"You shouldn't joke," he said, "with these boys, it makes discipline difficult." "Joke!" exclaimed Mr.H., "good heavens, I wasn't joking; how do I know that to-morrow he will not be the editor of the _Daily Mail_ ?" This story has a real importance.

It emphasizes a remarkable characteristic of Lord Northcliffe's variability.

It emphasizes the romantic quality of his mind.

Nothing would please him more than to discover in one of his office boys an editor for _The Times_.

His own life has given him almost a novelette's passion for romance.