The zeal
which had driven him into the fight was supporting him as he faced the
men who were his associates. He stood at his desk, pale--but
unfaltering. He was talking to them, man to man.
"It has met me to my face, it has followed at my back through all these
weeks," he was saying. "I'm accused of helping to wreck my party. You
know better than that, gentlemen. You know who did the wrecking. It has
been going on for years. And we have been asked to hide the retreat of
the wreckers. I refuse to allow those men who have wrecked our party to
call themselves the true prophets and summon us to follow them. Our
party is not simply the men who hold office for their personal gain. If
making them honest or putting them out is destroying the party, then
let's destroy and rebuild.
"We need to rebuild.
"Up in our woods it's dangerous to leave slash on the ground after a
winter's cutting. The politicians have left a lot of slash in this
State. The fire has got into it. It is burning up the old dead branches
and tops, but it is hurting the standing timber, too--I understand that.
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