s familiar growl, looked with growing
suspicion from Esme's flushed loveliness to Hal's self conscious
confusion, leaped to his feet, gathered the pair into a sudden, violent,
impartial embrace, and roared out:--

"Go ahead! _Be_ young! You can only be it once in a lifetime."

XXXVIII

THE CONVERT

Old Home Week passed in a burst of glory and profit. True to its
troublous type, the "Clarion" had interfered with the profit, in two
brief, lively, and effective campaigns. It had published a roster of
hotels which, after agreeing not to raise rates for the week, had
reverted to the old, tried and true principle of "all the traffic can
bear," with comparative tables, thereby causing great distress of mind
and pocket among the piratical. Backed by the Consumers' League, it had
again taken up the cudgels for the store employees, demanding that they
receive pay for overtime during the celebration and winning a partial
victory. No little rancor was, of course, stirred up among the
advertisers. The usual threats were made. But the business interests of
Worthington had begun to learn that threatening the "Clarion" was a
futile procedure, while advertisers were coming to a realization of the
fact that they couldn't afford to stay out of so strong a medium, even
at increased rates.

The raise in the advertising schedule had been partly Esme Elliot's
doing. As a condition of her engagement to Hal, she demanded a
resumption of the old partnership. Entered into lightly, it soon became
of serious moment, for the girl had a natural gift for affairs. When she
learned that on the basis of circulation the "Clarion" would be
justified in increasing its advertising card by forty per cent, but
dared not do so because of the narrow margin upon which it was working,
she insisted upon the measure, supporting her argument with a
considerable sum of money of her own. Hal revolted at this, but she
pleaded so sweetly that he finally consented to regard it as a reserve
fund. It was never called for. The turn of the tide had come for the
paper. It lost few old advertisers and put on new ones. It was a
success.

No one was more delighted than Dr. Surtaine. Forgetting his own
prophecies of disaster he exalted Hal to the skies as a chip of the old
block, an inheritor of his own genius for business.

"Knew all along he had the stuff in him," he would declare buoyantly.
"Look at the 'Clarion' now! Most independent, you-be-damned sheet in th