报社的准备工作开展得如火如荼，迟迟到来的第八个雇员——漫画家海蒂·休伊特，一开始并不被看好，但两封推荐信让三个女孩改变了看法……
During the next three days so many things happened at Millville that the natives were in a panic of excitement.Not only was electricity brought from the paper mill，but a telegraph wire was run from Chazy Junction to Bob West's former storage shed and a telephone gang came along and placed a private wire，with long—distance connections，in the new newspaper of？ce.The of？ce itself became transformed—"as full o'winders as a hothouse！"exclaimed Peggy McNutt，with bulging eyesa—and neat partitionsb were placed for the of？ces.There was no longer any secret as to the plans of the "nabobs"；it was generally understood that those terribly aggressive girls were going to inflict a daily paper on the community.Some were glad，and some rebelled，but all were excited.A perpetualc meeting was held at Cotting's store to discuss developments，for something startling occurred every few minutes.
"It's a outrage，this thing，"commented young Skim Clarkdespondentlyd."They're tryin'to run mother out o'business—an'she a widdere with me to look after！Most o'the business at the Emporium is done in newspapers an'magazines an'sich；so these galsf thought they'd cut under an'take the business away from her.""Can't the Widder Clark sell the new paper，then？"asked the blacksmith.
"I dunno.Hadn't thought o'that，"said Skim."But the priceis to be jus'one cent，an'we've ben gittin'？ve cents fer all the outside papers.Where's the pro？t comin'from，on one cent，I'd like to know？Why，we make two or three cents on all the ？ve cent papers.""As for that，"remarked the druggist，"we'll get a cheap paper—if it's any good—an'that's somethin'to be thankful for.""'Twon't be any good，"asserted Skim."Ma says so."But no one except McNutt was prepared to agree with this prediction.The extensive plans in preparation seemed to indicate that the new paper would be fully equal to the requirements of the populace.
On Monday，when the news spread that two big freightcars had arrived at the Junction，and Nick Thorne began working three teams to haula the out？t to Millville，the rest of the town abandoned all business other than watching the arrival of the draysb.Workmen and machinists arrived from the city and began unpacking and setting up the presses，type cases and all other paraphernaliac，every motion being watched by eager faces that lined the windows.These workmen were lodged at the hotel，which had never entertained so many guests at one time in all its past history.The three girls，evenmore excited and full of awe than the townspeople，were at the office early and late，taking note of everything installed and getting by degrees a fair idea of the extent of their new plaything.
"It almost takes my breath away，Uncle，"said Patsy.
"You've given the Tribune such a splendid start that we must hustle to make good and prove we are worthy your generosity.""I sat up last night and wrote a poem for the ？rst page ofthe ？rst number，"announced Louise earnestly.
"Poems don't go on the ？rst page，"observed Patsy ；"but they're needed to ？ll in with.What's it about，dear？""It's called 'Ode to a Mignonette，'"answered Louise."It begins this way：
"Wee brown blossom，humble and sweet，Content on my bosom lying，Who would guess from your quiet dress The beauty there is lyingUnder the rust？""Hm，"said Patsy，"I don't see as there's any beauty under the rust，at all.There's no beauty about a mignonette，anyhow，suspected or unsuspected.""She means 'fragrance，'"suggested Beth."Change it to：'The fragrance there is lying under the rust.'That'll fix it all right，Louise.""It doesn't seem right，even then，"remarked Uncle John.
"If the fragrance lies under the rust，it can't be smelt，can it？""I did not anticipate all this criticism，"said Louise，with an air of injured dignity."None of the big publishing houses that returned my poems ever said anything mean about them；they merely said they were 'not available.'However，as this poem has not made a hit with the managing editora，I'll tear it up and write another.""Don't do that，"begged Patsy."Save it for emergencies.
We've got to ？ll twenty—four columns every day，remember！"By Wednesday night the equipment was fully installed and the workmen departed，leaving only Jim McGaffey，an experienced pressman，and Lawrence Doane—familiarly called Larry—who was to attend to the electrotyping and "make—up."The press was of the best modern construction，and folded，cut and counted the papers automatically，with a capacity for printing three thousand copies an hour.
"And at that rate，"observed Patsy，"It will run off our regular edition in eight minutes."Aside from the newspaper press there were two "job"presses and an assortment of type for printing anything that might be required，from a calling card to a circus poster.A thirdman，who came from the city Thursday morning，was to takecharge of the job printing and assist in the newspaper work.Three girls also arrived，pale—faced，sad—eyed creatures，who were expert typesettersb.Uncle John arranged with Mrs.Kebble，the landlady at the hotel，to board all the"help"atmoderate charge.
It had been decided，after much consultation，to make the Tribune a morning paper.At ？rst it was feared this would result in keeping the girls up nights，but it was ？nally arranged that all the copy they furnished would be turned in by nine o'clock，and Miss Briggs，the telegraph editor，would attend to anything further that came in over the wires.The advantages of a morning edition were obvious.
