ure to keep the appointment of six
or seven weeks ago.

'Only the gravest call of duty could have kept me away, I do assure
you! No doubt Earwaker has informed you of the circumstances. I
telegraphed--I think I telegraphed; didn't I, Earwaker?'

'I have some recollection of a word or two of scant excuse,' replied
the journalist.

'But I implore you to consider the haste I was in,' cried Malkin; 'not
five minutes, Mr. Peak, to book, to register luggage, to do everything;
not five minutes, I protest! But here we are at last. Let us talk! Let
us talk!'

He seated himself with an air of supreme enjoyment, and began to cram
the bowl of a large pipe from a bulky pouch.

'How stands the fight with Kenyon and Co.?' he cried, as soon as the
tobacco was glowing.

Earwaker briefly repeated what he had told Peak.

'Hold out! No surrender and no compromise! What's your opinion, Mr
Peak, on the abstract question? Is a popular paper likely, or not, to
be damaged in its circulation by improvement of style and tone--within
the limits of discretion?'

'I shouldn't be surprised if it were,' Peak answered, drily.

'I'm afraid you're right. There's no use in blinking truths, however
disagreeable. But, for Earwaker, that isn't the main issue. What he has
to do is to assert himself. Every man's first duty is to assert
himself. At all events, this is how I regard the matter. I am all for
individualism, for the development of one's personality at whatever
cost. No compromise on points of faith! Earwaker has his ideal of
journalistic duty, and in a fight with fellows like Runcorn and Kenyon
he must stand firm as a rock.'

'I can't see that he's called upon to fight at all,' said Peak. 'He's
in a false position; let him get out of it.'

'A false position? I can't see that. No man better fitted than Earwaker
to raise the tone of Radical journalism. Here's a big Sunday newspaper
practically in his hands; it seems to me that the circumstances give
him a grand opportunity of making his force felt. What are we all
seeking but an opportunity for striking out with effect?'

Godwin listened with a sceptical smile, and made answer in slow,
careless tones.

'Earwaker happens to be employed and paid by certain capitalists to
increase the sale of their paper.'

'My dear sir!' cried the other, bouncing upon his seat. 'How can you
take such a view? A great newspaper surely cannot be regarded as a mere
source of income. These capitalists decl