Hero Harry Walton leaves Professor Henderson to enter the Centerville Gazette as a printer's apprentice, also known as a "printer's devil," in his continued attempt to mirror the life of Benjamin Franklin, his hero. Although this means that he will take a loss in pay, he sees it as a favourable investment for the future. The editor, Jotham Anderson, who is willing to act as a patron to the young man, hires him. Harry works with two other men, John Clapp, a spendthrift who associates with Luke Harrison, and Mr. Ferguson, who has a family and behaves very respectably...