The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-12-06

not speedily put herself in communica-
ltion with. him, after 3 silence on his
/ part which would seem inexplcable to
/ her.
/ Several weeks passed away without
word or sign from the author of .'John
l-DOlline's Quest, and Mr.. Parker was
beginning to be anxious; he wanted
more work from the same hand, and he
began to fear that his prize had been
/ beguiled into the Office of some COM
petitOr. He was puzzled, too, by the
apparent indifference of the writer of a
story which had sold an extra edition of
the magazine, and was in everybOdy's
mouth; did she care nothing for such q
success? One evening. as he was sit =
ting at his desk In his room asking him.
self these questions for the hundredth
time, he pulled out package of papers
4 from a pigeon-hole, and, 10 there
dropped out the original manuscript of
John Dolline's Quest" There was no
doubt about it; he instantly recognized
/ the peculiar hand in which it had been
written, and on the back were the date
! of receipt. number and memorandum of
acceptance. Moreover, the sight of
4 the article recalled distinctly the fact
! that he had brought the story home for
more careful reading, and had placed it
/ in his desk; the circumstances had en-
/ tirely escaped him, but now they all
came back in flash. John Parker was
/ thunderstorm; if he had been per
! picked before, he was hopelessly con
/ fused now. The original manuscript
I had never been out of his possession,
and yet Miss Ferguson had supplied a
copy over night! He looked up the
/ issue of the magazine, and compared
the printed story with the manuscript
, in his hand; they were identical save in
! a few phrases and turns of expression.
| AS he recalled Miss Fergusons copy,
he remem bered that the handwriting
was very different from that before him,
/ and as he recalled the note of inquiry
/ he was sure that its penmanship was
the same as that of the original manu-
! script.
He lighted fresh cigar, and began to
| walk up and down his room, seeking
vainly for some solution of the prob
lem. He tried one theory after an
other, but none of them fitted the facts,
and finally he gave up in despair; there
was no rational explanation unless Miss
Ferguson had stolen the story from the
writer, which was incredible; or unless
she had written it herself which, in
view of all the circumstances. seemed
equally Incredible. MIR Parker walked
and thought the more uncomfortable
he felt. His feeling, if he had analysed
it as closely as the novelists who had
contributed stories to the magazine
were in the habit of aralyzing such
! emotions, was warmer and more intense
than the simple editorial problem would
have justified; the fact that Miss Fergu-
son was involved seemed to invest the
circumstances with a personal interest
I Il I Il L L 1
fore.
The next morning Mr.. Parker had
reached no conclusion, but he had de-
cided what to do. He sent for Miss
Ferguson, and, when she presented her
self, handed her the manuscript without
a word of comment. If he had felt any
misgiving as to the result it was dissi-
pated by the flush which sufused the
girls face when she understood that he
had discovered her connection with the
story.
q owe you an explanation, which l
ought to have made earlier, she said;
g wrote this story six months ago, but
had too little confidence in it to send it
to any magazine. | laid it on a book
rack in my room, and thought no more
of it until the afternoon when YOU
| asked me about the lost story. / was
SO struck by the title that l asked for
its character. and from your descrip-
ton | knew the story must have be
my own. l hurried to my BOARDING.
house and found the manuscript MISS
ing. 1t had probably been taken by q
woman who had left the house sudden
ly not very long before, and whom L
| had instinctively distrusted. Your
strong commentator stimulated me to
reproduce it. L sat up the whole night,
and in the morning laid the story on
your desk without explanation. These !
are the facts, which l should have put
into your possession before if [ had been !
able to overcome my timidity. 1t is the
first piece of literary work ! ever at
tempted.
Whatever John Parker's feelings were
while Miss Ferguson was making this
explanation, he carefully concealed |
them. When she had finished, he ex-
tended his hand cordially, and said:
Il congratulate you on having made |
a very great success. Your future is
likely to be an enviable one. Have you |
written anything since John Dolline's
Questf' "
Her reply was to leave the room and |
return with another sketch The same |
afternoon, as he handed her a generous |
check for both contributions, lie told |
her that he did not expect her to remain |
longer in her present position, adding, |
with considerable emphasis:
81 have another place in view for
you, if l can persuade you to take it."
Nothing was heard from the person |
who had brought ''John Dolhne's /
Quest to the magazine, although sew
eral devices were employed for that |
purpose; the sudden and VIDE popular
ity of the sketch probably deferred Der
from making any attpmDt to T1rOfit bV
her theft. Three months later. as they /
were coming out of hotel in Washing
ton, Mrs. Parker suddenly turned to
her husband and asked:
"What was the place you had in view
for me, John?"
The one you now occupy, my dear"
Christian Union.