em.

"What in thunder have the National Forests to do with the Rim Rock
massacre?" The newsman looked up through his glasses.

"And who in thunder is going to ask that?"

Bat tapped the last item sharply with his pencil. "They'll read _that_
and they'll read the other, and I'll bet dollars to doughnuts nine men
out of ten will begin jawing and spouting and arguing that if there
were _no_ National Forests, there would be no Range Wars. If they draw
a false impression, that's the public's look out. If we weren't
dealing with damphools, we couldn't fool 'em."

"But it didn't happen on the National Forests."

"But it's only the tenth man who will stop to think that out. You put
in one of those big middle page cartoons--National Forests with the
Federal sign board, KEEP OFF, the sheep being massacred inside the sign
board and the State sheriff unable to go in and stop it--"

"But you didn't say massacred! You said they accidently went over the
edge."

"But it's only the tenth man will stop to think that. You run the
cartoon, see?" said Bat, and, though he asked it as a question, if
sounded final. The news-man went tearing back to the front editorial
rooms. Bat went whistling down stairs, two steps at a bounce. At the
half-way landing, he paused.

"Say," he yelled up, "you can use the same old cartoon; 'Keep Off the
Grass,' you know."

"Eh?--right," crossly from the front room.

"And say?"

The news-man came out and leaned over the upper railing.

"Don't forget to take that tonic for your nerves."

The news-man told Bat to go any where he pleased; but it was all in the
day's work with Mr. Bat Brydges. He didn't go. The handy man went
straight across to the paper in opposition. The news-man went back to
the front room and stood thinking. He didn't curse Bat nor emit fumes
of the sulphurous place to which he had invited Brydges. He was
contemplating what he called his "kids"; and he was figuring the next
payment due on the Smelter City lots in which he had been speculating.
Evidently, these were the news-man's tonic; for he at once did what he
described as "bucking it" and called down the speaking tube for the
press man to put on the old cartoon.

The opposition paper required more finesse on the part of the handy
man. Bat strolled as if it were a matter of habit into the telegraph
editor's room, where he lolled back in one of the two empty chairs. It
was still early and the wires were silent.