into the girls' rooms at least
once a day. In spite of the almost unfavorable impression she had at
first created, it was impossible not to acknowledge that the newspaper
girl possessed a vividly interesting personality. As she sat wrapped in
the folds of her gray kimono, arms folded over her chest, she looked
not unlike a feminine Napoleon. Elfreda's quick eyes traced the
resemblance.
"You look for all the world like Napoleon," she observed bluntly.
"Thank you," returned Kathleen with mock gratitude. "I can't imagine
Napoleon in a gray kimono at a tea party, but I feel imbued with a
certain amount of his ambition. By the way, would any of you like to
hear the rest of my story?" she asked impudently. "I'm rather fond of
telling it."
"Excuse me for interrupting," apologized Elfreda. "Go on, please."
"Where was I?" asked Kathleen. "Oh, yes, I remember. Well, as soon as
I had fully determined to go to college, I began to save every penny on
which I could honestly lay hands. I went without most of the
school-girl luxuries that count for so much just at that time. You girls
know what I mean. Mother and Father didn't wish me to go to college.
They planned a course in stenography and typewriting for me after I
should finish high school, and when I pleaded for college they were
angry and disappointed. They argued, too, that they couldn't possibly
afford to send me there. As soon as I saw that I was going to have
trouble with them, I kept my own counsel, but I was more determined
than ever to do as I pleased. At the beginning of the vacation before my
senior year in high school I went to the only daily paper in our town
and asked for work. The editor, who had known me since I was a baby,
gave me a chance. Father and Mother made no objection to that. They
thought it was merely a whim on my part. But it wasn't a whim, as they
found out later, for I wrote stuff for the paper during my senior year,
too, and when I did graduate I turned the house upside down by getting
a position on a newspaper in a big city. Father and Mother forgave me
after awhile, but not until I had been at work on the other paper for a
year.
"At first I did society, then clubs, went back to society again, and at last
my opportunity came to do general reporting. I was the only woman on
the staff who had a chance to go after the big stories. I have been doing
that only the last two years, though.
"Naturally, I made more money on the paper than I would as a
stenographer. I saved it, too. It was ever so much harder to hang on to it
in the city. There were so many more ways to spend it. But I kept on
putting it away, and, now, by going back on the paper every summer, I
will have enough to see me through college."
"But why do you wish so much for a college education when you are
already successful as a newspaper woman?" asked Elfreda.
"Because I want to be an author, or an editor, or somebody of
importance in the literary world, and I need these four years at college.
Besides, it's a good thing to bear the college stamp if one expects
always to be before the public," was the prompt retort.
"Suppose you were to find afterward that you weren't going to be
before the public," said Elfreda almost mischievously.
"But I shall be," persisted Kathleen, setting her jaws with a little snap.
"I always accomplish whatever I set out to do. On the paper they used
to say, 'Kathleen would sacrifice her best friend if by doing it she could
scoop the other papers.'"
"What do you mean by 'scoop the other papers'?" queried Elfreda
interestedly.
"Why, to get ahead of them with a story," explained Kathleen.
"Suppose I found out an important piece of news that no one else knew.
If I gave it to my paper and it appeared in it before any other newspaper
got hold of it then that would be a scoop."
"Oh, yes, I see," returned Elfreda. "Then a scoop might be news about
anything."
"Exactly," nodded Kathleen. "The harder the news is to get, the better
story it makes. People won't tell one anything, and when one does find
out something startling, then there are always a few persons who make
a fuss and try to keep the story out of the paper. They generally have
such splendid excuses for not wanting a story published. I never paid
any attention to them, though. I
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the
Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.