The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-25

low eagerly should we have run to greet her, To
save her from the isazc of the public, to well
OF our editorial fire, had we guessed then what
were her qualities! II was not long before she
| knew the way up 10 our sanctum without any
clerk to show her, and not long before we
| knew well the sound of that low but not timd
Knock at our door, made always with the han
die Of the parasol, with which her advent was
herldcd We Will confess that there WINS nj
The little round wooden knob. The man Of
letters In norsetshre, whom we had known
! well for n,ny years, had been never known
to ~ with intimacy. We had bought with him
and sold With Him, had talked with Him, and,
| perhaps. walked with him; but he was not one
| with whom we had eaten, or drunk, Or prayed
d,iil. ,wcll-lnstructed, honest ni9ezSiic was
unlikely us any man TO be walked TO enthusiasm
Dy the ambitious dreams ofn young girl. But
Mary fad been potent even over him, and lie had
written TO me saying TINT Miss Grcslcy
respect OF whom he had strong prcscnlnicnt
| that she would rise, II not To cmlncncc nj
least to good position as u writer. "Bul she
IS very young," yhc added. Having read this
icttcr, We al last desired our clerk 10 send the
lady Zip.
| We remember her step rs she came TO the
\ door, timid enough misunderstanding, but yet
| with an assumed lightncss rs though she was
determined 10 show us that she WIS not
ashamed Of what she was doing. She had on
! her head light straw hat. such as then was
very unusual in l-ondon-and is not nowswe
believe, commonly worn IN the streets OF the
metropolis by ladics who believe themselves
| 10 know what they are about. But It was
| nat, worn upon her head, and not straw plate
uonc UP With ribbc'is, and reaching. down the
inclin' OF the forehead as far as The top Of Tho
| nose. And she was dressed In gray AsfR
! frock, with q little black band round her
waist AS far as our memory goes, we
other hut or bonnet on her head. ''And what
cn We do for you, Miss Grcslcy?' VIC said, stand
np ana holding The literary genueman's
islter III our hand. We had almost said, "my
| dear seeing her youth and remembering orr
age We were afterwards glad that VIC had
| not SO addressed her; thought It camo before
long that we did call her "my dear"-ln quite
| another spirit
She rrcoicd little from tho tone of our
voice. "Mr. thinks that you can do
something for Inc. / have written novel,
and have brought II to you.'
You arc very young, nrc you not, TO have
| written novel :"
| Il am young she said, ''hut perhaps older
than. YOU think. am eighteen" Then for
giram OF u merry humor which never was al-
lowed to dwell there long, but which was 30 ni-
Turing when II showed itself.
,, inat Is ripe asc," we said laughing, and
we, began to pour forth that long and
dull and ugly lesson which is so common
| to our lives, in which we tried to explain
,9 unr. unwilling pupil that OF all rcspccia-
Is ;:ic most uncertain, tile most heart break
in-. ami the most dangerous. s.You hear of
lhr few VINO ure rcmuncracd," We said; shut
yo;t hcrr nothing OF the thousands that fall"
''i},it So hopeless EssSS::,
| Thor are those who succCoJ."
"Ncs indeed Even in lottery one must
sali inc ni'2c; hut they who trust to lotteries
| ',..n, iiter';ar5 is not n lot,err. III am III.
! Shall saceeed. NJ. - thinks IL may my
Sncs"cd.' Many more words CT wisdom we
siakc TO her, aid we'll lo wc remember her
reply vile: wc tad run ail our lilie on the reel
2H'! Had -omplctcd- our sermon ~ sfnl, 30
| o.i Il the *;:nc." She said. Shall try and
| tvi 'u:a:i! -a;ld again."
| Her power over us, 10 n certain extent, was
! soon established. OF course we nromIeetl I'm
! cad th- NJ, and turned II over, no doubt will
| a HilNlo,s, ,coHntcnancp, to sec of what nature
Wa ne willing There is feminine scrawl ora
nature 30 terrible th;,t thu task OF reading he
| co:nrs worse than tile trcadmll a know
| can write well, though / am not quite sure
ahoul Inc spcllins," said Mury, hss She observed
thr .cl:llicr Of Olir eyes She smoke truly ,'rhr
writing was good, though the crasures and nj
t"riiinnj were very numerous. And then the
| story MRS intended 10 fill only one voiumc. III
Hl,i M copy Il for ynp If yom wish IT, said Mary.
" Ihough there are so many scrNtchngs out IL
has been copied once" We wonld not for worlds
have given her such labor, and then we prom
@ & About, IT, tshe NC; iold f'. 1s a. ' iii::l Inter
view that her mother had obtained leave from
the pastry-cook round the corner, to sit there
waiting ill Mary aEald rejon her. Z" / thought
IL wonld be trouble enough for you to have one
oI us here" she said with her little laugh,
wien asked ner why she had not brought
her mother on with her. I own that ielt
that she had been wise and when told
her that If she would call on INC again that
day week would then have read at any rate
SO mnch of her work as would enable me TO
ye hGr hor my orinon ad not invite her to
could talk more freely to the girl without the
mothers presence. Even when you are past
iilly, ana intend only to preach Il sermon, you
When she was gone we took ND the roll of
paper and examined IL. We looked nj the d.
the poor child had chosen, pronounced TO
ourselves the name Of the story-it was SIM
ply the name Of the heroine, nn casy-going,
unaffected, wcll-choscn name-and read tie
last page Of il. On such occasions the reader
OF the work begins his task almost with O con-
riction that the labor he Is about to undertake
will be utterly thrown away. He feels all but
sure that the matter will be bad, that It win
he better for oil parties, writer, intended rca-
drrs, and intended publisher, that the written
words should not be conveyed into typc-thnt
II Will be his duty, after some fashion, TO
convey that unwclcomed opinion TO tic writer,
and that the writer will go awaJ incrcdulous
and accusing mentally the Mentor of the mo.
mcnt of all manner of literary sins, among
which Ignorance, jealousy and lalschood will,
in the poor authors Imagination, be most
prominent. And yet when the writer was ask
ing for that opinion, declaring his especial de-
sire that the opinion should be candid, protest.
Ing that his present wish is to have somc gauge
of hiH own capabty, and that he has come to
yOu believing you TO be above others able to
give him that gauge-while his petition TO you
was being made, lie was In every respect siii-
cerc. lie had come desirous to measure him.
self, and had believed that you could measure
him. When coming lie did not think that
you would declare lin TO be an Apollo. lie
had told himself, no doubt, how probable Il
was ina.; Jon wqW1 point onto him That he WIS
n dwarf. Yon find him To. be an ordinary man,
measuring perhaps five feet seven, and unable
TO reach the standard OF the particular regi-
mcnt in which lie Is ambitious Of serving. You
tell him SO In what civlllest words You know,
and YOu nrn nj once c0nYictcd In hia mimi OF