They visited with the a.s.sociated Press man for another fifteen minutes and would have continued longer if Tom had not realized that they had less than twenty minutes to make their train. The last two blocks to the terminal were covered at a run and they raced through the train gates just before they clanged shut.

"Close call," panted Tom as they swung onto the steps of the local and it slid out of the train shed.

"Too close," agreed Helen, who was breathless from their dash.

"Had to make it, though," added Tom, "or we'd have been stranded here flat broke with the next train for home Monday night."

"Don't worry about something that didn't happen," Helen said. "I've enjoyed every minute of our trip and we're all ready now to start our expansion program for the _Herald_ in earnest."

Adding two more pages of home print to the paper meant more work than either Tom or Helen had realized. There was more news to be written and more ads to be set and another run to be made on the press.

With early June at hand the summer season at the resorts on the lower end of Lake Dubar got under way and Helen resolved to make a trip at least once a week and run a column or two of personals about people coming and going. She also gave liberal s.p.a.ce to the good roads election in July, stressing the value the paved scenic highway would be to Rolfe.

The two pages of ready-print arrived on Tuesday and Tom and Helen were delighted with the appearance of the comic page and the feature page for women readers.

"We'll have the snappiest looking paper in the county," chuckled Tom.

"Dad won't know the old paper when he sees this week's issue."

The county agent kept his promise to send them at least a column of farm news and Helen made it a point to gather all she could while Tom went to the county seat Tuesday morning and solicited ads for the page. The result was a well-balanced page, half ads and half news. Careful solicitation of home town merchants also brought additional ads and when they made up the last two pages Thursday noon they felt the extra work which increasing the size of the paper meant was more than repaid in extra advertising.

"I'm printing a number of extra copies this week," explained Tom. "There are lots of people around here who ought to take the _Herald_. With our expansion program we may pick up some extra subscriptions and we might get a chance at the county printing."

"Tom!" exclaimed Helen. "Do you really think we might get to be an official county paper."

"I don't see why not," said Tom. "Of course the two Gladbrook papers will always be on the county list but there are always three who print the legal news and the third one is the _Auburn Advocate_. Auburn isn't any larger than Rolfe and I know darned well we have almost as many subscriptions as they do."

"How do they decide the official papers?" Helen wanted to know.

"The county board of supervisors meets once a year to select the three official papers," Tom explained, "and the three showing the largest circulation are selected. It would mean at least $2,000 extra revenue to us, most of which would be profit."

"Then why didn't Dad try for it?" Helen asked.

"I'm not sure," said Tom slowly. "There are probably several reasons, the princ.i.p.al one being that he wasn't strong enough to make the additional effort to build up the circulation list. The other is probably Burr Atwell, owner and publisher of the _Auburn Advocate_. I've heard Dad often remark that Atwell is the crookedest newspaperman in the state."

"How much circulation do you think the _Advocate_ has now?" Helen asked.

"Their last postoffice statement showed only 108 more than ours," replied Tom.

"And when do the supervisors have their annual meeting?"

"About the 15th of December," said Tom. "Now what's up?"

"Nothing much," smiled Helen. "Only, when the supervisors meet next the _Rolfe Herald_ is going to have enough circulation to be named an official county paper.

"Why Tom," she went on enthusiastically, "think what it would mean to Dad?"

"I'm thinking of that," nodded her brother, "but I'm also thinking of what Burr Atwell might do to the _Herald_."

CHAPTER XII _Special a.s.signment_

The enlarged edition of the _Herald_ attracted so much comment and praise from the readers that Tom and Helen felt well repaid for their additional efforts. Tom sat down and figured out the profit, deducted all expenses, and announced that they had made $78 on the edition, which, they agreed, was a figure they should strive to reach each week.

"If we can keep that up," commented Tom, "we'll be sitting on top of the world."

"But if we were only an official county paper we'd have the moon, too,"

Helen said.

They discussed the pros and cons of getting enough additional circulation to beat the _Auburn Advocate_ and the danger of arousing the anger of Burr Atwell, its publisher.

"We don't need to make a big campaign for subscriptions," argued Helen.

"We've taken the biggest step right now--improving and expanding the amount of local and country reading matter. Whenever I have an extra afternoon this summer I'll drive out in the country and see if I can't get some people who haven't been subscribers to take our paper."

Tom agreed with Helen's suggestion and that very afternoon they took the old family touring car, filled it with gas and oil, and ambled through the countryside. Tom had a list of farmers who were non-subscribers and before the afternoon was over they had added half a dozen new names to the _Herald's_ circulation list. In addition, they had obtained at least one item of farm news at every place they stopped.

"I call that a good afternoon's work," Helen commented when they drove the ancient flivver into the garage at home.

"Not bad at all," Tom agreed. "Only, we'll keep quiet about our circulation activities. No use to stir up Burr Atwell until he finds it out for himself, which will be soon enough."

The remaining weeks of June pa.s.sed uneventfully. The days were bright and warm with the softness of early summer and the countryside was green with a richness that only the middle west knows. Helen devoted the first part of each week to getting news in Rolfe and on Fridays and Sat.u.r.days took the old car and rambled through the countryside, stopping at farmhouses to make new friends for the _Herald_ and gather news for the farm page.

The revenue of the paper was increasing rapidly and they rejoiced at the encouraging news which was coming from their father.

The Fourth of July that year came on Sat.u.r.day, which meant a two day celebration for Rolfe and the summer resorts on Lake Dubar. Special trains would be routed in over the railroad and the boats on the lake would do a rushing business.

The managers of Crescent Beach and Sandy Point planned big programs for their resorts and ordered full page bills to be distributed throughout that section of the state. The county seat papers had usually obtained these large job printing orders but by carefully figuring, Tom put in the lowest bids.

Kirk Foster, the manager of Crescent Beach, ordered five thousand posters while Art Provost, the owner of Sandy Point, ordered twenty thousand.

Crescent Beach catered to a smaller and more exclusive type of summer visitors while Sandy Point welcomed everyone to its large and hospitable beach.

There was not much composition for the posters but the printing required hours and it seemed to Helen that the old press rattled continuously for the better part of three days as Tom fed sheet after sheet of paper into the ancient machine. The wonder of it was that they had no breakdowns and the bills were printed and delivered on time.

"All of which means," said Tom when he had finished, "that we've added a clear profit of $65 to our bank account."

"If we keep on at this rate," Helen added, "we'll have ample to take care of Dad when he needs more money."

"And he'll be needing it sometime this fall," Tom said slowly. "Gee whizz, but it sure does cost to be in one of those sanitariums. Lucky we could step in and take hold here for Dad."

"We owe him more than we'll ever repay," said Helen, "and the experience we're getting now will be invaluable. We're working hard but we find time to do the things we like."

Helen planned special stories for the edition just before the Fourth and visited the managers of both resorts to get their complete programs for the day.

Kirk Foster at Crescent Beach explained that there would be nothing unusual there except the special display of night fireworks but Art Provost over at Sandy Point had engaged a line of free attractions that would rival any small circus. Besides the usual boating and bathing, there would be free acts by aerialists, a high dive by a girl into a small tank of water, half a dozen clowns to entertain the children, a free band concert both afternoon and evening, two ball games and in addition to the merry-go-round on the grounds there would be a ferris wheel and several other "thrill" rides brought in for the Fourth.

"You ought to have a great crowd," said Helen.

"Goin' to be mighty disappointed if I don't," said the old resort manager. "Plannin' a regular rip-snorter of a day. No admission to the grounds, but Boy! it'll cost by the time they leave."