n degree of appreciation?"

"Yes."

"Of publicity, I may say?"

Sam nodded assent.

"Or even in plain newspaper talk, of advertising?"

"I shouldn't quite like to be advertised," said Sam uneasily.

"That's a rather blunt word, I confess; but when you do some fine
exploit, you wouldn't mind seeing it printed in full in the papers that
the people at home read, would you?"

"No-o-o, not exactly; but then I should only want you to tell the truth
about it."

"Of course; I know that, but there are lots of ways of telling the
truth. We might put it in at the bottom of an inside page and give only
a stick to it, or we might let it have the whole first page here, with
your portrait at the top and headlines like that"; and he showed him a
title in letters six inches long. "You'd prefer that, wouldn't you?"

"I'm afraid I would," said Sam.

"Well, if you didn't you'd be a blamed fool, that's all I've got to
say, and we wouldn't care to bother about you."

"I'm sure it's very good of you to take me up," said Sam. "Why do you
select me instead of one of the great generals at the front?"

"Why, don't you see? You wouldn't make a practical newspaper man. The
people are half tired of the names of the generals already. They want
some new names. It's our business to provide them. Then all the other
newspapers are on the track of the generals. We must have a little hero
of our own. When General Laughter or General Notice do anything, all
the press of the country have got hold of them. They've got their
photographs in every possible attitude and their biographies down to
the last detail, and pictures of their birthplaces and of their
families and ancestors, and all the rest of it. We simply can't get
ahead of them, and people are beginning to think that it's not our war
after all. When we begin to boom you, they'll find out that we've got a
mortgage on it yet. We'll have the stuff all ready here to fire off,
and no one else will have a word. It'll be the greatest beat yet,
unless Mr. Cleary is mistaken in you and you are not going to
distinguish yourself."

"I don't think he is mistaken," said Sam solemnly. "I do intend to
distinguish myself if I get the chance."

"And we'll see that you have the chance. It's a big game we're playing,
but we hold the cards and we don't often lose. You're not the only
card, to be sure. We've got a lot of men at the front now representing
us. Severa