ntributed a lot to his popularity. When they arrived at the summer
resort, the first thing the children did was to run to their old
friend's shop and there, as they were eating fresh cracking popcorn,
they told him the staggering news--they had published a magazine.

"A magazine? And how much costs one copy of your magazine, gentlemen?"
inquired Mr. Zur in a businesslike manner.

The children exchanged quick glances. Somehow they had not arrived at
the thought that their magazine could be sold.

"It costs nothing, sir," David started saying.

"No, no, it costs one dollar," the quick-witted Mikey interrupted his
brother as this new aspect of their hobby began to dawn upon him. "One
dollar."

"It's rather expensive, gentlemen. However, I enjoy reading, and so I
will buy one copy," replied the old shopkeeper and handed over a dirty
green bill to the journalists. They were left quite speechless by this
development.

The business was continued. Realizing that there were quite a few
funny people among the dwellers in that summer resort and wishing to
please his little friends, old Zur took over the newsstand sale of
their publication on a commission basis. He even displayed the
magazine in his shop window. To his astonishment, the whole of the
first issue was sold out. Four more followed. By the end of the
summer, the boys' income, after deduction of expenses and commissions,
amounted to roughly $50. The children gave this money--not without
some regret, to be truthful--to the local fishermen whose boats had
been shattered against the rocks of the coast by a passing hurricane.

Inspired by the unexpected success of their first year's operations,
the editorial staff resumed publication in the following summer at
that same resort. It proved even more interesting. It contained
interviews with fishermen and lobstermen and a story told by an old
captain of a fishing schooner, who was spending his declining years in
a dilapidated shack by the seashore. That huge, hoarse, bearded giant
was always drunk. But in his rare moments of sobriety he was kind,
used to give candy to the children and nobody could tell fascinating
sea adventure stories better than he did. Mikey managed to catch him
in such a mood and the magazine was adorned, as a result, with a
powerful story by the old captain about a hurricane that threw ships
around like bits of paper and about the rescue of a beautiful lady
passenger who had been thrown into the oc