The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-06-14

less respect 'ian 3 nose for news.
Still, the glamour stripped from jour.
nalism, Philip kept dOggedly on. lie
acquired n reputation for being faith.
tui and accurate. He was a gour.
mand for work and the city editor be.
gan TO speak hopefully Of him, but
advancement comes slowly in a news.
paper office, and TO Philip Madge
seemed an immeasurable distance Off,
when suddenly he made his great
scoop. II was the merest accident
successes mostly are, II we knew the
truth of them. One evening he was
walking along one OF the fashionable
residence streets when suddenly he
was startled by scream. and looking
up he saw woman with the wild
eyes and cunning of a maniac sitting
on the very outer coping Of the walls
of tall house, where she waved her
arms gleefully, and leaned dlzzily for
ward to peer into the street below.
In an instant all the mystery Of the
drawn blinds, and jealousy guarded
| doors of the mansion, at which many
had marveled, was revealed. Here
was one OF those family tragedies, at
which the world guesses-some poor
crazed creature.
1t had taken Philip but an instant
to realize the scene, and with sud.
den inspiration he dashed past the
servant in the doorway, and up the
.ta 1 oct
young and pretty. A dainty silken
robe, and 1ilmy lace scarf blew about
her. Evidently she was woman Of
fashion and society, so the thoughts
flew through his mind as he dashed
up the three flights of steps and
through the open door in the roof
through which she had evidently
climbed He knew well enough he
might be going to his death, but he
only smiled little grimly, and moved
on towards the pathetic figure sway
ing on the ledge Of the wall. The
woman looked up at the sound Of an
approaching step. She saw hand
some young mana young man such
as she vaguely remembered In that
world that was not all horrible dreams
and padded walls-coming toward
her. When he reached her he made
courtly bow, and offered her his arm,
and without one protest. mechanically,
naturally, as if they had been on the
ballroom floor, she arose and put her
hand within it, and together they start
81 II h. trnpdfngr
narrow ledge, whose outer edge was
death. A single push of the craZed
woman's feeble hand and mutilation
waited for them below, but there was
not n tremble in the mans voice as he !.
asked her:
"And what did you think Of the new |
tenor this winter at the opera?"
In the street below the crowd stood |
silent, tense with excitement, until .
they saw Philip hand the woman, still .
with courtly grace, through the door
in the roof, and then it broke into tu-
multuous cheering.
As for Philip, his one thought was
to get to the office. His part in the
adventure appealed to him not at all.
It was what any fellow would nave
1one he thought, and he could leave
that out, but he realized the value of
he story. The secret of the darken-
ed mansion. The closed blinds. The
woman, with her wild, mad
eyes-it was full of color, 1t was pic
Besides it was scoop. No
,ther reporter had been there, and a
scoop is as dear to the newspaper
leart as drst-born to a mother.
There is, perhaps, no other joy in
life equal to that of the young
writer who reads his own productions
n type, and Philips first con-
cious act the next morning was to
each for the paper. He had expected
lis story to be given some prominent
'lace; perhaps to be featured. To his
ismay it was not even printed. He
DOked the paper over twice to have
uspiciOn deepen into certainty. 1t
ad been left out. How long he might
ave stared at the paper In bewilder-
lent he never knew, but that two let
els Caught lllo eyes do lllCy luy upOh /
is table. One was from the city ed
or of the Asterisk, and he pOunced
pom 1t for an explanation.
"Dear Van Vivier," he read, "sorry,
ut your scoop was scooped. The dis
'essed damsel you rescued is old La
oux's daughter, and La Roux, as you
ppear not to know, is the heaviest
.ockholder in the Asterisk. Natu-
lily he wanted your story killed. Vir-
lie is rewarded, however. He sug- ,
ests you for night editor in place Of
larson who has resigned. Report
II duty tonight"
The other letter was from Madge. 1t
i'd: >,
Dear Philip: have heard of your h
'scue of poor Fannie La Roux. How
,uld you be such hero, and such y
goose as to take such risk? You
led a guardian, sir, and am going to y
AIRY you to take care of you on this
" one month. You can't refuss a
dy, you know. Yours, Madge."
Philip read the letter twice, and N
en- he bowed his head on the table,
ID when he raised it his eyes were II
ry dim and tender. .,