Aunt Janes Nieces on Vacation | Page 7

uncle much happiness of the sort he most appreciated.
Therefore, this seemingly preposterous proposition to establish a daily
paper on a retired country farm did not strike the old gentleman as
utterly impossible, and anything within the bounds of possibility was
sure to meet his earnest consideration, especially when it was proposed
by one of his favorite nieces.
"How?" responded Patsy; "why, it's easy enough, Uncle. We'll buy a

press, hire a printer, and Beth and Louise will help me edit the paper.
I'm sure I can exhibit literary talents of a high order, once they are
encouraged to sprout. Louise writes lovely poetry and 'stories of human
interest,' and Beth--"
"I can't write even a good letter," asserted that young lady; "but I'd
dearly love to edit a newspaper."
"Of course," agreed Louise; "we all would. And I think we could turn
out a very creditable paper--for Millville. But wouldn't it cost a lot of
money?"
"That isn't the present question," replied Uncle John. "The main thing is,
do you girls want to be tied down to such a task? Every day in the week,
all during our summer holiday--"
"Why, you've made our whole lives a holiday, Uncle John," interrupted
Patsy, "and we've been so coddled and swamped with luxuries that we
are just now in serious danger of being spoiled! You don't want three
spoiled nieces on your hands, do you? And please make allowance for
our natural impetuosity and eagerness to be up and doing. We love the
farm, but our happiness here would be doubled if we had some
occupation to keep us busy, and this philanthropic undertaking would
furnish us with no end of fun, even while we were benefiting our fellow
man."
"All jabber, dear," exclaimed Beth. "I admit the fun, but where does the
philanthropy come in?"
"Don't you see?" asked Patsy. "Both Uncle John and that tramp we
encountered have met on common ground to bewail the lack of a daily
newspaper 'in our midst'--to speak in journalistic parlance. At the paper
mill at Royal are over two hundred workmen moaning in despair while
they lose all track of the world's progress. At Huntingdon, not five
miles distant, are four or five hundred people lacking all the
educational advantages of an up-to-date--or is 'down-to-date'
proper?--press. And Millville--good gracious! What would sleepy
Millville folks think of having a bright, newsy, metropolitan newspaper

left on their doorsteps every morning, or evening, as the case may be?"
"H-m," said Uncle John; "I scent a social revolution in the wilds of
Chazy County."
"Let's start it right away!" cried Patsy. "The 'Millville Tribune.' What
do you say, girls?"
"Why 'Tribune?'" asked Louise.
"Because we three will run it, and we're a triumvirate--the future
tribunal of the people in this district."
"Very good!" said Uncle John, nodding approval. "A clever idea,
Patsy."
"But it's all nonsense, sir," observed Arthur Weldon, in astonishment.
"Have you any idea of the details of this thing you are proposing?"
"None whatever," said the little millionaire. "That's the beauty of the
scheme, Arthur; it may lead us into a reg'lar complicated mix-up, and
the joy of getting untangled ought to repay us for all our bother."
"Perhaps so--if you ever untangle," said the young man, smiling at the
whimsical speech. Then he turned to his young bride. "Do you want to
go into this thing, Louise?" he asked.
"Of course I do," she promptly replied. "It's the biggest thing in the way
of a sensation that Patsy's crazy brain has ever evolved, and I'll stand by
the Millville Tribune to the last. You mustn't forget, Arthur, that I shall
be able to publish all my verses and stories, which the Century and
Harpers' so heartlessly turned down."
"And Beth?"
"Oh, I'm in it too," declared Beth. "There's something so delightfully
mysterious and bewildering in the idea of our editing and printing a
daily paper here in Millville that I can hardly wait to begin the
experiment."

"It's no experiment whatever," asserted Patsy boldly. "The daily
newspaper is an established factor in civilization, and 'whatever man
has done, man can do'--an adage that applies equally to girls."
"Have you any notion of the cost of an outfit such as is required to print
a modern daily?" asked Arthur.
"Oh, two or three hundred, perhaps, but--"
"You're crazy, child! That wouldn't buy the type."
"Nevertheless," began Patsy, argumentatively, but her uncle stopped
her.
"You needn't figure on that," he said hastily. "The outfit shall be my
contribution to the enterprise. If you girls say you're anxious and
willing to run a newspaper, I'll agree to give you a proper start."
"Oh, thank you, Uncle!"
"Of course we're willing!"
"It is all absolutely settled, so far as we are concerned," said Patsy,
firmly. "How long will it