he line
somewhere."

Severance bestowed upon the other his well-bred and delicate smile.
"Exactly my principle. I'm for drawing the line every issue and on every
page, if there's room for it. '_Nulla dies sine linea_.' The line of
appeal to the sensations, whether it's a pretty face or a caption that
jumps out and grabs you by the eye. I want to make 'em gloat."

"I see. You were in earnest more or less when in our first talk, you
defined your profession."

Severance waved a graceful hand. "Prostitution is the profession of all
successful journalism which looks at itself honestly. Why not play the
pander frankly?--among ourselves, of course. Perhaps I'm offending you,
Mr. Banneker."

"You're interesting me. But, 'among ourselves' you say. You're not a
newspaper man; you haven't the traditions."

"Therefore I haven't the blind spots. I'm not fooled by the
sentimentalism of the profession or the sniveling claims of being an
apostle of public enlightenment. If enlightenment pays, all very well.
But it's circulation, not illumination, that's the prime desideratum.
Frankly, I'd feed the public gut with all it can and will stand."

"Even to the extent of keeping the Tallman divorce scandal on the front
page for a week consecutively. You won't pretend that, as news, it's
worth it."

"Give me a definition of news," retorted the expert. "The Tallman story
won't alter the history of the world. But it has its--well, its
specialized value for our purposes."

"You mean," said Banneker, deliberately stimulating his own growing
nausea, "that it makes the public's mind itch."

"It's a pretty filthy and scabby sort of animal, the public, Mr.
Banneker. We're not trying to reform its morals in our news columns, I
take it."

"No. No; we're not. Still--"

"That's the province of your editorials," went on the apostle of
titillation smoothly. "You may in time even educate them up to a
standard of decency where they won't demand the sort of thing we're
giving them now. But our present business with the news columns is to
catch them for you to educate."

"Quite so! You lure them into the dive where I wait to preach them a
sermon."

After that conversation Banneker definitely decided that Severance's
activities must be curbed. But when he set about it, he suffered an
unpleasant surprise. Marrineal, thoroughly apprised of the new man's
activities (as he was, by some occult means of his own, of everything
going on in the office)