The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-12-07
MY SHORT STORY.

weak one there, putting in touch of
rhetorical ornament in one place and
removing it where it seemed overdrawn
in another, until l thought land my
wife, too that the style was just per-
feet
Then my wife copied it off in her
own hand, to make sure that it should
be perfectly legible, and we both went
over it together, to see that the dots and
crosses, hyphens and quotation marks, |
capitals and punctuation were all i'll |
due order, for we were determined that |
the editor of The - Magazine should |
not be tempted to rejection by any
carelessness in the preparation of the
manuscript. a stamped envelope was
inclosod for its return, if not available,
and the story was consigned to the
mail.
For the next two or three days !
spent most of my spare time in trying F..
to moderate my wife's hopes, by point
ing out how many different questions |
had to be considered in deciding upon |
any given manuscript, entirely apart |
from its literary merit. My confidence
was beginning to wane, and | was anx-
ious that her pride in my ability should
not be crushed if my story should be re-
jected. Then | received short notice
stating that the manuscript had been
received and would be examined and
reported upon at an early date.
By this time we had said all we could
think of on the subject, and our CONVEX
sation turned upon other themes, but the
eagerness with which the mail was scru-
tinized whenever the pUstman came
betrayed readily enough what was up
permoSt in our minds.
At last, after a full month of wait
ing the longed for envelope came. | sat
down at my desk to open it, making
wretchedly inadequate pretense of per-
feet composure, and my wife stood look
ing over my shoulder. With trembling
hand | tore open the envelope and drew
forth a small slip Of paper:
your manuscript, entitled "A Moon
light Romance has been accepted for
publication. Remittance for the same
will be made in due course.
There it stood in black and white,
with the EDITORS signature at the bot
tom. Ny wife threw her arms around
my neck with a shout Of joy, and up
-. Il ;.1.,,,i i, ,,,,- oeF,rt q, MAKO n
G.. 5I...,,.i,,, - ,,,,. foo1ir,,s
80 ~, IL, ord ,osto,;tv
- "a ,,,,. &c ard fo,no in tbe
I;1.a,,;as - E,,l,I;sL iitor,t,,re along
.,.i+t, 40 onoo,,,,fs of Dicl,ens and scott
49,, - IIrl,,,o,, ,,,d IJo,rolls,
Ne r., r,,,lI,,Lod tive 20 rocova,
"Iio nt''iar,t1,, =, euool, hoforo was
dooidi,,c, which ono of the great maga-
80 sho,,Id no ,,or,,it+ed 70 nnblisb INV
- - a,,d t,bat stvIe of binding I
rLa,,Id obooso for NV frst collected
,,oI,1,,,o
A. soon nc our exci+ement suhsided a
,;..io ~, 80, 20 s,,oc,,iata nc IN the
Dl,,,,1o o,,,o,,,,t of tho nr,,mised remit
i p-oo., ia tI,l +;,,,a Wen IL would come
o.. 49,, Ia+ta,. ,,oi,,+ we soon decided that
.a-,,,1o,,t ia ,,robobIv NOT be made
I'll the story shonld he nublished. hut
~, +ha for,,,er we found more difficulty
-, oo,,,i,7I, 10 AZ, agroen,ent Icalculated
tbot tbe story yonld make 70 TO Ia
noges and did NOT expect more than
800 ner mage, or somewhere in the
neighhorhood Of $3.50 for the whole.
Rut NV wife was ouite sure that il
would be more She had read that as
mucb as $500 was often paid, and some.
times when the writer was very popu.
lar. even more than that. OF course
was not vet known as a story writer,
hnt the story was so good. and the edi.
for would be so anxious to secure my
future work, that she felt sure he would
nav at least one-half more than / sug.
pested
After two or three days of happiness,
during which | made a rough draft Of
three more short stories. purchased a
ream of writing paper and meditated
more or less concerning a serial, we
began to talk about what we should do
with our money for the Moonlight
Romance. We decided at once that ]
must have the works Of such of the
standard English novelists as were not
already on my shelves. These, in good,
plain editions, made for use instead of
show, we thought could be had for
about $50. Then | felt sure that my
wife would have many distinguished
callers as soon as my literary position
should become known, and her parlor
was rather shabby. So | told her she
must have it repapered and put down a
new brussels carpet. That would take
$50 more. We had both staid close at
home all the previous year in order to
save money for the last payment on our
house, and so we concluded to take a
"trip on the lakes, which would cost
about 500. We did not feel like doing
this, however, without some additions
TO our respective wardrobes, which
would take probably $40 more As these
items went little above my estimate,
we concluded not to settle definitely
upon anything else for the present, but
threw out hint about new piano,
if her opinion as to the worth of my