CHAPTER IV
Two hours later Taylor stood alone before the hearth and looked about at that strange room. The walls were lined with shelves, and most of the shelves were heavy with books and pamphlets. The books were not the sort he had ever seen. There was little fiction, and that tucked in high places; some history, some other usual books, but these were all lost in row after row of technical volumes on chemistry, soils, and whole shelves of texts on silviculture. There were many works in French and German, all on forests and their products. The pamphlets came from every part of the country, from the Forest Service at Washington, from the offices of State Foresters, Tax Commissions and Congressional Committees. There was a set of books from the Bureau of Corporations, a set from Pennsylvania, one from Canada. A file of the Forestry Quarterly was placed next a row of copies of the Journal of Forestry, and below that was a set of technical forest papers from British India. A set of shelves was stacked with lumber trade journals, the backs of many checked with blue marks evidently indicating important references.
Then there were circular sections of tree trunks which had been polished until the rings stood out sharply. Except for size they all looked alike to him and he did not pause for long before them.
The wall in which the fireplace was set was without shelves and on it were hung curious charts. There was
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