"But you"ve got to get a name, you know," Melville declared. "You can"t expect to boom something so hazy that it isn"t called anything at all.
_Don"t you want to take our cla.s.s paper_ won"t draw the crowd. You"ve got to start with a slogan--something spectacular and thrilling. _Buy the Nutcracker!_ _Subscribe to the Fire-eater!_ _Have a copy of the Jabberwock!_ For goodness sake, christen it something! Start out with a punch or you"ll never get anywhere. Why not call it _The March Hare_?
That"s wild and crazy enough to suit anybody. Then you can publish any old trash in it that you chose. They"ve brought it on themselves if they stand for such a t.i.tle."
Paul clapped a hand on his friend"s shoulder.
"_The March Hare!_" he repeated with enthusiasm. "You"ve hit it, Cart!
_The March Hare_ it is! We"ll begin getting subscriptions to-morrow."
"You wouldn"t want to issue a sample copy first, would you?" Melville suggested.
"No, siree! That"ll be the fun. They must go it blind. We"ll make the whole thing as spooky and mysterious as we can. n.o.body shall know what he is going to eat. It will be twice the sport."
"But suppose after you"ve collected all your money you find you can"t get any one to print the paper?"
"We"ll have to take a chance," replied Paul instantly. "If worst comes to worst we can give the money back again. But I shan"t figure on doing that. We"ll win out, Cart; don"t you worry."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_The March Hare!_" he repeated with enthusiasm. "You"ve hit it, Cart!" _Page 10_.]
"Bully for you, old man! You sure are a sport. Nothing like selling something that doesn"t even exist! I see you years hence on Wall Street, peddling nebulous gold mines and watered stocks."
"Oh, shut up, can"t you!" laughed Paul good-naturedly. "Quit your joshing! I"m serious. You"ve got to help me, too. You must start in landing subscriptions to-morrow."
"I! I go around rooting for your _March Hare_ when I know that not a line of it has seen printer"s ink!" sniffed Melville.
"Sure!"
Melville grinned.
"Well, you have a nerve!" he affirmed.
"You"re going to do it just the same, Cart."
There was a compelling, magnetic quality in Paul Cameron which had won for him his leadership at school; it came to his aid in the present instance.
Melville looked for a second into his chum"s face and then smiled.
"All right," he answered. "I"m with you, Kipper. We"ll see what we can do toward fooling the public."
"I don"t mean to fool them," Paul retorted. "I"m in dead earnest. I mean to get out a good school paper that shall be worth the money people pay for it. There shall be no fake about it. To-morrow I shall call a cla.s.s meeting and we"ll elect an editorial staff--editor-in-chief, publicity committee, board of managers, and all the proper dignitaries. Then we"ll get right down to work."
Melville regarded his friend with undisguised admiration.
"You"ll make it a go, Kip!" he cried. "I feel it in my bones now. Hurrah for the _March Hare_! I can hear the shekels c.h.i.n.king into our pockets this minute. Put me down for the first subscription. I"ll break the ginger-ale bottle over the treasury."
"Shall it be a dollar, a dollar and a quarter, or an out and out one-fifty?"
"Oh, put it at one-fifty. We"re all millionaires and we may as well go in big while we"re at it. What is one-fifty for such a ream of wisdom as we"re going to get for our money?"
Melville vaulted into his bicycle saddle.
"Well, I"m off, Kipper," he called over his shoulder. "Got to do some errands for the Mater. So long!"
"I can depend on you, Cart?"
"Sure you can. I"ll shout for your _March Hare_ with all my lungs. I"m quite keen about it already."
Paul watched him speed through the gathering shadows and disappear round the turn in the road. Then, straightening his shoulders with resolution, he went into the house to seek his pillow and dream dreams of the _March Hare_.
CHAPTER II
THE CLa.s.s MEETING AND WHAT FOLLOWED IT
The following day at recess, after a noisy clamor of conversation and laughter, the cla.s.s meeting came to order.
"I have called you together to-day," began Paul Cameron from the platform, "to lay before 1920 a new undertaking. I am sure there is not one of you who does not want to make our cla.s.s a unique and ill.u.s.trious one. The Burmingham High School has never had a paper. 1920 has the great opportunity to give it one and to go down to history as its founder."
He paused.
"The big dailies do not appreciate us. They never write us up. Why should we not write ourselves up--chronicle our doings, that such noteworthy deeds may never be forgotten?"
A ripple of laughter greeted the interrogation.
Paul saw his advantage and went on. He painted in glowing terms his dream of the _March Hare_. Every instant the interest and enthusiasm of his audience increased. Once a storm of clapping broke in upon his words but he raised his hand and the noise ceased. Quietly he closed his modest speech with the suggestion that a managing board be appointed to put the project into operation, if such were the pleasure of the meeting. Before he could seat himself a dozen boys were on their feet.
"Mr. President!" shouted Melville Carter.
"Mr. President!" came at the same moment from Donald Hall.
"Mr. President! Mr. President!" The cry rang from every corner of the room.
Paul listened to each speaker in turn.
1920 was not only unanimous but insistent upon the new venture.
In less time than it takes to tell it Paul himself was elected editor-in-chief, an editorial staff had been appointed, Melville Carter was voted in as business manager, and Billie Ransome as publicity agent.
Nor did 1920"s fervor end there. Before the meeting adjourned every person in the cla.s.s had not only pledged himself to subscribe to the _March Hare_ but had promised to get one or more outside subscriptions.
Paul, descending from the speaker"s desk, was the center of an admiring and eager group of students.
"I say, Kip, where are you going to get the paper printed?" questioned Donald Hall.
"I don"t know yet," replied Paul jauntily.
"We"ll have to see how much money we are going to have."