He also said "Damn!"
Io Welland (for it was Io Welland and not Io Eyre whom the soothsayer
saw before him as he declaimed), instrument and inspiration of the
achievement, said no word of direct praise. But as she wrote, her
fingers felt as if they were dripping electric sparks. When, at the
close, he asked, quite humbly, "Is that what you wanted?" she caught her
breath on something like a sob.
"I'll give you a title," she said, recovering herself. "Call it 'If
there were Dreams to Sell.'"
"Ah, that's good!" he cried. "My readers won't get it. Pinheads! They
get nothing that isn't plain as the nose on their silly faces. Never
mind. It's good for 'em to be puzzled once in a while. Teaches 'em their
place.... I'll tell you who will understand it, though," he continued,
and laughed queerly.
"All the people who really matter will."
"Some who matter a lot to The Patriot will. The local merchants who
advertise with us. They'll be wild."
"Why?"
"They hate the mail-order houses with a deadly fear, because the
cataloguers undersell them in a lot of lines. Won't Rome howl the day
after this appears!"
"Tell me about the relation between advertising and policy, Ban,"
invited Io, and summarized Willis Enderby's views.
Banneker had formulated for his own use and comfort the fallacy which
has since become standard for all journalists unwilling or unable to
face the issue of their own responsibility to the public.
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