The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-19
JUDAS THE SCRIBE.

fused to act In concert at his bidding. The
blank sheet Of roolscap spread beneath his
blurred VisionasSunned at last the appear
ance Of q neagufeless space that Knocked
his incapaUity, and challenged him TO make
good his frequent boestings that ''giveu
the opportunity" he could command sue
cess" The long coveted chance Of distin.
gushing himself had come; but like Sc
many OF fortunes grudgingly bestowed
fsvors 10 bad oouae too late. His brain felt
like so much cotton wool, exposing a soft
yet obstinate resistance 10 nervous pressure
and stray thoughts expended themselves in
fruitless effGSts toward Development In
SEPARATION failed him It had been SO long
confined within high prison walls that
/ now it was unable to shake off the heavy
letters necessity had forged, and soar with
him above the regions Of bald fact and
commonplace recital
1t was no new story of which he was the
hero He had come to London, as so many
others do, full Of ambition and high aspira-
tions. He believed these last to be in pro-
cess Of realization when. soon after his ar
/ rival, he obtained one of the assistant edit
orships Of an important journal, partly
through interest and partly because of a
! semi-amateurish experience he had had in
this line at Oxford, where also he. had
greatly distinguished himself, and his
prospects OF future fame were considered
moro than promising. 1t was then his
fond belief that he had only to take the
| tide Of fortune at its food to float COM
| fortably into the desired haven. One by
one, however, hopes which sustained him
! through the first few years of his literary
experience had died, not violently, but from
! gradual inanition and he had at last re-
| signed himself to the daily routine of bust
ness, which was at least livelihood.
| Sunk in this spiritieSs content he had
! been only momentarily excited by an I'M
/ expected call for SO many columns of Origi-
nal fiction to be supplied to his own paper
at twenty-four hours notice, owing to the
! sudden illness of one of the regular staff
/ Of contributors. Well educated and well
read, with an easy flow of language, Tombs
combined a pretty literary taste that.
showing itself occasionally even in the
hack work to which he was reduced, had
led to this demand, which was due also to
the fact that, being Easter week, nearly
! everybody was out of town-among the
rest the sub-editor of Mayfair, whose espe-
cial province it was 10 have copy" in TO
serve ready for such emergencies
| This was how it happened, and now in
the deadly WEAKNESS of reaction Tombs
felt inclined to curse the train of events re-
sulting in this fortuitous good luck, which
served only co prove to him a deterioration
Of intellect he had before suspected. The
delicate flights of fancy and power of ar
tistic contrast on which he had once prided
himself might still be forthcoming were
he to get a central idea on which to hang
them; but, alasl this was lacking and the
poverty of conception of which he was so
painfully aware must prevent their being
called into requisitiOn.
As he sat there staring blankly in front
Of him a knock came to his door, and there
entered man haggard eyed as himself and
in very evident distress.
Though they met seldom midst the stress
of London life and the struggle for exist
enCe, which in either case was compulsory,
the two had been friends in early youth,
and now a memory of that close inter
course had brought the one in his dire ne
cessity to the other for sympathy and help.
The trouble was one involving the loss of
honor as well as material advantages; it
was indeed a confession 10 which Tombs
listened with breathless intensity, as
though his own interests had been at
stake The passionate outpouring met
with a warm response; they were both ir
resistibly drawn back into their old friend
ship; and the man who had come broken
down and despairins left at last with self
respect and energy.
T0mbs, once more alone, turned to his
sheet of paper, which no longer seemed so
blank nor Of such formidable size. His
imagination was kndled by the story he
had heard. 1t was just such a story as
Mayfair wanted, with strong motive,
dramatic situation and unmistakable truth
to nature Experience having taught him
to correctly measure their requirements,
he was certain that had this story come to
him at second hand he could have treated
it powerfully and made il an unqualified
success. Or if even IL had been a stranger
who on insufficient grounds had conhded
to him a secret, it might have been possible
to have used the subject matter; but e
friend. his only friend, man he had bene-
fited-for benefits conferred establish more
claim upon enc than benefits received-no!
1t was impossihle; the idea must not be
dallied with: it must be put away as
thing uncieau. a crime so base and low it
should not even be a temptation
His fingers tOyed neFvously with the pen
that had found its way into their grasp,
and while he was making a desperate en-
deavor 10 force his thoughts into another
channel. almost parallel if it must be, but
not quite similar ID design or direction,
somehow a title which fitted the story ex-
actly was writtsn at the top Of the page,
and after that the end might be fOreseen.
His pen now dew like magic. Sheet al
ter sheet was covered with the small
crooked handwriting aud allowed to tut
ter TO the tosr. Carried away by his sub
iect he wrets without cessation and with
no feeling Of fab5sgSe; At was a sigh OF re
lief rather thai c. exhaustion that escaped
his hpS SIS he ysznse the last words Then.
pale as dessth Nth excitement, DC gathered
the manuscript together and read II over
not with the tender P2rtiality Of an author
for the efTsrsias OF dis brain, but as critic;
and moreover one who has an unfair
knowledge of thR facts, who has been lace
10 face vita the model as wei as the com
plesed p;oSure.
Yet evan - he found no fault with his
compassionate It could be called his Own
when only reproduction Of anotheras
words, inbued with that others vitality
and made tragic by his despair. 8 color
crept IA ToTnhs' face, but it WIS the hue Of
shame: aud is was Dot because his hands
were trembling so, but because the paper
sturC thea. that hs laia II quickly down
He caRght sight CT himself IN an opposite
mirror. causciencs STRICKEN, afEsfd TO meet
lbs own reflection, and seized with sud
Gez. !ozthing OF his action, ''TEaiterl" he
cried aIoGd Ia bitter self contempt
Tie next uaoneus the manUscript-wss
A. IL