The arrangement between Hildreth and Edgar Braine, by which the young
man came into control of the Thebes _Daily Enterprise_, was a much less
definite one in its terms than Abner Hildreth was accustomed to make,
except in those cases in which indefiniteness was to his advantage.
This was one of those cases.
He simply said to Braine:
"Take the establishment and see what you can make of it. You can make it
of some good to the town, at any rate, and that's all I care for. I'll
pay you a salary if you like, or you can pocket any profits there are
instead, if you prefer that."
"I'll take the profits," said Edgar.
"Suppose they turn out to be losses?"
"Then the quicker I find out my unfitness the better. I don't want you
to pay me a salary for losing your money."
"You've good grit, Edgar," exclaimed the elder man, admiringly, "and
you've got 'go'! I'll stand by you and see you win. You'll need money
for a little while to pay running expenses, and you can have it on your
own notes till you get the old hulk afloat again. I'll back you. Go in
and win!"
That was all there was of contract between these two. Obviously the
education Edgar Braine had received at Hanover College was deficient in
certain particulars.
The change in the _Enterprise_ was immediate. Everybody bought it at
first to see what more the young editor would have to say in
scarification of Jack Summers, and everybody continued to buy it,
because the young editor at once ceased to scarify Summers, flinging him
contemptuously aside as something done for, and turning his attention to
a more important aspect of the same matter.
He wanted to know why Jack Summers had been allowed to maintain a
gambling house in Thebes, without disguise and without molestation. He
called the public prosecutor by name, and asked him what excuse he had
to make for his neglect of his sworn duty. He named the respectable men
who had served on the last Grand Jury, and requested them to say why
they had omitted to indict so flagrant an offender.
By this time--and it was within the first week of Braine's
editorship--the languid contempt hitherto felt for the lifeless
newspaper had changed to an eager impatience throughout the town for its
appearance each day.
At first there was anger everywhere. Two libel suits were brought, but
nothing was ever done about them; they were meant to intimidate, and
they failed to do it.
After awhile the community caught something of the editor's enthusiasm.
Clergymen preached from the pulpit on the duties of citizens as Grand
Jurors and public officers. Finally, a new Grand Jury was assembled, and
its first act was to indict Jack Summers, who promptly fled the city.
This was but a beginning. Braine struck at wrong whenever he saw
indications of it. He introduced the element of detection into his work,
and followed up clews in a way to which the good people of Thebes were
wholly unaccustomed.
He did many things merely to excite curiosity and interest. These were
harmless fooleries for the most part, and Braine justified them on the
ground that they made people read his paper, and thus gave him
opportunity for the good work he was doing.
It was this that gave him joy. He had power, and he was using it for the
public good. He had borrowed little from Hildreth, and had repaid it
easily. His newspaper was profitable, and the job printing establishment
connected with it was doing all the business of that kind which the city
afforded, now that he had added large supplies of type, a
ruling-machine, and a steam press to its equipment.
At the end of two years of hard work Edgar Braine believed that he had
conquered the tools of fortune and power. He regarded himself as the
owner of a prosperous and influential newspaper. He had an income
sufficient to justify a marriage to which he looked forward with eager
longing. He saw no obstacle now between him and fortune.