They tried eagerly to believe this aphorism, which has the authority of age, but which I suspect was coined originally from despair.
The next day's bulletin read "Temperature still up, but making a strong fight." Stupid it was, when these were but eight words, not to have added two more, such as, "Very hopeful." I induced our telegraph operator to rectify this oversight, and felt repaid for my trouble when I showed the message.

That last touch seemed to have been needed.

Of course Little Miss would make a strong fight.

Miss Caroline and Clem both knew that.

But they had known other strong fights to be none the less hopeless, and they were grateful for those last two words of qualification.
There were four other days when the report seemed to need judicious editing, and in this I did not prove remiss.