This conversation was of the most startling nature to the assembled villagers，who were all trying to look unconcerned and as if "they'd jest dropped in，"but were unable to dissemblea their curiosity successfully.Of course much of this interchangeof words between the man in the booth and the girls outside was Greek to them all，but "to print"and "columns"and "pages"could apply only to one idea，which，while not fully grasped，was tremendously startling in its suggestion.The Merrick party was noted for doing astonishing things in the past and evidently，in the words of Peggy McNutt，they were"up to some blame foolishness that'll either kill this neighborhood or make it talked about.""It's too dead a'ready to kill，"responded Nick Thornegloomily."Even the paper mill，four mile away，ain't managed to make Millville wigglea its big toe.Don't you worry over what the nabob'll do，Peggy；he couldn't hurt nuthin'if he tried."The door opened again and Mr.Merrick protrudedb a puzzled countenancec.
"He wants to know about a stereotype plant，Patsy.
What'll I tell him？"
Patsy stared.Louise and Beth shook their heads.
"If it belongs to the—the thing we want，Uncle，have 'em send it along，"said Patsy in desperation.
"All right."
A few minutes later the little man again appealed to them."How'll we run the thing，girls；steam or electricity？"Patsy's face was a blank.Beth giggled and Louise frowned.
"Of course it'll have to be run，"suggested Mr.Merrick ；"but how？That's the question.""I—I hadn't given that matter thought，"admitted Patsy."What do you think，Uncle？"He considered，holding open the door while he thoughtfully regarded the silent but interested group of villagers that eagerly hung upon every word that passed.
"Cotting，"called Mr.Merrick，"how do they run the papermill at Royal？""'Lectricity ！'Lectricity，sir ！"answered half a dozen at once.
"They develops the power from the Royal Waterfall of the Little Bill，"explained Cotting，with slow and pompousa deliberation."Mr.Skeelty he tol'me they had enough 'lectricity to light up the whole dum country fer ten mile in all directions，'sides a—runnin'of the mill.""Who's Skeelty ？""Manager o'the mill，sir，an'part owner，he says.""Has he a telephone ？""Yes，Mr.Merrick.""Thank you."Mr.Merrick shut the door and called up Skeelty.Five minutes of bargaining settled the question and he then connected with Mr.Marvin again and directed him to have the presses and machinery equipped to run by electricity.Thinkinghe had now given the banker all the commissions he could attend to with celerity，Uncle John next called up Major Doyle and instructed his brother—in—law to send four miles of electric cable，with ？ttings and transformers，and a crew of men to do the work，and not to waste a moment's time in getting them to Millville.
"What in blazesaare ye up to now，John ？"inquired the major，on receiving this order.
"None of your business，Gregory.Obey orders.""Going to light the farm and turn night into day？"persisted the major.
"This is Patsy's secret，and I'm not going to give itaway，"said Mr.Merrick."Attend to this matter promptly，Major，and you'll see the result when you come to us in July for your vacation."Having attended to all the requirements of the projected Millville Tribune，as he thought，Mr.Merrick called the operator for the amount of his bill and paid it to Sam Cotting—three dollars and eighty cents.The sum fairly made the onlookers gasp，and as the Merrick party passed out，Silas，the miller，said solemnly：
"Don't anybody tell me talk is cheap，arter this.John Merrick may be a millionaire，but ef he keeps this thing up long he'll be a pauper.Thet's my prophe—sigh.""Yer off yer base，Si，"said McNutt "Joe Wegg tol'meonce thet the nabob's earnin's on his money were more'n hecould spend ef he lays awake nights a—doin'it.Joe says it keeps pilin'up on him，till sometimes it drives him nigh desp'rit.I hed an idee I'd ask him to shuck off some of it onter me.I could stan'the strain all right，an'get plenty o'sleep too.""Ye won't hev no call to stan'it，Peggy，"pre—dcted Lon Tait.
"Milyunhairs may spend money foolish，but they don't never give none away.I've done sev'ral odd jobs fer Mr.Merrick，but he's never give me more'n jest wages.""Well，"said McNutt with a sigh，"while he's in easy reachthere orter be some sort o'pickings fer us，an'it's our duty to git all we can out'n him—short o'actoo—al robbery.What do ye s'pose this new deal means，boys？Sounds like printin'somethin'，don't it ？""P'raps it's some letterheadsa for the Wegg Farm，"suggested Nib Corkins."These Merricks do everything on a big scale.""Four pages，an'six columns to a page？"asked Cottingscornfully."Sounds to me more like a newspaper，folks！"There was a moment's silence，during which they all stared at the speaker fearfully.Then said Skim Clark，in his drawling，halting way：
"Ef thet's the case，an'there's goin'ter be a newspaper here in Millville，we may as well give up the struggle，fer the town'll be ruined！"