"Journey's End" containing Phil's veracious account of
the dogs of Main Street created almost as much of a sensation as the
consolidation of the First National with Montgomery's Bank. The "Evening
Star" did not neglect its duty to Indiana literature. A new planet
blazed in the Hoosier heavens, and it was the business of Montgomery's
enterprising afternoon daily to note its appearance and speculate upon
its course and destiny. The "Evening Star's" "local" wrote a two-column
"story" about Phil for the Sunday supplement of the Indianapolis
"Advertiser." The fact that Miss Kirkwood belonged to one of the oldest
and most distinguished families in central Indiana was not overlooked;
but this was merely the prelude to a breezy description of her many
adventures, her athletic prowess, her broad democracy. The "Evening
Star's" "local" was under obligations to Phil for many quiet news tips;
and beyond question he fully balanced the account. The pastor of Center
Church made "The Dogs of Main Street" the text of a sermon on the humane
treatment of dumb animals--a sermon that Phil heard perforce, as she
sat, blushing furiously, beside Amzi in the Montgomery pew.

Amzi nearly perished with pride. Busy as he was with the remodeling of
the old bank, made necessary by the consolidation (he scorned the idea
of moving his bank into the Holton property!), he found time to stand on
the bank steps and invite comments on "Phil's latest";--there hadn't
been a time since Phil was six when her "latest" wasn't a subject of
spirited conversation. Phil's own happiness was mitigated somewhat by
the fact that "Journey's End" had lately refused two other manuscripts.
Still the editor wrote explaining why her stories were not available and
urged her to try again. "Stick to the local flavor," he said, "and don't
read Stevenson so much. Anybody can write stories about the French
Revolution; not many are able to catch the character and life of Main
Street." While she pondered this, she resolved to be a poet and sold a
jingle to "Life."

Kirkwood wired his congratulations from Chicago. He had not fully
recovered from the shock of Lois's declaration of her belief in Phil's
genius. Reading Phil's sketch over a lonely dinner in a Chicago hotel,
he was pricked anew by the consciousness that he had never fully
appreciated Phil's qualities. What Lois had said made a difference. He
would have chuckled over the Philesque touches in "The Dogs of Main
Street" in an