The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-12-06
THE LOST MANUSCRIPT.
An EditoriaI TRomance,

An Editorial Romance.
Mr.. Parker was flurried his face was
disturbed, almost distorted, by an I'M
usual expression of annoyance and dis
gust; and when his Eyeglasses dropped
from his nose, as they had a way of do
ing, he replaced them with kind of vic
iOus energy. His desk was in a state
of chaos to which he had reduced il in
n half-hOur's search of increasing vigOr;
usually it was a model of neatness and
order, every pigeon-hole was distinctly
marked and dedicated to a specific pur-
pose, and every paper lodged in any
one of these carefully Disseminated
apertures was numbered, dated and
deity folded. 1t was part of John
Parker's character to be orderly, and it
was also the necessity of his occupation.
AS the managing editor of a popular
magazine, which furnished large cir
Gle of readers with a monthly INSTALL
ment of the best current literature, he
found himself in the vortex of n whirl-
pool of correspondence and manu-
scripts that came in every morning with
the buoyant energy of q fiood-tide, and
subsidized every afternoon with the
languid, reluctant movement of an ebb
that always left a discOuraging debris
behind There were days when Mr.
Parker actually hated the mail, and
mentally wished that the Government
might come to some temporary ruin in
order that the mails might be suspend
ed for a week. But the wished-for dis
turbance never came, and the Govern
ment continued to perform its functions
as letter-carrier with deliberate regular
ity.
The work of conducting a large cor
respondence was onerous enough, but it
was the reading of manuscripts which
devoured Mr.. Parker's time, consumed
his mental vigor, exhausted his patience
and kept him continually on the verge
of resigning his position. They came
from all quarters of our own capacious
country and from beyond the seas; they
treated every possible theme in every
conceivable manner, and they exhibit
ed every variety of penmanship from
the formal precision of apparent copper
plate to the free, bold hand which
scorned all the traditions of chirog-
raphv.
When Mr.. Parker reached his Office
in the morning he exchanged the Prince
Albert frock coat which he uniformly
wore for a less pTetentious garment,
carefully adjusted his eyeglasses. and
seated himself at his desk with an ex-
preston i'm which Roman fortitude and
Christian resignation were happily
mingled. He proceeded to separate the
heap of manuscripts which an assistant
had placed before him into three smaller
piles; in one he collected all the verse,
in a second all the stories, and in a
third all the miscellaneous contribu-
tions. Then he read, conscientiously,
verse, tale and essay, marked the larger
number of each kind with an unhesitat-
ing and unmistakable r, noted the fact
of acceptance on one or two, and re-
served a few for further consideration
As rule, this work brought him to
midday, and to the second chapter of
his daily task.
At thirty, Mr.. Parker had already ac-
quired an orderliness which had become
a second nature; and, therefore, he was
uncommonly Hurried and disturbed on
this particular morning by his inability
to lind certain manuscript which he
had read folded and Endorsed with his
approval one week before In his en-
deavOr to find it he had thoroughly ex-
amined every part of his desk, searched
every pigeon-hole, and now, flushed and
a little dusty, he was celebrating as to
what be should do next At length he
touched an electric bell at the side of
his desk, and was Immediately con-
trOnted by "a small boy.
ASK Mr.. Perkins to come here a mo-
ment."
The boy disappeared, and was re-
placed moment later by Mr.. Perkins,
who also wore Eyeglasses, and was one
of the assistant editors.
GOOD morning. Mr.. Perkins. | am
a good deal troubled because / have
mislaid a manuscript. Ii came about a
week ago, and was a very uncommon
story. The title was John Dolline's
Quest. Do YOU recollect seeing it?''
Mr.. Parker looked at the assistant
editor with the evident hope of an an
swer that would end his perpleXity. but
he was doomed TO disappointment: Mr.
Perkins had not read the manuscript,
and knew nothing about it. Mr. Par
ker thereupon, and very deliberately,
examined his desk a second time with
out any result, then walked up and
down his Office a few minutes in evident
vexation, and finally recovered himself
with an effort, rang for a stenographer, /
and addressed himself to his CORE |
spondence.
At half-past four Mr.. Parker was
ready to leave his Office; he had cleared |
his desk. resumed his Prince Albert I
frock. and was on the point of putting
on his light overcoat, when the boy /
brought him a card. He put on his /
eyeglasses and looked at it suspicious /
"; he evidently expected new con
tributor.
Miss Elinor Ferguson" he NUT
tered. soto rOcc; "whO in the world is \
sheP Well" speaking to the boy. who /
stood waiting, ''show her in /