Well, we're after the envious."
"Still I don't see. With what purpose?'
"Jim Simpson, who has just got his grocery bill for more than he can
pay, reads a high-colored account of Mrs. Stumpley-Triggs's aquatic
dinner served in the hundred-thousand-dollar swimming-pool on her
Westchester estate. That makes Jim think."
"You mean that it makes him discontented."
"Well, discontent is a mighty leaven."
Miss Van Arsdale directed her fine and serious eyes upon Banneker. "So
it comes back to the cult of discontent. Is that Mr. Marrineal's
formula, too, Mr. Edmonds?"
"Underneath all his appearance of candor, Marrineal's a secret animal,"
said Edmonds.
"Does he leave you a free hand with your editorials, Ban?" inquired the
outsider.
"Absolutely."
"Watches the circulation only," said Edmonds. "Thus far," he added.
"You're looking for an ulterior motive, then," interpreted Miss Van
Arsdale.
"I'm looking for whatever I can find in Marrineal, Miss Van Arsdale,"
confessed the patriarch of the office. "As yet I haven't found much."
"I have," said Banneker. "I've discovered his theory of journalism. We
three, Edmonds, Marrineal, and I, regard this business from three
diverse viewpoints. To Edmonds it's a vocation and a rostrum.
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