The Portland daily press., 1883-03-05
THE PRESS.
ITime.l
Miss Miller.

'Messrs. Hartopp & Co. would be glad II
Mr. EgertOn would call on them tomorrow
morning, the 2Sth, at 10 o'clock, as they
have an important commission to place IN
his hands,
For some seconds l gazed at this note |
completely bewildered, then, jumping from
nv chair, I waved it triumphanuy over my |
head. much to the amazement and concern
Of nv pet dog Dick, who, as usual, was
basking gravely before the fire. 1t was sell
dom, indeed, that he had seen his master so
excited.
last The tables are turning, and work is
coming to me instead of my seeking for it,
For, be it known to the inquiring reader,
/ was, at the period of which / write, q
young man, who, for a greater length of
lime than like to tell, had been struggling
to ontain a footing in the arduous pr fession
of letters. And although, before this, had
often appeared in print, yet this was the
first commission had ever had put into my
hands.
No wonder that was elated, that in my
heated IMAGINATION thought my fortune
was made, and that success had indeed come
at last. In short, felt like barrister when
he obtains bis first brief, or doctor when
he receives his patient. The letter had
come by the morning post, and, being dated
yesterday, il of course made the appointment
for to-day. Hastily finished my breakfast,
and, telling my landlady that I might be
out some hours | departed
Poor Dick! he looked longingly at me.
He wished to be taken, too; but no, Dick,
you must not come this morning. There is
no walk over Hampstead Heath this morn
ing; there is sterner business afoot.
Now, do not mind confessing that my
heart beat somewhat as ! was ushered into
the presence of the principal of the firm of
Hartopp & Co.; but his pleasant manner
soon treasured me. | had seen him but
seldom before; for, though had called fire.
quenty, offering MS. (which was generally
rejected), had scarcely ever seen him
personally.
After few preliminary remarks as to
my qualifications for literary work and re-
search, Mr.. Hartopp said, that although
they had not been able to use all Tor nearly
all) the MSS. had submitted, yet what they
had seen of my work had led them to believe
l could undertake the task they now wished
executed.
need not particularize what that work
was sufficient to say that 1t involved q large
amount of research at The reading-room of
the British Museum, and still further, that
great speed was absolutely necessary. 'The
MS. must be in our hands by this day week
at latest; and it will be well if you can brin G
lis portions of it every evening as you 60 on.
Can you do this?' concluded Mr.. Hartopp,
and, as he spoke, felt thai his keen gray
eye was reading me like book. At that
time l scarcely knew how in the world l
was to execute the work put before me.
had dim idea of it, and that vas all, But
how could shrink back, when the object
for which l had worked and waited so long
was within my reach? Never. So l said
boldly that would accept the engagement
and execute the work to the best of my abil-
ity.
That is right returned Mr.. Hartopp. Il
am glad to hear you say SO. need hardly
tell you that, if you satisfy us in this matter,
we shall be able to offer you other commiss-
ions. 1t will lead, doubtless, to further
engagements, which, doubt not, will be
mutually profitable He then proceeded to
speak of terms, with which, however, need
not trouble the reader, and ended by enjoin-
ing secrecy, which is of course absolutely
necessary in all such cases, and especially so
in the present. one, as we doubt not but that
some other firm is engaged in the same pro-
ject,'
When l left the publishing house walked
hastily to the Museum, and all the way |
was puZzlipg my brains as to the best meth
cd of setting to work. | am wiser now, and
having had more experience, know better
how to set about such a search, but l was
rather nonplussed at that time.
However, entered the splendid reading
room of the Museum with firm determine
ton not TO be braten, and soon set to work.
Book after book was consulted, but all in
vain | remember pausing Ouce in my
search and gazing around, thinking how
like it was to searching for needle in rick
of hay. Here is the information l require
somewhere-if only | can get clue to it.
But hour after hour passed. l made no
progress. At last, not to prolong this part
of my story, OBTAINED clew, and not long
afterward discovered the old magazine in
which one of the papers for which ] was
searching originally appeared.
But when this result was obtained the ring
of the gong warned me that further work
must be postponed tonight, for the hour of
closing had arrived.
/ departed with a heavy heart. The first
day was gone, and | had scarcely made a
beginning. | should have liked to have been
able to take in batch of MS. this first
night, but could not do so. Would Mr..
Hartopp be disappointed and annoyed? Had
light and permission been forthcoming /
could have worked on all night.
Elrly the next morning was at my post,
and was soon able to make progress. l made
copious notes, and was able to obtain GER
tain valuable information.
Perhaps it was this success that caused me
to raise my head and think of rest-and
lunch. And as / did so my heart thrilled
with avague sense of pleasure Sitting at the
seat next to mine was young lady whom
had often previously noticed in the room,
and with whose face was very familiar,
but with whom had never yet exchanged
word, whose name l knew not, and lear
whom, until now, l had never even sat.
As l said just now, had noticed her fire.
quentlY in the reading-rOOm, and / was
conscious that, much as | liked to frequent
this place for its own sake, it was yet dearer
to me from the fact thai sometimes 1 saw
there graceful figure with grave, gentle,
int nj fooa 81
sometimes-quite by accident, of course
lifting starry eyes to mine as we passed one
another to consult books of reference!
And at last this divine damsel was sitting
at the desk next my own, and could admire
the beautiful profile, the classic pose of the
head the soft hair cfuffed' in 'front.', and
the neat, quiet, somewhat aesthetic but by
no means foolishor dowdy dress. One could
see at once that she was conscious that s8s-
thetic' ideas are really very beautiful in
themselves when not pursued too far and too
foolishy
However, the clock struck, and was re-
minded that had no time to lose. Hastily
putting. my papers together, / prepared to
go out for half an hour, for lunch. Sudden
~ thought struck mel Was it safe to leave
those precious papers there, exposed? They
might be taken, or some one might come in
my absence and read them, and so steal a
march on me. But ridiculed the idea as
soon as it occurred to me. Pshaw! whoever
heard of anyone interfering with another s
books, or papers, or desk, in the British
Museum reading-room. just as much as
every one instinctively obeys the unwritten
law which there obtains, that no one is to
speak above whisper, so no one ever inter-
feres with anothers desk
So, dismissing the subject from my mind
buried to lunch, and was soon engaged in
the peasanter thought of how could obtain
an introduction to my starry-eyed young '@s
thete.'
OF course, although our desks for the day
were side by side, she might be in the far
wild west of America for all that 1 could
say to her. Between us was the invisible
but very real and powerful barrier of conven-
tional prophecy; and though SO near, yet
was far! And then the time-I had no time
for thinking even of the matter. The work
in hand must be done, and quickly, too, if 1
would be successful, as meant to be, and it
would require all my thought.
Resolutely banishing my fair aesthetic
from my mind, therefore, / hurriedly finished
my lunch, and returned to the reading room.