决斗风波刚过去，造纸厂的工人又来报社搞破坏，海蒂和流浪汉史密斯一起解决了麻烦，这让原本渐生情愫的两人关系更紧密了……
By this time the Tribune had become the pride of all Millville，yet the villagers could not quite overcome their awe and wonder at it.Also the newspaper was the pride of the three girl journalists，who under the tutelage of Miss Briggs were learning to understand the complicated system of a daily journal.Their amateurish efforts were gradually giving way to more dignified and readable articles；Beth could writean editorial that interested even Uncle John，her severestcritic；Louise showed exceptional talent for picking up local happenings and making news notes of them，while Patsy grabbed everything that came to her net—locals，editorials，telegraphic and telephone reports from all parts of the world—and skillfully sorted，edited and arranged them for the various departments of the paper.It was mighty interesting to them all，and they were so eager each morning to get to work that they could scarcely devote the proper time to old Nora's famous breakfasts.
"We made a mistake.Uncle，"said Patsy to Mr.Merrick，"in starting the Tribune in the wrong place.In a few weekswe must leave it and go back to the city，whereas，had weestablished our paper in New York—""Then it never would have been heard of，"interrupted practical Beth."In New York，Patsy dear，we would become the laughing stock of the town.I shudder when I think what a countri？ed paper we turned out that ？rst issue.""But we are fast becoming educated，"declared Patsy.
"I'm not ashamed of the Tribune now，even in comparison with the best New York dailies."Beth laughed，but Uncle John said judicially：
"For Millville，it's certainly a marvel.I get the world news more concisely and more pleasantly from its four pages than when I wade through twenty or thirty of the big pages of a metropolitan newspaper.You are doing famously，my dears.I congratulate you.""But we are running behind dreadfully，"suggested Arthur，the bookkeeper，"even since Thursday Smith enabled us to cut down expenses so greatly.The money that comes in never equals what we pay out.How long can you keep this up，girls？"They made no reply，nor did Uncle John discuss thefinancial condition of the newspaper.He was himself paying some heavy expenses that did not appear on the books，such as the Associated Press franchise，the telegraph bills and the electric power；but he was quite delighted to take care of these items and regretted he had not assumed more of the paper's obligations.He knew the expenses were eating big holes in the incomes of his three nieces，yet they never complained nor allowed their enthusiasm to ？ag.
Mr.Merrick，who had tested these girls in more ways thanone，was watching them carefully，and fully approved their spirit and courage under such trying conditions.Major Doyle，Patsy's father，when the ？rst copy of the Millville Tribune waslaid on his desk in the city，was astounded at the audacitya of this rash venture.When he could command his temper to write calmly he sent a letter to Mr.Merrick which read："Taken altogether，John，you're the craziest bunch of irresponsibles outside an asylum.No wonder you kept this folly a secret from me until you had accomplished your nefariousb designs.The Millville Daily Tribune is a corker and no mistake，for our Patsy's at the head of your lunatic gang.I'll go farther，and say the paper's a wonder.I believe it is the first daily newspaperpublished in a town of six inhabitants，that has ever carriedthe Associated Press dispatchesc，But，allow me to ask，why？The lonely inhabitants of the desert of Chazy County don't need a daily—or a weekly—or a monthly.A semi—annual would about hit their gait，and be more than they deserve.So I've decided it's merely a silly way to spend money—and an easy way，too，I'll be bound.Oblige me by explaining this incomprehensible eccentricity."To this，a mild protest for the major，Uncle John replied："Dear Major Doyle：Yours received.Have you no business of your own to attend to ？Affectionately yours，John Merrick."The major took the hint.He made no further complaint but read the paper religiously every day，gloatingd over Patsy's name as managing editor and preserving the files with greatcare.He really enjoyed，the Millville Tribune，and as his summer vacation was shortly due he anticipated with pleasure a visit to the farm and a peep at the workings of "our Patsy's"famous newspaper.The other girls he ignored.If Patsy was connected with the thing，her adoring parent was quite sure she was responsible for all the good there was in it.
The paper printed no mention of the famous duel.But Hetty made a cartoon of it，showing the lane，with its fringe of spectators，Arthur Weldon standing manfully to await his antagonista and big Bill Sizer，in the distance，sprinting across the fields in the direction of home.This cartoon washighly prized by those who had witnessed the adventure and Peggy McNutt pinned it on the wall of his real estate office beside the one Hetty had made of himself.Bill Sizer promptly "stopped the paper，"that being the only vengeance at hand，and when Bob West sent a boy to him demanding the return of the pistol，Bill dispatched with the weapon the following characteristic note，which he had penned with much labor：