te up stuff in Hamlet's language I'd get canned for it."

"We'd probably have a deputation from the Moral Reform League," said
the editor, with a dry smile. "Just the same, if you know Shakespeare
you know English, and we'll soon break you into the newspaper style."

So, almost before he knew it, Dave was on the staff of _The Call_. His
beat comprised the police court, fire department, hotels, and general
pick-ups. And the very first day, as though to afford fuel for his
genius, a small fire occurred in a clothing store.

"'S good for two sticks--about four inches," said the editor, when Dave
had given him the main facts. "Write your story to fit."

Dave suddenly realized that, although he had been a persistent reader
of newspapers during the recent months, he had scarcely the remotest
idea of how many words went to a column, or to an inch. It was a piece
of information needed at once, so he set about to count the words in a
column. Then he wrote his story to fit. He had already learned that
everything in a newspaper office, from a wedding to a ball game, is "a
story." When he turned his in it looked like this:

The fire bell was heard ringing this morning about ten o'clock, and
soon after crowds were seen wending their way to the Great West
Clothing Store. There was a heavy black smoke coming from the back end
of the store. The firemen were late in getting there, and before they
arrived a man had got badly choked by trying to go into the store.
Presently the engine came up and before long water was being applied in
great quantities, and soon the fire was under control. Part of the
roof fell in, and the building is pretty badly ruined. Some of the
contents may be fit for sale. It seems too bad that the fire engine
should have been so long in coming, as without doubt if it had got
there promptly the fire could have been put out before much damage
occurred. However, it might have been worse, as it was a frame
building, in a row of other frame buildings, and if the fire had once
got beyond control much damage might have been done. Nobody seems to
know how the fire started.

It was with much quiet excitement that he awaited the appearance of the
evening edition. He had a strange eagerness to see his contribution in
print; a manifestation, no doubt, of that peculiar trait in human
nature which fills the editorial waste basket with unaccepted
contributions. At last he found it, but it read like this: