But he clucked cunningly.  And before he undertook his appeal to bring the errant one back to shore he gave himself two days to think it over.  To this extent Dr. Surtaine had become a partisan of the new enterprise; that he, too, previsioned an ideal newspaper, a newspaper which, day by day, should uphold and defend the Best Interests of the Community, and, as an inevitable corollary, nourish itself on their bounty.  By the Best Interests of the Community—­he visualized the phrase in large print, as a creed for any journal—­Dr. Surtaine meant, of course, business in the great sense.  Gloriously looming in the future of his fancy was the day when the “Clarion” should develop into the perfect newspaper, the fine flower of journalism, an organ in which every item of news, every line of editorial, every word of advertisement, should subserve the one vital purpose, Business; should aid in some manner, direct or indirect, in making a dollar for the “Clarion’s” patrons and a dime for the “Clarion’s” till.  But how to introduce these noble and fortifying ideals into the mind of that flighty young bird, Hal?

Dr. Surtaine, after studying the problem, decided to employ the instance of the Mid-State and Great Muddy River Railroad as the entering wedge of his argument.  Hal owned a considerable block of stock, earning the handsome dividend of eight per cent.  Under attacks possibly leading to adverse legislation, this return might well be reduced and Hal’s own income suffer a shrinkage.  Therefore, in the interests of all concerned, Hal ought to keep his hands off the subject.  Could anything be clearer?

Obviously not, the senior Surtaine thought, and so laid it before the junior, one morning as they were walking down town together.  Hal admitted the assault upon the Mid-and-Mud; defended it, even; added that there would be another phase of it presently in the way of an attempt on the part of the paper to force a better passenger service for Worthington.  Dr. Surtaine confessed a melancholious inability to see what the devil business it was of Hal’s.

“It isn’t I that’s making the fight, Dad.  It’s the ‘Clarion.’”

“The same thing.”

“Not at all the same thing.  Something very much bigger than I or any other one man.  I found that out at the breakfast.”

That breakfast!  Socialistic, anarchistic, anti-Christian, were the climactic adjectives employed by Dr. Surtaine to signify his disapproval of the occasion.

“Sorry you didn’t like it, Dad.  You heard nothing but plain facts.”

“Plain slush!  Just look at this railroad accident article broad-mindedly, Boyee.  You own some Mid-and-Mud stock.”

“Thanks to you, Dad.”

“Paying eight per cent.  How long will it go on paying that if the newspapers keep stirring up trouble for it?  Anti-railroad sentiment is fostered by just such stuff as the ‘Clarion’ printed.  What if the engineer was worked overtime?  He got paid for it.”