Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-07-17
THE AUTHOR or "CALLED
BACK"

"Ycs," said Mr.. Arrowsmith, "the
death of Hugh Conway was shock to
me although late kilograms from MIR.
Fargus at Monte Carlo had prepared
me for the worst. You see, apart from
my business connection, a very close
friendship had existed between us from
YOUTH
The gentleman who made these re-
marks was Mr.. j. W. Arrowsmiih, Of
Bristol, to whose enterprise is due the
publication of Called Back" We
were seated in Mr.. Arrowsmith's sane
tum sanctorium in Quay street, Bris-
tol. The four walls of the apartment
denoted the versatile sympathies of its
daily occupant Mr.. Arrowsmith is.
should say. on the bright side of 30
chatty, agreeable. and well-informed.
When | mentioned the name of Hugh
Conway, ! could judge from the de-
meanor of my vis-a-vis that | had hit
upon the subject just then uppermost
in his mind. Yes" he broke in.
''Fred Fargus was remarkable man;
and | must tell you, as you will natur-
ally suppose, that 1 have no patience
with the quidnuncs who kept saying
thu' hc "icd III tho iui'"cnS VI MS
lame. remember years ago fargus
went in for writing satlrlcal skits IN
rhyme, which he distrlout' among
his friends, much to their satisfaction.
In 1881 ! made up my mind to publish
Christmas annual, and l asked Far
gus to do something for me. lie con-
sentcd, and spun me off short poem,
called The Golden Page Of Youth
But he did more; he turned his prem
ticc hand to prose, which was conceIv-
ca in his peculiarly weird vein OF fancy.
This was entitled The Daughter OF the
Stars, and it was absolutely the first
attempt at storytelling made by Hugh
Conway. can say 1t set the Thames
on fire, but 1t was pretty extensively
read. After that he managed to get II
place on Bldckwoods and Chambers
Jou'nal. A year elapsed, and l want
ed something fresh Tor my annual OF
1883, SO applied to my friend Far
gus,
"lie promptly produced the MS. of
called Back, remarking AT the time,
! remember, that 1t had cost him ten
weeks labor. l was not quite decided
in my own mind about the value of
another mystic tale, out ! carefully
went over the copy, ana IN quail
fed spirit OF criticism thought 1T would
do. AS Tor Fargus himself. he was
from the hrst confident OF It's success,
This was IN November, lSS3-l always
issue my annual early. AS to terms.
offered Fargus tSo Tor the copyright OF
his new story. lie did not at hrst seem
particularly satisfied with this; but
eventually he agreed. did not feel
myself safe to pay more because was
not quite SO sure OF my author-in fact,
will confess to you that l was not
violently struck with the plot OF Call
cd BACK, as had read IL IN Ms'
'Nell' the mover became my abso-
lutte property for ESQ, and l set about
getting 1t up IN moderately attractive
form ANA now occurred circum-
stance curious enough IN the Annals OF
Pupiish'hS' anu one "hich i peiieVe Is
nol semera',y huo"h' Puoiisheu
Caiicu pack III roya' oVo eoit'oh OF
some ninety pages IL Simply icli nat
as aitch wafer "o,se iuch -cohtih,
uca DIR. Arrowslhith Win comical
expression oi ruei"iiiess' "hlch suS
gesteu kno"ledSe OF heaps OF uhsold
copies piieo away somewhere IN the re.
cesses oi ms premises "A printed OF
thiS collion In NoVethoer o,ooo copies
ana uespite inc iact that IL was pup
iisheu at o., ie"rmlseraoiy iew-
were solu, Durihg TINS periou OF ue-
preston useu 10 DC irrltated py the
daily cheeriulness OF fargus. vi
course ne haa no FISK IN the venture
"hatever' ana coula anofu 10 come
arouhu my once anu gicelu',y sPecu-
late as 10 "hat ,nen sauiy ueeineu 10
DC gross iinpropaoili,les. His ia,tn IN
the ultlmate popularity OF Salied
back was SO remarkably unai.erapIe
that sometimes was tempted TO take
courage anu Jon nm IN MS ~ahuerihss
IN the air casties~i success.
"Ahd u was not long peiore MS
prophecies were realized ny some
fortune Mr., Comyns Carr h'a the pook
placed in his hands as one likely to
move his dramatic instincts IL Is re-