You'll be glad to hear that he's getting
on well.'
"'Has he had his wages raised twenty-five cents a week?' sneered Fitz.
"'He has lost his place,' said I.
"Fletcher actually looked happy, but I dashed his happiness by
adding, 'but he's got a better one.'
"'What's that?' he snarled.
"'He has bought out the paper of Mr. Anderson, and is now sole editor
and part proprietor.'
"'A boy like him buy a paper, without a cent of money and no
education!'
"'You are mistaken. He had several hundred dollars, and as a writer
he is considerably ahead of either of us.'
"'He'll run the paper into the ground,' said Fitz, prophetically.
"'If he does, it'll only be to give it firmer root.'
"'You are crazy about that country lout,' said Fitz. 'It isn't much
to edit a little village paper like that, after all.'
"So you see what your friend Fitz thinks about it. As you may be in
danger of having your vanity fed by compliments from other sources, I
thought I would offset them by the candid opinion of a disinterested
and impartial scholar like Fitz.
"I told my father of the step you have taken. 'Oscar,' said he,
'that boy is going to succeed. He shows the right spirit. I would
have given him a place on my paper, but very likely he does better to
stay where he is.'
"Perhaps you noticed the handsome notice he gave you in his paper
yesterday.
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