Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-08-11

4VU WILL CoWoANVoE t0As yON Wo1O. 90AO u
sum Of ESQ for the copyrighted 'Jemima's
Vow"
"Great heavensl" murmured Master
eat the time an alternative agreement,
price Of the book, wa submitted to you,
Meeson contracted his hairy eyebrows and
gazed at the poor girl In q way that was.
though she felt sadly Hclined to fec, still
stood to her guns. for, to tell the truth,
her need vas very great.
II could not afford to wait for the 2 per
cent, Mr.. Meoson," she said humbly.
''Oh, ye godsl Seven per cent, when he
makes about 45" mlurmured Eustace, in
the background.
POSSIBLY, Miss Smithers; possibly"
went on the great man. "You must really
forgive me II I am not acquainted with
tho exact condition Of your private affairs.
I am, however, aware from experience
that the money matters of most writing
people are a little embarrassed"
Augusta WINGED and MI. Meeson, rising
heavily from his chair, went to o largo
safe which stood near and extracted from
It Q bundle Of agreements. These he
glanced at one by one till he found what
he was looking for.
"Here is the agreement" he said. 'sIet
me sect All, I thought so-oopyright ESQ,
half proceeds Of rights Of translation, and.
o clause binding you to offer any future
work you may produce during the next
five years to our house on the z per cent.
agreement, or q sum not exceeding e100
for the copyright. Now, Miss smlthers,
what have you to sayi You signed this
paper Of your own free will. Il so hap
pens that we have made . large profit
on. your book; indeed I don't mind
telling you that we have got as much as
we gave you back from America for The
salo of the American rights; but that is
no ground Cor your coming to ask for more
money than you agreed to accept. /
never heardof such q thing in the whole
course Of my professional experience;
neverl" and he paused and once more eyed
her sternly.
cat any rate, there ought to be some.
thing to come to me from the rights Of
translation-I saw in the paper that the
book was to be translated into Ffenchapd
German" said Augusta, family.
"Ohi yes, no doubt-Eustace, obligem me
by touching tho bell"
The young gentleman did so, and q tall
melancholy looking clerk appeared
mo. 49," snarled Mr.. Meeson, in tn,
tone Of peculiar amiability that he re
served for his employees, ''make out tn
translation account Of Terminals Vow,
and fill up q check of balance due to thu
author"
No. 18 vanished like a thin, unhappy
ghost. and MI. Meeson once more nd
dressed tho girl before him. IF you want
money, Miss Smithers,"h he said, "you hai
better write us another book. lam moi
going to deny that your work is goot
work-a little too deep and not quite or
thodox enough, perhaps; but still good
I tested it myself when it came to hand
which is athing I don't often do-and saw
1t was good selling quality, and you SEQ
didn't make q mistake. I believe 'Jemi
mas Vow will sell 10000 without stop
ping-here's tho account"
As he spoke, the specter like clerk pm
down a neatly ruled bit Of paper and q,
unsigned check on the desk before his en-
and vanished.
Mr.: Meeson glanced through the %
count, signed the check and handed II, to
k0INoE WILL tuo 3COON4AvS W aNku6tAs WIZ
proceeded to read It. It ran thus:
AsausrA sx1rurns M ACCOUNT wrrn NELSON 6 q
e. q. I
10 sole Of right Of 1anslation Of "Jemi-
mas Vow into French. 0
II sale Of right Of formulation Of ''Jemi-
mas Vow'i into 0erman. ........7
Total
Les amount duo to HessSs. Ieeoon, be-
ing one half Of netprooeeds.......7
Less commission, ctc................... y 10
~
Balsnce duo to author. - per check
harawith ca