For, situated on the very
outskirts of the settlement and the summit of a very steep hill, the
pines sloped away from the editorial windows to the long valley of the
South Fork and--infinity. The little wooden building had invaded Nature
without subduing it. It was filled night and day with the murmur of
pines and their fragrance. Squirrels scampered over its roof when it was
not preoccupied by woodpeckers, and a printer's devil had once seen a
nest-building blue jay enter the composing window, flutter before one
of the slanting type-cases with an air of deliberate selection, and then
fly off with a vowel in its bill.
Amidst these sylvan surroundings the temporary editor of the "Clarion"
sat at his sanctum, reading the proofs of an editorial. As he was
occupying that position during a six weeks' absence of the bona fide
editor and proprietor, he was consequently reading the proof with some
anxiety and responsibility. It had been suggested to him by certain
citizens that the "Clarion" needed a firmer and more aggressive policy
towards the Bill before the Legislature for the wagon road to the South
Fork.
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