“Mac has nothing to do with the policy of the paper, Mr. Surtaine,” put in Sterne.  “He’s only an employee.”

“Then why don’t you get work on some paper that practices your principles?”

“Hard to find.  Not having been born with a silver spoon, full of Certina, in my mouth, I have to earn my own living.  It isn’t profitable to make a religion of one’s profession, Mr. Surtaine.  Not that I think you need the warning.  But I’ve tried it, and I know.”

“Do you know, it’s rather a pity you don’t like me,” said Hal, with ruminative frankness.  “I think I could use some of that religion of yours.”

“Not on the market,” returned Ellis shortly.

“You see,” pursued the other, “it’s really my own money I’ve put into this paper:  half of all I’ve got.”

“How much did you pay for it?” inquired Ellis:  “since we’re telling each other our real names.”

“Two hundred and thirty thousand dollars.”

“Whee-ee-ee-ew!” Both his auditors joined in the whistle.

“They asked two-fifty.”

“Half of that would have bought,” said Sterne.

Hal digested that information in silence for a minute.  “I suppose I was easy.  Hurry never yet made a good bargain.  But, now that I’ve got this paper I’m going to run it myself.”

“On the rocks,” prophesied McGuire Ellis.  “Utter and complete shipwreck.  I’m glad I’m off.”

“Is it your habit, Mr. Ellis, to run at the first suggestion of disaster?”

Ellis looked his questioner up and down.  “Say the rest of it,” he barked.

“Why, it seems to me you’re still an officer of this ship.  Doesn’t it enter into your ethics somewhere that you ought to stick by her until the new captain can fill your place, and not quit in the face of the shipwreck you foresee?”

“Humph,” grunted McGuire Ellis, “I guess you’re not quite as young as I thought you were.  How long would you want me to stay?”

“About a year.”

“What!”

“On an unbreakable contract.  To be editorial manager.  You see, I’m prepared to buy ideals.”

“What about my opinion of amateur journalism?”

“You’ll just have to do the best you can about that.”

“Give me till to-morrow to think it over.”

“All right.”

Ellis put down the hat and cane which he had picked up preparatory to his departure.

“Not going out after those hundred drinks, eh, Mac?” laughed Sterne.

“Indefinitely postponed,” replied the other.

“The first thing to do,” said Hal decisively, “is to make amends.  Mr. Sterne, the ‘Clarion’ is to print a full retraction of the attacks upon my father, at once.”

“Yes, sir,” assented Sterne, slavishly responsive to the new authority.

Not so McGuire Ellis.  “If you do that you’ll make a fool of your own paper,” he said bluntly.

“Make a fool of the paper by righting a rank injustice?”