Also, it might have been inquired if this parade of fashion had no
connection with the simultaneous action of Mr. Ross Schofield; for Ross
was at this hour engaged in decorating the battered chairs in the "Herald"
editorial room with blue satin ribbon, the purchase of which at the Dry
Goods Emporium had been directed by a sudden inspiration of his superior
of the composing force. It was Ross's intention to garnish each chair with
an elaborately tied bow, but, as he was no sailor and understood only the
intricacies of a hard-knot, he confined himself to that species of
ornamentation, leaving, however, very long ends of ribbon hanging down
after the manner of the pendants of rosettes.
It scarcely needs the statement that his labors were in honor of the new
editor-in-chief of the Carlow "Herald." The advent and the purposes of
this personage were, as yet, known certainly to only those of the "Herald"
and to the Briscoes. It had been arranged, however, that Minnie and her
father were not to come to the station, for the journalistic crisis was
immoderately pressing; the "Herald" was to appear on the morrow, and the
new editor wished to plunge directly, and without the briefest
distraction, into the paper's difficulties, now accumulated into a
veritable sea of troubles. The editor was to be delivered to the Briscoes
at eventide and returned by them again at dewy morn; and this was to be
the daily programme. It had been further--and most earnestly--stipulated
that when the wounded proprietor of the ailing journal should be informed
of the addition to his forces, he was not to know, or to have the
slenderest hint of, the sex or identity of the person in charge during his
absence. It was inevitable that Plattville (already gaping to the
uttermost) would buzz voluminously over it before night, but Judge Briscoe
volunteered to prevent the buzz from reaching Rouen. He undertook to
interview whatever citizens should visit Harkless, or write to him--when
his illness permitted visits and letters--and forewarn them of the
incumbent's desires. To-day, the judge stayed at home with his daughter,
who trilled about the house for happiness, and, in their place, the
"Herald" deputation of two had repaired to the station to act as a
reception committee.
Far away the whistle of the express was heard, muffled to sweetness in the
damp, and the drivers, whip in hand, came out upon the platform, and the
loafers issued, also, to stand under the eaves and lean their backs
against the drier boards, preparing to eye the travellers with languid
raillery.