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


~ was clearly not awork as to which could
leii my little friend that she might depend
upon IL for fame or fortune. When had llu-
ishcd IL was Obliged TO tell myself that I
could not advise Ter cvcu 10 publish IL. But
yet could not say tlnt she hail mistaken her
own powers or applied herself To- Il profession
beyond her reach. Thric was II grace and
dclicacy In her work which were Charming.
Occasionally she escaped from the trammcls of
grammar, but only so fur that IL would be- II
pleasure to point ont to her her errors. There
was not word That yong lady should not
have writtcni and there was Throughout.
the whole evident signs oi honest work. We
had six days To think II over between our
completion. of the task alnl her second visit
vi.
She came exactly mt the hour appointed. and
seated herself ut once in the armchair before
us rs soon as the young nan had closed the
door behind him. There had been no great
occasion Tor nervousness ut her nrst visit,
anu shc en-, had then, by an evident effort, over
with stranger. But now, she did not attempt
TO conceal her anxiety "Wrll," she said,
leaning forward, und looking up iulo our I;lcc,
with her two hands folded together.
Even though Truth, standing full panopcd
at our elbow, had positively demanded ii, we
could not have told her then To mend her
stockings and bake her pies and desert, the
calling That she had chossn. She WAS simply
strained us into fascllO6d, had the question
been between ialschood and absolute rtprOlm-
ton OF her work. To have spoken hard,
lleart-brc;,kiris words to her, would have been
like striking child when 1t comes to kiss
you. We fear that we were not absolutely
true Mt first, and that by that absence of truth
We made subsequent pain more painful.
"Mye!i, y, she SAID, looking Kin up into or l',se,
read every word Of 1t. "And IL Is no good ~
We fear that we began by telling her that il
certainly was Sood,-allera n fashion, very good;
considering her youth and necessary incXpcri-
nnOl IulpR6 A. trn g.,iI eli.
shook her head, and sent ont u spark or two
from her eyes, intimating her cOnv viclion that
excuses or quasi praise founded ON her youth
buy II from, me 2" she asked No; we did not
think that ;.ny publisher would pay her money
for IL. "Wo,,ld they print IL for me without
costing mo anylhing'' srhen we told her the
pcrlence; and If, as she had declared to us be-
fore, she was determined TO pcrseverc, she
must try again, and must learn more OF tlut
lesson of the w6rld's ways which was 90 ncccs-
sary to those who attempted TO teach that les
son TO others. " But shall try agan at once"
she said. We shook our head, enlcavoiing to
shake II kindly. "Currcr Ben wns only II
young girl when she succeeded" she added.
The injury which Currer Bell did aflcr this
by jack Sheppard.
She remained with us then for above an hour:
for more than two probably, though the time
was not specially marked by lis and before her
visit was brought to close; she had told us of
her engagement with the curntc. Indeed, we
believe that the greater part Other little history
as hitherto narrated, was made known 10 us
on that occasion. We asked aflcr her mother
carly In tho interview, and learned that she
was not on this occasion kept waiting at the
pastrycook's shop. Mary had come alone.
making use of some friendly omnibus, OF
Which she had learned the route. When she
told us that she and her mother had come up
10 London solely with the view of forwarding
Gcr views In her intended profession. we ven.
,ilrctl To ask whether II would not be wiser for
them to return 10 Cornboro', seeing how i'm
probable 1t wns That she wonld have matter III
inr the press within any short period. Then
she explained that they had calculated that
they would be able TO live In London for twelve
months, If they spent nothing except on abso-
keep back nothing from lls. "We have clothes
that will carry MS through, and we shall be
vcry'careiul. came i'll an omnibus, but ] shall
walk II You will let me come again" Then
shc asked me for advice. How was she To set
about further work with tho best chance of
turning 1t to account?
IL had been altogether the fault OF TINT re-
tired literary gentleman down In the North
who had obtained what standing he had in the
world OF letters by writing about .uano ana
the cnttle plague. DycstGd of all responsible
ty, and fearing no further trouble to himself
he had;ventnred I'd, to tell this girl that her work
bhty, and In This Casa there was nothing be-
lSeep4a lSe hiaiS NEST CsmpSS enhqh Gotaga
hold goods, and come up to London on such n
chance, was tlung terrible TO the mind. But
sc felt before these two hours were over that
we could not throw her of now. We had he
come old friends, and there had been that
between ms which gave her positive claim
upon our time. She had sat In our arm CHAIR
leaning forward with her elbows on her knees
and her hands stretched out, till we, caught
by tho charm OF her Gnstudicl Intimacy,
had wheeled around our chaiis' and had
placed ourselves, as ncnrly rs the circum-
stances would admit, IN the same posi-
tion. Tho magnetism had already begun
10 act upon us. We soon found ourscives
taking 1t for granted that she WAS 10 remain
In London and begin another book. II was
impossible to resist her. Before the interview
was over, we, who had been conversant with
all these matters before she was born; We
who had lattcrly come to regard our own cdIto-
rial fault AS being chiefly that of personal harsh
ness; we, who had repn scd asplrant novcllsts
bY the scorc-we had consented to be party
10 the creation, II not to the actual writing, Of
this new book
1t was to be done after this fashion. She
was to filbrcatc plot and TO bring Il TO us.
written ON two sides Of o sheet OF letter paper.
On the reverse sides We were 10 crlticse this
plot, and prepare cmcndatOns. Then she was
10 make out skeletons OF the men and women
who were afterwards to be clothed with flesh
md made alive with blood, and covered with
culicies. Aitcr that she WAS 10 arrange her
anu Ut iast, Dei0re sue began to
write the story, shc was 10 describe in detail
SUCH part OF 1t as WAS TO be told In each chap
ter. On every advancing wavelet OF the work,
We were TO give her our written remarks.
All this We promised to do because of the
CULVER In her lip, and the alternate tear and
sparkle In her eye. snow that have found n
friend, feel sure that l can do it,n she said,
rs she held onr hand tightly before she LETT us.
In about month. during which she had
twice written to us, and twice been answered,
She came with her plot. II was tho old story
with some additions and some change There
was matrimony Instead OF death at the end,
md an old aunt was brought in for the pllr.
pose Of relenting and producing an income.
We added q few details, feeling as we did 80
that we were The very worst Of botchers. We
doubt now whether the old, sad, simple story
was not tho better OF the two. Then, nflcr
another heightened Interview, NC sent our
pupil back TO create her skeletons. When SHE
and we had l,nrned To nau l,nr lIaax ~