The _Harpoon_, like lots of other newspapers, has its social column, and in that column, no doubt, a paragraph like this one about Stella would have a certain sensational value.

But supposing it wasn't true! A libel action follows, follows inevitably.

A great deal would be said about the unscrupulous recklessness involved; the judge would come down like a cartload of bricks and the paper would get badly stung.

No editor of any reliable paper would run such a risk.

No sub-editor, left behind with power to alter and insert, would have taken the responsibility.