"Suppose we were to judge of American Society by the cases in a Chicago
Divorce Court?"

"There you have me on toast. That's what comes of having a husband who
takes American papers. Mind you, I haven't any idea that the American
papers are right. I've had a lot to do with newspapers, and they are
pretty ignorant, I can tell you--cheap all round. What's a newspaper,
anyway, but an editor, more or less smart and overworked, with an owner
behind him who has got some game on hand? I know: I've been there."

"How have you 'been there'?"

"I've owned four big papers all at once, and had fifty others under my
thumb."

Lady Lawless caught her breath; but she believed him. "You must be very
rich."

"Owning newspapers doesn't mean riches. It's a lever, though, for tipping
the dollars your way."

"I suppose they have--tipped your way?"

"Yes: pretty well. But, don't follow this lead any farther, Lady Lawless,
or you may come across something that will give you a start. I should
like to keep on speaking terms with you."

"You mean that a man cannot hold fifty newspapers under his thumb, and
live in the glare of a search-light also?"