Page Thirty-five

THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE
COVETING
A CHANCE
By Frank Thayer
          AILED-that was "Spike"
          Paine's mark in Cicero.
          Latin, in fact, had been his
          bIuglear ever since lie en-
          tered East high school, and
only the pleadings of his nmother pre-
vented him from throwing up his high
school long before his junior year. Per-
haps early in his course he did not
work or did not find his pace, and ac-
cordingly he always loathed his Latin.
More than once lhe had a bad case of
"nerves", and vowed that he would not
go to school another day. At these
times only the earnest persuasion of
his mother and the stern interference
of his father kept "Spike" in scholastic
circles at all.
  One thing in the high school did in-
terest him, however, and that was his
work on the staff of The Tatler, the
w eekly school paper. Young Paine
liked the work, he wrote the best
stories handed in to the editor-in-chief
and by the heginning of his third year,
he made the position of assistant edi-
tor. He worked hour after hour in
this outside activity, even to the detri-
inent of his regular school work.
   Early in September after the open-
 ing of school, the city editor of The
 Daily News, the best afternoon paper
 in the city, called him up at the house
 one night, and asked if he could talk
 with young Mr. Paine. The editor
 asked him to come down to the office
 the next afternoon after school. Nat-
 urally, "Spike" was on the job, and the
 result was that he "landed" a place
 writing high school news for The
News. This clinched any lingering de-
sire in him to do anything else in life,
and then and there he decided to be a
journalist.
  But all this time Latin stock was
losing ground as far as "Spike's" in-
terest in the Latin market was con-
cerned. The mid-year examinations
sealed his fate; he failed in Cicero, and
was conditioned in German. This con-
dition of affairs brought matters to a
quick solution. "Spike" learned that
lie would probably have to go to school
another year, and this piece of infor-
mation was like a doctor's bitter pill.
  He- decided to quit school, and went
down to see the editor of the News in
order to get a reporter's place on the
paper. He found that this was the dull
season of the year, and that the paper
would not take on any new men. The
editor said that lie did not know wfhen
there would be any opening, and that
he would rather have men who had had
some experience. Naturally, "Spike"
took this information rather hard.
   As lie was about to leave the office,
 the citv' editor called to him, asked him
 if lie would he willing to take a job
 outside of the city. "Sure" was Paine's
 reply.
   "Well, I don't know whliether I can
 do anything for you, but I was in Har-
 risburg last week. An old friend of
 mine, Bill Edwards, is city editor of
 The Star, and lhe told me lie was look-
 ing for a man with some experience
 vho could handle police news. I'll
 write him say that I have a friend
 who can fill the bill. Of course you
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