Susan Clegg and a Man in the House | Page 7

see that my feelin' towards him is
n't goin' to be what it might of been if he'd been frank an' open with me
as I am with him an' every one else. He seems so frank an' open, too--in
other ways than that box. He read his editorial aloud night afore last an'
I must say it showed a real good disposition for he even wished the
president well although he said as he knowed he was sometimes goin'
to be obliged to maybe be a little bit hard on him. He said as plain
speakin' an' to the purpose 'd be the very breath an' blast of the
Megaphone an' he should found it on truth, honor an' the great
American people, an' carry Judge Fitch to congress on them lines. I
thought as Judge Fitch would object to goin' to congress on any lines
after all he's said about what he thought of congress in public, but
Elijah says a new paper must have a standard, an' he asked Judge Fitch
if he minded being nailed to ours, an' the judge said he did n't mind
nothin' these degenerate days, so Elijah just up with him."
"Did you--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.
"See Mrs. Macy?--yes, I see her in the square yesterday noon. She was
just back from Meadville. She says the editor of the Meadville Mixture
is awful bitter over our havin' a paper of our own, an' says he'll cross
tinfoils with Elijah any day. I told Elijah what she said last night, but
Elijah did n't mind. I hoped tellin' him'd take his appetite away, but he
ate eleven biscuits just the same. That reminds me as he's comin' home
to dinner to-day, an' I ought to be goin' in."
"Goo--" said Mrs. Lathrop.
--"But I'll come over after he goes an' tell you how the paper's comin'
out," Susan added, as she turned from the fence; and as she was always

true to her promises she did come over to Mrs. Lathrop's kitchen after
dinner, wearing a clean apron and a new expression--an expression of
mixed doubt and displeasure.
Mrs. Lathrop hurried to give her a chair and make her welcome, and
then took a chair herself and sat at attention.
Susan began at once.
"Well," she said, "it's a good thing as the Fishers are thinkin' some of
sendin' John Bunyan to college, for he's surely a sight too smart for this
town."
Mrs. Lathrop opened her eyes in wide surprise, as it was certainly not
about John Bunyan that she had expected to hear tales.
"Elijah says as John Bunyan made them all feel pretty cheap down at
the printin' press this mornin'," Miss Clegg went on: "seems the whole
community was squeezin' into the back of Mr. Kimball's store to see
what under the sun could be done to get the first paper out of the press,
when all of a sudden John Bunyan spoke up an' asked why they did n't
turn the handle backward an' empty the whole muss out that way. Well,
every one see the sense of what he said right off, an' so they began, an'
as soon as they began to turn the crank backward the paper began to
come out backward, tore, of course, but as nice as pie.
"Well, Elijah says he most thought his uncle was goin' to take his job as
editor away and give it to John Bunyan right off, he was so pleased.
But Mr. Kimball ain't the sort of uncle as Elijah so far supposes himself
to of got, an' he only give John Bunyan fifty cents' worth of soda water
tickets, an' they're to work to-night (if Lucy'll let Hiram), an' have the
paper ready for church to-morrow. The Jilkins an' Sperrits was a little
disapp'inted 'cause they was n't comin' in to church, countin' on stayin'
home an' readin' the paper all day instead, but Elijah's goin' to put in a
late column of late news an' give 'em their money's worth that way. Mr.
Kimball had arranged to have one whole column of Ks to draw
attention to his dried apples, an' he's goin' to give it up for the occasion
an' let Elijah write a Extra about the cause of the delay, for that's really

all the late news there is. Then, too, Elijah's goin' to have a joke about
the paper's comin' in among us like a man goes into politics, kind of
slidin' an' turnin' this way an' that, an' I must say I begin to find some of
Elijah's ideas pretty bright. But my mind's taken a new turn on his
subjeck from what he said at dinner, an' I will admit, Mrs. Lathrop, as I
see now as I misjudged him in