This is the story of a boy with a temper as flaming as the forest fire which destroys the Oregon forest he loves. At eighteen, Chip Ladou could swing an ax with the best of the loggers among whom he worked, teamed with Pierre his powerful French-Canadian father. But when, as Pierre had feared, Chip's anger exploded once too often, it catapulted him out of his job, the camp, and the woods. The only way back was the slow, difficult one his father urged him to take: a year in Port Chance, cramped quarters in an ugly boarding house, enrollment in the high school where classes were distasteful and students laughed at his awkward logger ways. Hardest to take were his chance meetings with city-bred Ted Finerty who had touched off Chip's temper the one time that had started all the trouble.