"This kettle or tank of hot metal," went on Mr. Hawley, pointing to a vat of seething composition, "has to be kept, as I explained to you, at a specified degree of heat if we are to get successful stereotypes of our forms. Therefore a great deal depends on the skill and judgment of the man who prepares and melts down the mixture bubbling in that kettle. Without his brain and experience there could be no newspapers." As he spoke Mr. Hawley waved a salutation to the workman in blue overalls who was studying the indicator beside the furnace. "That indicator tells the exact temperature of the melted solution in the kettle; also the temperature of the furnace. There can be no variation in heat without hindering the work of casting, and perhaps wrecking the casts and wasting a quantity of material. So on that little chap over there by the fire hangs our fate." The workman heard the words and smiled, and Paul smiled in return. "Do they make stereotypes for circular rollers and print books this same way?" he asked. "No. Most books are electrotyped, the machinery being much less complex than is the newspaper press. A rotary press cannot do such fine or accurate work." For a moment they lingered, watching the busy scene with its shifting figures. Then they stepped into the elevator and were shot up to the street level. The hands of the clock stood at eleven when at last they emerged upon the sidewalk. Paul sighed. "Tired?" "Rather, sir; aren't you?" "Well, I just feel as if I had played sixteen holes of golf," Mr. Wright replied. They laughed together. "But, Jove! It was worth it though, wasn't it?" cried Paul. "I think so." "I, too! Only," added the boy, "I still believe we ought to pay more for our newspapers." CHAPTER XV THE DECISION For the next few days after his return from Boston Paul thought and talked of little else save the great newspaper press that he had seen. Beside a project as tremendous as the publication of a widely circulated daily the _March Hare_ became a pitifully insignificant affair. Nevertheless the _March Hare_ was not to be thrust aside. It clamored for attention. Its copy came in as before from students and staff, and mixed with this material were some exceptionally fine articles from patents and distant alumnae. Judge Damon had taken to contributing a short, crisp editorial almost every month, something of civic or national importance; and two of Burmingham's graduates who were in France sent letters that added an international flavor to the magazine. Never had the issues been so good. Certainly the monthly so modestly begun had ripened into an asset that all the town would regret to part with.