Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-04-04

countable trembling at the hngcr-tips. What
found inside was check for three months
| salary, with the notification to the effect
that in consequence of my great success in
| having that morning made The Blunderer
| the laughing stock Of all London, the pro-
prietors considered il due recognition Of my
talents that / should not enter the Office
again. For explanation / was referred to
the enclosed cuttings from that days daily
newspapers. i lifted one Of the slips from
out of the envelope, and what then met my
eyes caused me to stagger back speeches.
and breathless against the wall, for there in
that brief announcement of the postpone
ment at the last moment of For Life or
Death saw the evidence of the horrible
| treachery of which had been a victim The
evidence of my own ruin, utter and ire
mediable, stared me in the face. / had actu-
ally written detailed report and criticism
of an audience which had never assembled
of actors who had never appeared, Of a
piece which had never been produced
"What need is there for me to tell you
more, when you can guess the rest for your
selfl You don't want to hear that and the
papers with which i had been connected
came the by-word and scoff of England, and
vived the shock Nor do you need to be told
that the few hundred enemies whom had
contrived to raise around me by exceeding
smartness turned the story in all ways so as
to tell to my disadvantage, or that my jour-
nalistic career, which meant my livelihood,
was practically at an end, if you can under
stand the charitable eyes with which an ed
itor would be apt to look upon that kind of
mistake. Whatever | tried, wherever
went, to London or the provinces, it was
always the same-the black shadow pursued
me and closed every door in my face. Liz
zie, of all the world, was the only one who
chung to me in my trouble, and insisted on
carrying out her promise and marrying me
in the teeth of her parents, who threw her
off when they found her bent on allying
herself to pauper. She struggled on my
side for two years, comforting and sustain
ing me in our bitterest adversely with her
love and faith, until Que day she died in my
arms, and the light of my life went out.
Then, having nothing else in the world to
cling to, l chung to the drink the while it
dragged me down, down. down to what
am.
lone thing more have to MENTION" said
the sandwich man, as he rose from his seat
and proceeded to hang the boards over his
shoulders again; sit was one day some
months after the events described that l
met Scrubby. L can't for the life of me I'M
derstand how you came to fall into that ter
rible blunder,' he said, especially after
the note left for you, telling how we had
all gone down to the theater on a wild-goose
chase, only to find that the piece was post
poned until the following week.
"Note! Left forme by you!' l calculated.
"Yes!-No! now come to think of it, 1
didn't leave the note. wanted to go down
to the Parthenon to see the new burlesQue,
but gave it to man who said he would be
passing the club and would hand it in. Let
me see. All! have it now-you know him
Loydall, the Olympian heavy lead."-S.
Smith in Outing