The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-11-21
AUTHOR OF "cALLED BACK
Pali Mall Gaxette.l

"Yes," sad Mir. ArTowsmith, "the dea'h ot Hugh Conway was a shock to me although late telegrams from Mir FArsus at Monte Carl had prepare cd me tor the worst. You see, apart from my business connection, a very close friend sh'p had existed between us from youth"
 The gentleman who made these re- marks was Mir. ] w ArIowsml,h, ot Bis. toi, to whose enterprise is due the puoll cation of ( .lled Back" We were seated in Mir. Auowsmuh sanctum sanctorum ID QIay street, Bristol. The four walls ol the apartment denoted the versatile sym pathle> of its daily occupant Mir. Arrow smith IS, should say, on the bright side ot thn,y -chat,y, agreeable and well-in formed
 When mentioned the name of Hugh Conway"l could ldge from the demean- or cf my vis-a-vis that l had hn upon ,he subject just then uppermost in his mind
 Yes he broke m, Fred Fargus was a remarkable man and must tell you as you will naturally suppose, that have no patience with the quidnuncs who kept saying that he died in the iullncss of his fame. remember years ago Fargus went in for writing sa;Tical ski;s in thyme which he oIstTibuied among hiS friends, much to their satisfaction. In I88I made up my mind to publish a CnrtsmAs annual and l asked FAyKus to do something for me. He consented and spun me of shert poem, called The Golden Page of Youth I,ut he did more he turned his prentice hand 10 prose, which was conceived m his pc kulia,ly weird vein of fancy. This was entitled The Daughter of the S,ars, and 1t was absolutely the first attempt al story telling made by Hugh Conway can say II set the Thames on hre.' but it was ptetty extensively read Afer that he managed to get pl tee on RIackWaOd apd Chambe's /oHrnaL AyeaT elapse and 1 Wa. ~d some .nIng fIe.n for my an- nual of 1885 so l applied to my friend FArgus.
 He promptly produced the MS of Called B lck Tem4r&lng at the tune, l remember tn At it had cost hun ten weeks labor. 1 was not quite decided Tn my own mind about the value of another mystic tale, bu, 1 carefully went over the copy and in qualified spirit of criticism thought il would do.' As 10, 1 FaTgus himself, he WAS from the fTst coLhde ot IS success. rhs was Tn | nual e4tly. Az to terms, 1 oH-tcd Far gus So for tue copyright fl hls new stoty he dId not a, fist seem particu. larry satisfied with this but eventually he agreed T did not feel myself sate to pay more, becau,e was not quite so sure of my author in fact, 1 will confess to you that was not v'olently struck with the plot of Called E .ck, as l had read Il in Ms "Weil, the novel became my absolute property for L8o. and st about 6 etting it up Tn a III ,deTateiy attr 4otive form And nov ocC uTed a CiToumsts1ce cotious eooush in ,he annals of pu olishi ing. and one which believe is not generally known published Called Blck Tn a royal 8vo cation o' some n'ne'y pages IL simply fell fiat as ditch water worse luck, cont,nued Mir. Arrow. mith with comIcal expression of ruetuiness, which l suggested a kno~ledge of heaps Cf un sold copies piled away sonewhsrc n the recesses of his prem ses. printed Of this edition in November } coo copies and despite the tact that ~a, published at 6i, fe~-miserably few-weTe sold Dlnng this period of depression used to DC irntated by the daily checrfulL ess
 
 the venture whatever. and could AaHd to come around my off . and gleetuliy ,pecsiate as to wha, ! then sadly deemed to be gross improb sbil,ues His faith in the ultimate popularity Of Called Back was so remaTkaoly unAiterable that l 50 ne'imes was tempted to take couTA age and join him ID his wanderings in the ar cas,ies of success.
 And il was no, long before his pro- pheoes were realz-d. By some for. tune Mir. Comyns Carr had the book l placed m his hands as one likely to move | ms dram ziic instincts. IL is reported that mat gentle m n vent to sleep in search. ing for the merits of the s'oTy. But that ! was ia the eveping. Next morbing he | made a further essay. and ~as al length | so captiyated by Es fiohne.s of ID ident | hai he islegra pbed str4igat away to F Fr- gus ~ith whom be was intim ate propo- | suion to colaooT4se with him m or4ms- i.ziog it. Almost simultaneously a Lon- q paper saw ID the book what all the world has discovered in II since
 |" Then the fl itter came" went on Mir Arro~smi'h, with evident satisiactioa
 0 the second day aiter~a,a 1 vas d: leged w1th telesrams ordering Called Back -
 "Wben I discovered the almost dag ring success of the novel Immediately made an offer to cancel my absolute pro rrietAry right. 1 agreed to pay bim loyalty upon each copy sold and when tell you thas someihing like 3zo 900 have been disposed of, you will g.ess the sums