They had had no idea when they started of the amount of labor entailed. The Scholiant was only a four-page publication, but the pages were of good size and it was no mean task to fill the columns. Alf was allowed two columns for his editorials, a column and a half was scheduled for School Notes, five columns were set aside for advertisements, and the entire front page was to be devoted, in the manner of The Scholiast, to important news articles. That left four columns to be filled with miscellany. The advertisements proved a source of much amusement, and they all took a hand in concocting them. And Tom made a big hit with his contributions to the School Notes department. But, although they wrote and wrote and racked their several brains for days, when Tuesday night came there was still, according to their reckoning, some three columns to be filled. They viewed each other with dismay and discouragement.
“I’m just simply written out,” sighed Alf. “I say we fill the rest up with ads.”
“Ads!” exclaimed Tom. “They’re the hardest of all. We’ve just about played that game out.”
“I tell you!” said Gerald. “When a paper hasn’t anything to put in it prints an advertisement of its own, like ‘Subscribe to The Scholiant! One Dollar a Year! Do it Now!’”
“Bully scheme!” cried Dan. “That’ll use up a whole column.”
“One! Pshaw! Let’s make it three columns,” said Alf. “And we’ll make it a good one, too. Push me some paper, Tom.”
Alf wrote busily for a minute, and then read the result of his inspiration and labor as follows:
“‘Read The Scholiast! The Only Paper Publishing Chambers’s Editorials! The Only Paper Giving You Yesterday’s News Next Week! Fearless and Almost Intelligent! Subscribe To-day! Don’t Wait! We Need the Money!’”
“We’ll print that across three columns,” said Alf, as the applause died out. “And that ought to be enough. Now let’s go over the whole batch again. You read, Tom, and don’t chew your words.”