face was dark and angry. A long
time he sat silent. "I wonder," he said finally, "if Bill Collins'
presence in the woods last spring had anything to do with it. I'd just
like to know who that was with him."

"Oh! Mr. Marlin," cried Charley. "I forgot to tell you what I discovered.
The other night when I got near Lumley's house, I saw Lumley and another
man up-stairs. They pulled the curtain down quick when the dogs barked. At
first I felt sure the man was Collins. But when I went into the house,
Lumley sat at the table with the man. He wasn't Collins, though he looked