"Certainly; jump up on that flat car, and hold on tight," was the answer, and they leaped to the car mentioned. Soon the train had started, and they were jouncing along on the road, up grade and down, and around many a sharp turn, where the car wheels creaked and groaned as if in pain. As the station master had said, it was enough to knock out their teeth, and they could do but little talking en route. The locomotive was an odd-looking affair, quite different from any they had yet seen, and so were many of the trucks--used instead of flat cars for long sticks. The ride soon came to an end, and they found themselves almost at the door of a long, low building, bearing the sign, Wilbur-Balasco Lumber Company--Offices. "Here we are," said Owen. "Come on," and he entered the building boldly, with Dale at his heels. A clerk was present, figuring at a set of books, and a tall, heavy-set man, with a dark face and sharp black eyes, sat by a window, reading a lumbermen's journal. As the young lumbermen came in, neither the clerk at the books nor the man who was reading looked up. Both waited just inside of the door a full minute. "The price on that timber went up, just as I said it would," exclaimed the man who was reading, presently. He glanced toward the clerk, and in so doing caught sight of Owen and Dale. "Hullo! What can I do for you?" he went on. "We are looking for Mr. Ulmer Balasco," said Owen. "That's my handle, young man." "We are out of employment and thought you might have an opening for us," continued Owen, as he came closer, for Mr. Balasco did not offer to rise from his chair. "Hum! I don't know about that." Ulmer Balasco turned to his book-keeper. "Nixon, are any of the gangs short of hands?" "Not according to Monday morning's report," was the short reply of the clerk. "Then I don't see----" Ulmer Balasco appeared to muse for a moment. "What can you do? Had any experience? Where did you come from?" "We've worked around lumber camps and sawmills for several years," said Owen. "And we've come all the way from Maine to try our luck here," put in Dale. "We carry a letter of recommendation from your partner, Mr. Jefferson Wilbur." At the mention of Jefferson Wilbur's name, Ulmer Balasco suddenly arose. "Did he send you out here?" he asked abruptly. "Not exactly, sir," said Owen. "We tried our luck in Michigan before we came here. But Mr. Wilbur helped us with our tickets to Oregon, and gave us a recommendation to you. Perhaps you had better read the letter." "I will." Ulmer Balasco read the communication with close attention, rubbing his chin reflectively as he did so. Then he cleared his throat several times. "I see Mr. Wilbur recommends you very strongly," he began. "He says both of you did him a great service. May I ask what that was?" In a few simple words, Dale told of the forest fire, and of how Owen and himself had rescued the Wilbur children.