"Better not, Molly," he said. "Mickey wants to be alone with his family
for a few minutes. Say father, ain't there a good many newspaper men
worked all their lives, and got no such show as that?"
"I haven't a doubt of it," said Peter.
"Mickey must have written that, and sent it in before he came home
yesterday," said Mrs. Harding. "I call it pretty bright! I bet if the
truth was told, something went wrong, and he was at the bottom of shutting
it up. Don't you call that pretty bright, Pa?"
"I guess I'm no fair judge," said Peter. "I'm that prejudiced in his
favour that when he said, 'See the cat negotiate the rat' out in the barn,
I thought it was smart."
"Yes, and it was," commented Junior. "It's been funny for everybody to
'negotiate' all sorts of things ever since that north pole business, so it
was funny for the cat too. Father, do you think that note really means
that Mr. Chaffner would give Mickey a place on his paper, and pay him
right now?"
"I don't know why Chaffner would write it out and sign his name to it if
he _didn't_ mean it," said Peter.
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