Susan Clegg and a Man in the House | Page 4

first. I never was more dumb or more did up since I was a baby, but
after the way as Mr. Kimball sprung shock after shock on me last night
I got so paralyzed in the end that his name cut very little figger beside
our havin' a newspaper of our own, right here in our midst, an' me
havin' the editor to board an' him bein' Mr. Kimball's nephew, an' Mr.
Kimball havin' a nephew as was a editor, an' Mr. Kimball's never havin'
seen fit to mention the fact to any of us in all these many years as we've

been friends on an' off an' us always buyin' from him whenever we was
n't more friends with Mr. Dill."
"I nev--" said Mrs. Lathrop.
"No, nor no one else ever heard of him neither. The first of it all was
when he came up last night to see would I board him, an' of course
when I understood as it was me as was goin' to have to take him in I
never rested till I knowed hide an' hair of who I was to take in down to
the last button on Job's coat."
"And wh--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.
"Well, I'll tell you all I found out myself; an' I tell you I worked hard
findin' it out too, for Mr. Kimball is no windmill to pump when it
comes to where he gets relations from. Seems, Mrs. Lathrop, as he had
a sister though as married a Doxey an' that's the why of Elijah Doxey.
Seems Elijah is so smart that he'll be offered a place on one of the
biggest city papers in a little while, but in the mean time he's just lost
the place that he did have on one of the smallest ones an', as a
consequence, his mother thought he'd better spend this summer in the
country an' so sent him up to Mr. Kimball. Mr. Kimball said he really
did n't sense all it meant at first when Elijah arrived at noon yesterday
but he said he had n't talked with him long afore he see as this was our
big chance 'cause the paper as Elijah was on paid him off with a old
printin' press, an' Mr. Kimball says, if we back him up, we can begin
right now to have a paper of our own an' easy get to be what they call a
'state issue.' It's easy seen as Mr. Kimball is all ready to be a state issue;
he says the printin' press is a four horse-power an' he's sure as he can
arrange for Hiram Mullins to work the wringer the day he goes to press.
Mr. Kimball says he's positive that Hiram 'll regard it as nothin' but
child's play to wring off his grocery bill that way. I don't know what
Gran'ma Mullins will say to that--or Lucy either for that matter--but Mr.
Kimball's so sure that he knows best that I see it was n't no time to pull
Gran'ma Mullins an' Lucy in by the ears. Mr. Kimball says he's been
turnin' it over in his mind's eye ever since yesterday when he first see
Elijah. He says Elijah is just mad with ideas an' says he 's willin' to
make us known far an' wide if we'll only give him a chance. Mr.

Kimball says we all ought to feel ready to admit that it's time we was
more than a quarter of a column a week in the Meadville Mixture. He
says the Meadville Mixture ain't never been fair to us an' Judge Fitch
says it ain't got right views as to its foreign policy. Mr. Kimball says
that after Elijah went back to town yesterday afternoon he went up to
Judge Fitch's office an' Judge Fitch said if we had a paper of our own
he'd be more than willin' to write a editorial occasionally himself, a
editorial as would open the president's eyes to the true hiddenness of
things, an' set the German emperor to thinkin', an' give the czar some
insight into what America knows about him.
"Mr. Kimball says this is the day of consolidation an' if we had a paper
the Cherry Ponders an' all the Clightville people'd naturally join in an'
take it too. He says he's figured that if he can start out with a hundred
paid-up subscribers of a dollar each he can make a go of it. He says
Elijah says set him up the press an' he don't ask no better fun than to
live on bread an' water while he jumps from peak to peak of fame, but
Mr. Kimball says Elijah's young an' limber an' he shall want the
paid-up subscriptions himself afore he begins to transport