约翰和三个侄女要返回纽约了，《米尔维尔每日论坛报》也面临停刊的命运，但精明的约翰提出了一个两全其美的想法……
Mr.Merrick told Thursday Smith，in an apologetic way，how he had hired Fogerty to unravel the mystery of his former life，and how the great detective had gone to work so intelligently and skillfully that，with the aid of a sketch Hetty had once made of the pressman，and which Mr.Merrick sent on，he had been able to identify the man and unearth thedisagreeable details of his history.
Thursday was too humble，by this time，and too grateful，besides，to resent Uncle John's interference.He admitted that，after all，it was better he should know the truth.
"I've nothing to bother me now but the future，"he said，"and with God's help I mean to keep the name of Thursday Smith clean and free from any reproach."After the interview he went about his duties as before and Hetty sat down at her desk and took the telegraphic news that came clicking over the wire as if nothing important in her life had occurred.But the girl journalists were all excitement and already were beginning to plan the things they might do to Make Hetty and Thursday happier.Cox and Booth had gone away and Mr.Merrick thanked Fogerty for his skillful service and gave him a fat check.
"It's a mighty interesting case，sir，"declared thedetective，"and I'm as glad as any of you that it has ended so comfortably.Whatever Melville might have been—and his record is a little worse than I related it—there's no doubt ofThursday Smith's honesty.He's a mighty ？ne fellow，and Fate played a proper trick when she blotted out his unscrupulous mind and left him as innocent as an unborn babe.He will do well in his new life，I'm sure，and that girl of his，Hetty Hewitt—I've know of her reckless ways for years—hasalso redeemed herself and turned out a regular brick！All ofwhich，Mr.Merrick is unusual in real life，more's the pity，and therefore it makes even a cold—blooded detective feel good to witness it."Mr.Merrick smiled benignantly and Fogerty drove over to the Junction to catch his train.
After luncheon，Patsy，while arranging her galleyproofs，inquired of Louise for the local column.
"Hetty said she'd attend to it，"was the reply；"but we are all upset to—day and things are at sixes and sevens.""The column is all prepared，Miss Doyle，"announcedHetty.
"Where is it ？"
"Thursday has made it ready for the press.It's—illustrated，"she confessed."I'd rather you wouldn't see it until the paper is out，if you can trust me.""To be sure，"said Patsy."That's one responsibility I'mrelieved of，anyhow."The paper was a bit uneven in appearance next morning，but when Patsy came down to breakfast she found both Uncle John and the major roaring with laughter over Hetty's locals.
The first item stated that "Mrs.Thorne took tea at Sam Cotting's last evening，"（the Cottings being notoriouslya inhospitable）and the picture showed Mrs.Thorne，a sour—faced woman，departing from the store with a package of tea.Then came the announcement that"Eph Hildreth got shot at West's hardware store，"and there was a picture of West weighing out a pound of buckshot for his customer.The next item said："Our distinguished fellow citizen，Marshall Peggy McNutt，was discovered unconscious on his front porch at 3p.m."The drawing of McNutt was one of the best of the series.
It was his habit to "snooze"in an easy chair on his porch every afternoon，and Hetty depictedb the little man with both feet—meat and wood—on the rail，his mouth open and eyes shut，while lustyc snoresd were indicated by radiating lines and exclamation points.The Widow Clark's cow occupied the next square，being tetherede to a stake while Skim approached the animal with pail and milking—stool.Below the drawing were the words："Mr.Skimton Clark，cowward."A few other local hits were concluded by a picture of Hon.Ojoy Boglin shaking his ？st at Mr.Skeelty，who held a package of money in his grasp labeled "insurance."Below was the simple legend："O Joy！"The artist's cleverness became the subject of conversation at the breakfast table，and Arthur remarked：
"You won't be able to hold Hetty in Millville long.Her talent enables her to draw big salaries in New York and it isn't likely she will consent to bury herself in this little town.""I'm not so sure，"said Patsy."If we can hold ThursdaySmith we can hold Hetty，you know.""We won't need to hold either of them for long，"observed Beth；"for in another three weeks or so we must leave here and return to the city，when of course the Millville Daily Tribune must suspend publication.""I've been thinking of that，"said Uncle John.
"So have I，"declared Patsy."For a long time I was puzzled what to do，for I hated dreadfully to kill our dear Tribune after we've made it such a nice paper.Yet I knew very well we couldn't stay here all winter and run it.But last night I had an inspiration.Thursday will marry Hetty，I suppose，and they can both stay here and run the Tribune.They are doing most of the work now.If Uncle John agrees，we will sell out to them on 'easy terms.'""Good gracious，Patsy！"chuckled the major，"wherevercan the poor things borrow money to keep going ？Do you want to load onto an innocent bride an'groom the necessity of meeting a de？cit of a couple of hundred dollars every week ？"Patsy's face fell.
"They have no money，I know，"she said，"except what they earn.""And their wages'll be cut off when they begin hiringthemselves，"added the major."No；you can't decently thrust such an incubus on Hetty and Thursday—or on anyone else.You've been willing to pay the pipera for the sake of the dance，but no one else would do it.""Quite true，"agreed Arthur."The days of the Millville Tribune are numbered.""Let us not settle that question just yet，"proposed Mr.
