s with amazement and a mild reproof in his eyes. In the one quick
glance that I took I translated his expression to mean something like
this:

"Good Heavens, is this any way for a party of gentlemen to break up!
This could never happen at a gentlemen's club."

It was a foot-race back to the office, and Devore, who had the start,
won by a short length. Luckily the distance was short, not quite half a
block, and the presses hadn't started yet. Working like the crew of a
sinking ship, we snatched the first page form back off the steam table
and pried it open and gouged a double handful of hot slugs out of the
last column--Devore blistered his fingers doing it. A couple of linotype
operators who were on the late trick threw together the stick or two of
copy that Webb and I scribbled off a line at a time. And while we were
doing this Devore framed a triple-deck, black-face head. So we missed
only one mail.

The first page had a ragged, sloppy look, but anyway we were saved from
being scooped to death on the most important story of the year. The
vetoing of the Stickney Bill vitally affected the tobacco interests, and
they were the biggest interests in the state, and half the people of the
state had been thinking about nothing else and talking about nothing
else for two months--ever since the extra session of the legislature
started. It was well for us too that we did save our faces, because the
opposition sheet had managed to find the governor--he was stopping for
the night at the house of a friend out in the suburbs--and over the
telephone at a late hour he had announced his decision to them. But by
Monday morning the major seemed to have forgotten the whole thing. I
think he had even forgiven Devore for spilling his toddy and not
stopping to apologize.

As for Devore, he didn't say a word to the major--what would have been
the use? To Devore's credit also I will say that he didn't run to the
chief, bearing complaints of the major's hopeless incompetency. He kept
his tongue between his teeth and his teeth locked; and that must have
been hard on Devore, for he was a flickery, high-tempered man, and
nervous as a cat besides. To my knowledge, the only time he ever broke
out was when we teetotally missed the Castleton divorce story. So far as
the major's part in it was concerned, it was the Stickney veto story all
over again, with variations. The Castletons were almost the richest
people in town, and socially they stood way