They awoke to encounter an uninvited guest arrived a little before the dawn.

No hint of its coming had got abroad; and thus the surprise was the greater.

Truth to say, it was not a pleased surprise, because, as it flared before the eye of the startled citizen in big Gothic letters, The Courier-Journal, there issued thence an aggressive self-confidence which affronted the _amour propre_ of the sleepy villagers.

They were used to a very different style of newspaper approach.
Nor was the absence of a timorous demeanor its only offense.

The Courier had its partisans, the Journal and the Democrat had their friends.
The trio stood as ancient landmarks, as recognized and familiar institutions.