"They've got to acquire news instinct! Bang it into 'em, Trinkle! Rub their noses in it! I'll have those pups understand that if ever they expect to see any inheritance from me they'll have to prepare themselves to step into my shoes! They'll have to know the whole business--from window-washer to desk!--and they've got to like it, too--every bit of it! You keep 'em at it if it kills 'em, Trinkle. Understand?" "It'll kill more than those gifted young literary gentlemen," said Trinkle darkly. "What do you mean by that?" "It will kill a few dozen good stories. We're going to murder a big one now. But it's your funeral." "That Adirondack story?" "Exactly. It's as good as dead." "Trinkle! Listen to me. How are we going to make men of those pups if we don't rouse their pride? I tell you a man grows to meet the opportunity. The bigger the opportunity the bigger he grows--or he blows up! Put those boys up against the biggest job of the year and it's worth five years' liberal education to them. That's my policy. Isn't it a good one?" Mr. Trinkle said: "It's your paper. _I_ don't give a damn." Mr. Melnor glared at him. "You do what I tell you," he growled. "You start in and slam 'em around the way they say Belasco slammed Leslie Carter! I'll have no nepotism here!" He went out by a private entrance, walking with the jaunty energy that characterised him. Mr. Trinkle looked after him. "Talk of nepotism!" he muttered, then struck the desk savagely. To the overzealous young man who came in with an exuberant step he snarled: "Showemin! And don't you go volplaning around this office or I'll destroy you!" A moment afterward the youthful nephews of the great Mr. Melnor appeared. They closed and locked the door behind them as they were tersely bidden, then stood in a row, politely and attentively receptive--well-bred, pleasant-faced, expensive-looking young fellows, typical of the metropolis. Mr. Trinkle eyed them with disfavour. "So at last you're ready to start, eh?" he rasped out. "I thought perhaps you'd gone to Newport for the summer to think it over. You are ready, are you not?" "Yes, sir, we hope to----" "Well, dammit! 'yes' is enough! Cut out the 'we hope to'! And try not to look at me patiently, Mr. Sayre. I don't want anybody to be patient with me. I dislike it. I prefer to incite impatience in people. Impatience is a form of energy. I like energy! Energy is important in this business. The main thing is to get a move on; and then, first you know, you'll begin to hustle. Try it for a change." He continued to inspect them gloomily for a few moments; then: "To successfully cover this story," he continued, "you both _ought_ to be expert woodsmen, thoroughly inured to hardship, conversant with woodcraft and nature. Are you?" "We've been reading up," began Langdon confidently; "we have a dozen pocket volumes to take into the woods with us."