Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-04-23

them CHEEKY greeting. Each placed
several scrubbed sheets before her, and
she, having first assured herself that
Fisbee bad bought his overshoes and
having expressed a fear that Mr.. Par
ker had found her umbrella too small.
as he looked damp (and indeed he was
damp, cried praises on their notes and
offered the reporters great applause.
1T Is all so splendidv' she cried.
How could you do it so quickly? And
In the rain too, 1t is just what we
need. I've done most of the things I
mentioned. l think. and made draft
of some plans for herea fter. Doesn't
IT seem to you that 1t would be a good
notion to have n woman's page-.For
Feminine Readers or OF Interest to
Women'-once week?"
"A woman's page" exclaimed Fis-
Dee. Il could never have thought of
that. Could you. Mr.. Parker?'
Before that day was over system had
been introduced, and the Herald was
running on 1T, and all that warm rainy
afternoon the editor and Fisbee work
ed In the editorial rooms Parker and
Bud and Mr.. Schofield (after his return
with the items and a courteous mes
sage from Ephraim Watts) bent over
the forms downstairs, and Uncle Keno
phon was cleaning the storeroom and
scrubbing the floor. An extraordinary
number of errands took the various
members of the printing force I'D to
see the editor In chief literally to see
the editor in chief. 1t was hard to be-
lieve that the presence had not flown.
hard to keep bellev Ing without the re-
peated testimony of sight that the din
gy room upstairs was actually the set
ting for their jewel. and a Jewel they
swore she was. The printers came
down chuckling and gurgling after
each interview. 1t was partly the
thought that she belonged to the Her
AID their paper. Once Ross. chuckling.
looked up and caught the foreman gig
Cling to himself
What in the name of common sense
you laughin' ut. Cale?' he asked.
What are you laughing atT re-
Joined the other.
81 dunnoI''
The day wore on, wet and dreary out
Side. but all within the Hera Ids bosom
was snug and busy and murmurous
with the healthy thrum of life and
prosperity renewed. Toward 6 o'clock
system accomplished. the new yuidin.
spirit was celebrating on a policy, as
Harkless would conceive a policy were
he there, when Minnie Brlscoe ran low
ously up the stairs. plunged into the
room waterproofed and radiant and
caught her friend In her eager arms
and put an end to policy for that day.
But policy and labor did not end at
twilight every day. There were even
ings, as in the time OF Harkless, when
lamps shone from the upper windows
or the Herald building; for the little
editor worked hard, and sometimes she
worked late; she always worked early.
She made some mistakes at first and
one or two plumbers which she took
much more seriously than any one else
did. But she found a remedy for all
such results Of her inexperience, and
she developed experience. She set at
her task with the energy of her youth
fulness and no limit to her ambition.
and she felt that Harlxless had pre-
pared the way for a wide expansion of
the papers interests, wider then he
knew. She brought fresh point of
view to operate in a situation where he
had fallen perhaps too much in the rut.
and she watched every chance with a
keen eye and looked ahead of her with
clear foresight What she waited and
yearned for and dreaded was the time
when copy Of the new Herald should
be placed in the trembling hands of the
man who lay in the Rouen hospital.
Then she felt II he, unaware of her
identity as he was and as he was TO be
Kept. should place everything In her
hands unreservedly, that would be q
tribute to her work. And how hard she
would labor to deserve it'll
After time she began to see that as
his representative and editor Of the
Herald she had become a factor in dis
trict politics 1t took her breath, but
with gasp Of delight, for there was
something she wanted to do.
Rodney McCune had lifted his head.
and the friends OF his stricken enemy
felt that they and the cause that Har<
less had labored for were lost with
out the leader, for the old ring that the
Herald had beaten rallied around Nc
Cune. THE boys were in line again"
Every one knew that Holloway, a dull
but honest man, the most available ma
terial that Harkless had been able to
find, was already beaten. If John
Harkless had been "on the ground to
work for him." 1t was said. Holloway
could have received the nomination
again, but as matters stood he was
beaten and beaten badly. and Rodney
McCune would sit in congress, for NOM
fnation meant election.
But one afternoon the Harkless
forces. demoraliZed, broken, hopeless,
woke up to find that they had a leader.
There was a political conference at
Judge Briscoe's. The politicians de-
scended sadly at the gate from the
omnibus that had met the afternoon
train Boswell and Heating, two gen
tlemen of Amo. and Renee and Shan
non, two others Of Gaines county. to
confer with Warren Smith. Tom Mar
tin, Briscoc and Harkiess' representa-