办公场所的问题解决了，约翰和亚瑟·韦尔登先生去同斯科特经理谈判，但发现斯科特是个十足的恶棍……
The next morning they drove to town again，passing slowly up the street of the little village to examine each building that might be a possible location for a newspaper of？ce.Here is a map that Patsy drew of Millville，which gives a fair idea of its arrangement.
Counting the dwellings there were exactly twelve buildings，and they all seemed occupied.
When they reached the hardware store，opposite Cotting's，Mr.West，the proprietor，was standing on the broad platform in front of it.In many respects Bob West was the most important citizen of Millville.Tall and gaunt，with great horn spectacles covering a pair of cold gray eyes，he was usually as reserved and silent as his neighbors were confiding and talkative.A widower of long standing，without children or near relatives，he occupied a suite of well—appointed rooms over the hardware store and tookhis meals at the hotel.Before Mr.Merrick appeared on the scene West had been considered a very wealthy man，as it was known he had many interests outside of his store；but compared with the multi—millionaire old Bob had come to be regarded more modestly，although still admitted to be the village's"warmest"citizen.He was an authority in the town，too，and a man of real importance.
Mr.Merrick stopped his horse to speak with the hardware man，an old acquaintance.
"West，"said he，"my girls are going to start a newspaper inMillville."The merchant bowed gravely，perhaps to cover the trace of a smile he was unable to repress.
"It's to be a daily paper，you know，"continued Mr.
Merrick，"and it seems there's a lot of machinery in the out？t.It'll need quite a bit of room，in other words，and we're looking for a place to install it."West glanced along the street—up one side and down theother—and then shook his head negatively.
"Plenty of land，but no buildings，"said he."You might buy the old mill and turn it into a newspaper of？ce.Caldwell isn't making much of a living and would be glad to sell out.""It's too dusty and ？ourya，"said Patsy."We'd never get itclean，I'm sure.""What's in that shedb of yours ？"asked Uncle John，pointing to a long，low building'that adjoined the hardware store.
West turned and looked at the shed re？ectively.
"That is where I store my stock of farm machinery，"he said."There's very little in there now，for it's a poor season and I didn't lay in much of a supply.In fact，I'm pretty well cleaned out of all surplus stock.But next spring I shall need the place again.""Good！"cried Mr.Merrick."That solves our problem.Hasit a ？oor ？""Yes；an excellent one；but only one small window.""We can remedya that，"declared Uncle John."Here'sthe proposition，West：Let us have the shed for six months，at the end of which time we will know whether the Millville Tribune is a success or not.If it is，we'll build a fine new building for it；if it don't seem to prosper，we'll give you back the shed.What do you say ？"West thought it over.
"There is room on the rear platform，for all the farm machinery I now have on hand.All right，Mr.Merrick；I'll move the truck out and give you possession.It won't make a bad newspaper of？ce.But of course you are to ？t up the place at your own expense.""Thank you very much，sir！"exclaimed Uncle John."I'll set Lon Taft at work at once.Where can he be found ？""Playing billiardsb at the hotel，usually.I suppose he is there now.""Very good；I'll hunt him up.What do you think of ournewspaper scheme，West ？"The old merchant hesitated.Then he said slowly："Whatever your charming and energetic nieces undertake，sir，will doubtless be well accomplished.The typical country newspaper groans under a load of debt and seldom gets a fair show to succeed；but in this case there will be no lack of money，and—why，that settles the question，I think.Money is the keystone to success.""Mr.West，"said Louise，with dignity，"we are depending chie？y on the literary merit of our newspaper to win recognition.""Of course；of course ！"said he hastily."Put me down asa subscriber，please，and rely upon my support at all times.
It is possible，young ladies—nay，quite probable，I should say—that your originality and genius will yet make Millville famous."That speech pleased Uncle John，and as the hardwaremerchant bowed and turned away，Mr.Merrick said in his cheeriest tones："He's quite right，my dears，and we're lucky to have found such a ？ne，roomy place for our establishment.Before we go after the carpenter to ？x it up I must telephone to Marvin about the things we still need."Over the long—distance telephone Mr.Marvin reported that he had bought the required outfit and it was even then being loaded on the freight cars.
"I've arranged for a special engine，"he added，"and if allgoes well the freight will be on the sidetrack at Chazy Junction on Monday morning.The dealer will send down three men to set up the presses and get everything in running order.But he asks if you have arranged for your workmen.How about it，Mr.Merrick ？have you plenty of competent printers and pressmena at Millville？""There are none at all，"was the reply."Better inquirehow many we will need，Marvin，and send them down here.And，by the way，hire women or girls for every position they are competent to ？ll.This is going to be a girls'newspaper，so we'll have as few men around as possible.""I understand，sir."Uncle John ordered everything he could think of and told his agent to add whatever the supply man thought might be needed.This business being accomplished，he found Lon Taft at the hotel and instructed the carpenter to put rows of windows on both sides of the shed and to build partitions for an editorial of？cea and a business of？ce at the front.
