"We'll look after our machinery all right, Uncle Ben," agreed Ned, with the look of the workman who truly loves his tools.
"I'm sure you will, and I hope the Blue Birds will have as much pride in turning out commendable articles for us to print," added Uncle Ben, looking at Mrs. Talmage.
"Oh, Uncle Ben, there's one question I want to ask--may we each sign our own name to our page or must we make up a pretend name?" asked Ruth.
"Why, sign your very own name, of course; that is one way of making you keep up to the mark. If you only had a pretend name on your page you might get careless and say, 'Oh, no one knows who it is, anyway, so I don't care if this story isn't as good as it ought to be.'"
Mrs. Talmage and Aunt Selina smiled, for they could see the wisdom of the remark.
"I guess my father will be proud to see my name in a magazine," boasted Dot Starr.
"All depends on what you tack your name to, Dot," laughed Meredith.
"It'll be fine, all right!" exclaimed Dot, nodding her head emphatically.
"Shall we have our names at the top or at the bottom of the pages, Ben?" asked Mrs. Talmage.
"Oh, please, Uncle Ben, do put them at the _top_! I am afraid no one will stop to read our names if you have them at the bottom," worried little Betty.
Everyone laughed, but Uncle Ben assured her that the name would be placed directly under the name of the article.
Then, while the Blue Birds watched the boys placing type in the cases, Uncle Ben sat down beside Mrs. Talmage and had a quiet talk about affairs in general.
In concluding he said, "Now don't you worry if the children should neglect a page now and then, for I can turn in heaps of good stories and articles any time we may need them."
"Oh, these children are so reliable that they would rather do without food or sleep than neglect anything that promises funds for next summer's farms," returned Mrs. Talmage.
"Glad to hear it, and hope they keep it up. Now, what pages have you provided for each month--and have you any to spare for some prominent writers who are friends of mine and feel deeply interested in this venture?" asked Uncle Ben.
"Oh, yes!" replied Mrs. Talmage. "We have seven pages taken by the Blue Birds and four by the Bobolinks. Then there is a story Aunt Selina has been thinking of writing, and a page for music that her friend in New York will contribute. Mrs. Catlin promised to give us some tale of adventure each month and that will take two pages. So, let me see--that takes up, in all, sixteen pages. How many pages shall we have in the magazine?"