Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-06-11
A PRIZE VENTURE.
BY j. j. KENNEDY.

commenced life in small rooms on a sec
ond floor, there are no long halls and
| high stairways to traverse between the
cooking and sleeping apartments. There
fore, when / heard Mary fill the kettle
and stir the fire, and the next instant
saw her beside my bed took her sudden
advent as a matter of course. But it is
confessed that her opening salutation
came weighted with an atom of surprise
'tYou know that vacant bedroom,
dear9 Well, we can furnish it now"
''Can WEI" | asked, meekly. "Have
you been taking risk in stocks2"
Here it Isl" she said, with sudden
tremor in her voice and futter in her
hands. "a thousand dollars for forty
three stories. A hundred dollars
for one. fifty for another, and so on
down And newspaper men are espe-
ciaily invited TO try. You must take a
day off, and when we get the hundred
dollars we can fit up the spare room
Let me see-forty dollars for a chamber
set, twenty dollars for a carpet, ten dol
lars Tor pictures-and then we will send
ten more to father and mother to pay
their fare here and make us that long
promised visit. Only hundred dollars,
Jack, and see what happiness it brings"
And the dear girl threw her arms about
my neck and gave me arousing kiss.
Well, when she settled down to solid
facts, produced a copy of the Chicago
Cugvent, and showed me the tempting
offer in plain black and white, l grew in
| terested. | knew that newspaper men,
and especially young reporters, had little
time for true literary work, but imagined
that with an incentive to spur me on l
could gain an odd half day or so in the
next two weeks, and write out some of
the fragmentary ideas that had tloated
through my mind for several years, in
patient waiting for clothing and habita-
ton. We had no difficulty in agreeing
that the attempt should be made, and
none whatever as to the use to which the
prize money should be put. Mary had
disposed of that without aid from me.
The only question that confronted us was
the character of the story, its location,
tone and treatment. We gave the whole
noon hour to its discussion
+" You must be CAREFUL said Mary.
with the air Of one who for years had
filled a professorship in college for the
education of fiction writer's, Ito give it
a conversational form. Long paragraphs
don't look well, and readers are tempted
to skip. Put little love making
"That's trite, said /.
Is it? Well, people never grow
tired of it. Make it end happily, what
ever you do. Bret Harte's school NAV
suit the Bret Harte's, but one doesn't
| like to be sent away from story with a
suicide or hanging as the finale; and
above all things, Jack, chose subject
about which you know something. Don't
founder around in mystic or far-away
region on which you have never set
eyes,
''How would Alaska do9" l asked, SOL
emily.
What do you know about Alaskan
Or the Desert of Sahara2 Or Patagonia
Keep inside of Ohio Make it short.
terse and put into it not only what might
easily happen, but something that has
happened"
| left her cleaning off the table and
singing softly to herself ! was due at
the Office ofGhe Daily Neptune at P. NJ,
to receive my assignment of local work
had left hope blossoming at home
/ AAdS kAAN O0y OC AASAC O1 WOlAs
and that might return soon and give a
few hours to the opening of my prize
story. The plot formed itself on my
walk to the street cars, and the scenes
unfolded and fitted into each other as
the slow steeds covered the three miles
between my home and the office would
be back by four, three hours of good
work would help me along, could close
it up on Sunday, Mary could copy it at
her leisure. the hundred dollars would
really be a godsend.
you must get a rig Immediately. 2
said the city editor, land drive out to
the Five-AIile Lock There has been a
powder-mill explosion and several men
killed. Throw yourself, Smithy, on
this, as it has the making of sensa-
ton y
The newspaper instinct was alive
and at work | forgot all about the
story. the prize money, and had time
for only one tender regret for the disap-
pointeIs little wife at home. The dav
was cold, and the rain had turned to
snow, the distance was long, the roads
heavy, and the pursuit of information
difficult amid the chaos that Eeigned all
about the lock But my note book was
eventually loaded, and decided to stop