赛泽农场主的大女儿莫利过生日，家人要给她办一个盛大的聚会来庆祝，莫利真诚邀请露易丝来参加聚会并且将聚会刊登在报纸上，这令露易丝左右为难……
The people of Chazy County were very proud of the Millville Tribune，the only daily paper in that section of the state.It was really a very good newspaper，if small in size，and related the news of the day as promptly as the great New York journals did.
Arthur Weldon had not been very enthusiastic about the paper at any time，although he humored the girls by attending in a good—natured way to the advertising，hiring some of the country folk to get subions，and keeping the books.He was a young man of considerable education who had inherited a large fortune，safely invested，and therefore had no need，through financial necessity，to interest himself in business of any sort.He allowed the girls to print his name as editor in chief，but he did no editorial work at all，amusing himself these delightful summer days by wandering in the woods，where he collected botanical specimens，or sitting with Uncle John on the lawn，where they read together or played chess.Both the men were glad the girls were happy in their work andenthusiastic over the success of their audaciousa venture.Beth was developing decided talent as a writer of editorials and her articles were even more thoughtful and dignified than were those of Patsy.The two girls found plenty to occupy them atthe office，while Louise did the reportorial work and flittedthroughb Millville and down to Huntingdon each day in search of small items of local interest.She grew fond of this work，for it brought her close to the people and enabled her to study their characters and peculiarities.Her manner of approaching the simple country folk was so gracious and winning that they freely gave her any information they possessed，and chatted with her unreservedly.
Sometimes Louise would make her rounds alone，but oftenArthur would join her for an afternoon drive to Huntingdon，and it greatly amused him to listen to his girl—wife's adroit manner of "pumping the natives."About halfway to Huntingdon was the Sizer Farm，thelargest and most important in that vicinitya.Old Zeke Sizer had a large family—？ve boys and three girls—and they were noted as quite the most aggressive and disturbing element in the neighborhood.Old Zeke was rude and coarse and swore like a trooperb，so his sons could not be expected to excel him in refinement.Bill Sizer，the eldest，was a hard drinker，and people who knew him asserted that he"never drew a sober breath."The other sons were all quarrelsomec in disposition and many a free ？ght was indulged in among them whenever disputes arose.They were industrious farmers，though，and the three girls and their mother worked from morning till night，so the farm prospered and the Sizers were reputed to be "well—off."Molly，the eldest girl，had attracted Louise，who declaredshe was pretty enough to arrest attention in any place.Indeed，this girl was a "raving beauty"in her buxoma，countri？edb way，and her good looks were the pride of the Sizer family and the admiration of the neighbors.The other two were bouncingc，merry girls，rather coarse in manner，as might be expected from their environment；but Molly，perhaps fully conscious of her prettiness，assumed certain airs and graces and a regaldeportment that brought even her big，brutal brothers to her feet in adoration.
The Sizers were among the ？rst subscribers to the Millville Tribune and whenever Louise stopped at the farmhouse for news the family would crowd around her，ignoring all duties，and volunteer whatever information they possessed.For when they read their own gossip in the local column it gave them a sort of proprietary interest in the paper，and Bill had once thrashed a young clerk at Huntingdon for questioning the truth of an item the Sizers had contributed.
One day when Louise and Arthur stopped at the farm，Mollie ran out with an eager face to say that Friday was her birthday and the Sizers were to give a grand party to celebrate it.
"We want you to come over an'write it up，Mrs.Weldon，"said the girl."They're comin'from twenty mile around，fer the dance，an'we've got the orchestra from Malvern to play for us.
Pop's goin'to spend a lot of money on refreshments an'it'll be the biggest blow—out Chazy County ever seen ！""I think I can write up the party without being present，Mollie，"suggested Louise.