Page:Lynch Williams--The stolen story and other newspaper stories.djvu/254

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The Old Reporter

of his family's who had some guests from Georgia; and Billy knew so many interesting things to tell about Bohemia, they said. He did not want to go, and though plenty of men and women, in New York, tried strenuously to be Bohemian, there was nothing very Bohemian in New York, as it seemed to Billy, who had had a glimpse of the real thing. However, when Bohemia was what they wanted, the young reporter would generally talk about it, improvising as he went along, and warming up to his art and enjoying it when he found the whole table-ful stopping to listen to him.

After this dinner, when they were smoking, Billy shut up and the other two men guests began to talk about the railroad deal for which they had come up to New York. Like many of these Southern fellows they talked too much. Woods, who with his training was becoming that agreeable thing, a good listener as well as talker, sat there looking impressed and impractical and said he thought it was all "mighty" interesting. The next morning The Day had some Wall Street news that no other paper

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