"No；you come over.I read once，in a novel，how an editor come to a swell party an'writ about all the dresses an'things—said what everybody wore，you know.I'm goin'to have a new dress，an'if ever'thing's described right well we'll buy a lot of papers to send to folks we know in Connecticut.""Well，"said Louise，with a sigh，"I'll try to drive over fora little while.It is to be Saturday，you say ？""Yes；the birthday's Friday and the dance Saturday night，rain or shine.An'you might bring the chief editor，your husband，an'try a dance with us.It wouldn't hurt our reputation any to have you folks mingle with us on this festive occasion，"she added airily.
They had a good laugh over this invitation when it was reported at Mr.Merrick's dinner table，and Patsy insisted that Louise must write up the party.
"It will be fun to give it a'double head'and a big send—off，"she said."Write it up as if it were a real society event，dear，and exhaust your vocabulary on the gowns.You'll have to invent some Frenchy names to describe those，I guess，for they'll be wonders；and we'll wind upa with a list of 'those present.'"So on Saturday evening Arthur drove his wife over to the Sizer farm，and long before they reached there they heard the scraping of ？ddles，mingled with shouts and boisterousa laughter.It was a prohibition district，to be sure，but old Sizer had imported from somewhere outside the "dry zone"a quantity of liquorsb more remarkable for strength than quality，and with these the guests had been plied from the moment of their arrival.Most of them were wholly unused to such libations，so by the time Arthur and Louise arrived，the big living room of the farmhouse presented an appearance of wild revelryc thatwas quite deplorabled.
Molly welcomed them with wild enthusiasm and big Bill，her adoring brother，demanded in a loud voice if Arthur did not consider her the"Belle of Chazy County.""They ain't a stunner in the state as kin hold a candle to our Molly，"he added，and then with uncertain gaite he left the "reporters"with the promise to "bring 'em a drink.""Come，Louise，"said Arthur，quietly，"let's get out ofhere."He drew her to the door and as a dance was just starting they managed to escape without notice.
"What a disgraceful scene ！"cried Louise，when theywere on their way home；"and to think of such a shockingcarousala being held in good old Chazy County，where morals are usually irreproachable！I shall not mention the affair in the Tribune at all."But Patsy，who had a managing editor's respect for newsof any sort，combated this determination and begged Louise to write up Molly Sizer's party without referring to its deplorable features.
"It isn't policy to offend the Sizers，"she said，"for althoughthey are coarse and common they have shown a friendly spirit toward the paper.Moreover，the enmity of such people—which would surely result from our ignoring the birthday party—would keep us in hot waterb."So Louise，though reluctantly，wrote up the party and themanu was sent over to Miss Briggs Sunday afternoon，so it would get a place in Monday morning's Tribune.
Uncle John had the paper at breakfast on Monday，and hegave an amused laugh as his eye caught the report of the Sizer party.
"This is a good one on you，Louise，"he exclaimed."Yousay that Miss Molly，'looking more lovely than ever in her handsome new gown，greeted her guests with a roughishc smile.'""A what？"demanded Louise，horri？ed.
"A 'roughish'smile."
"Oh ；that's a mistake，"she said，glancing at the item."What I said was a 'roguish'smile；but there's been a typographical error which Miss Briggs must have overlooked in reading the proof.""Nevertheless，"remarked Arthur，"the statement isn't farwrong.Everything was rough，including the smiles，as far as I noted that remarkable gathering.""But—see here！"cried Patsy；"that's a dreadful mistake.
That spoils all the nice things you said about the girl，Louise.I hope the Sizers won't notice it."But the Sizers did，and were frantic with rage over whatthey deemed was a deliberate insult to Molly.Several young men who had come from distances to attend the birthday party had stayed over Sunday at the farmhouse，where the revelry still continued in a ？tful way，due to vain attempts to relieve racking headaches by further libations.Monday morning found the dissipateda crew still the guests of the Sizers，and when big Bill slowly spelled out the assertion made by the Tribune that his sister had "a roughish smile"loud cries of indignation arose.Molly first cried and then had hysterics and screamed vigorously；Bill swore vengeanceb on the Millville Tribune and all connected with it，while the guests gravely asserted it was "a low—down，measly trick"which the Sizers ought to resent.They all began drinking again，to calm their feelings，and after the midday dinner Bill Sizer grabbed a huge cowhidewhip and started to Millville to "lick the editor to a standstill."A wagonload of his guests accompanied him，and Molly pleaded with her brother not to hurt Mrs.Weldon.
"I won't；but I'll cowhide that fresh husband of hers，"declared Bill."He's the editor—the paper says so—and he's the one I'm after！"
