The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-21

JOhnSOnS book was out his library
door was locked. and the author sat be-
fore the blazing FIRE inhaling the delicate
aroma of an after-dinner cigar. deep in
the anticipated delights OF a first glance
among the uncut pages Of the virgin vol
time that rested beside him on the table.
n messenger boy had brought it with
the compliments Of the publishers not
ten minutes before. and johnson under
the plea Of important business. had hied
him from the bosom of his family 10
gloat in quiet over this offspring of his
brain. Settling himself comfortably in
the big arm chair. he took the cleaning
walrus tusk that served as a paper
cutter, and. pushing it slowly beneath
the string of the package, burst the
bands. The thick, brown covering part
ed, there came CLEAN Of flashing tin
corner protectors, a rustic Of tissue pa
per and Johnson's book. his first at
tempt, lay in view before him. What
his sensations were It would be useless
TO describe; e.-ery author knows them.
II need only be said that closing his
eyes for a moment. Johnson experienced
that peculiar delight and satisfaction
which come out once IN a lifetime and
Is gone like n fleeing shadow. He first
looked at the binding. II was a credit
To the publisher to him. and TO the inn
portance Of the subject: rich, beautiful.
even aesthetic Again he looked into the
fire, holding the volume caressingly as
he watched the flames play through the
smoke and Cinders. and for another few
moments INDUCED IN the intoxicating de
lights Of authorship, "a weakness which
he would have scorned to exhibit in pub
lie Recovering himself he turned TO
the title page. Ah, there il was: Absa-
lon Courtney Johnson. He read every
letter. then scanned each word; gazed
at II from the north. from the southeast,
from every point in the compass. from
above and below. He fingered over il
long and tenderly until the ashes Of his
cigar rolled up his sleeve. then ne turned
to the table Of contents. the list Of il
Illustrations, and finally began the pref
ace, reading It over and over, coming to
the initials \. G. J. each time with a
great and growing satisfaction. Then
he conned the succeeding pages. finding
new pleasure in the lines and the aD-
l'earance Of the work, and finally. as the
gong of the mantel clock sounded the
hour of IL. laid the book down and rose,
conscious that new epoch in hts career
had begun.
Johnson was well acquainted with him
sell as the saying goes. Tic was a prac-
ucal business man, possessed Of all the
natural ShreWdnesS that undprlieS Sic
cess in trade. and being a conscientious
man he did not have SO high an opin-
ion of his Intellectual powers as he
wished the world to have: hence. in this
evening Of pleasure i'm his sensations Of
delight and triumph, there had been n
faint element of surprise that he had
been able 10 produce a book Of this kind
AS he thought it over. ne slowly came to
the conclusion. however. that a man
may be a genius and his innate modesty
never md il out except by possible acct
dent The more he considered the mat
ter, the longer he gazed al the volume
the more he became convinced that for
years he had been blind 80 a. Ginning
nEht burning within him, and that by
conSecrating all his efforts to the canned
goods interest he had possibly deprived
the public OF valuable services in the
field of letters
This line of reason was accumuIative.
and turning out the gas, Johnson walked
upstairs TO the partner of his joys and
sorrows with a newborn dignity.
Mrs johnson Immediately noticed it.
Whats the matter?' she exclaimed
dropping the coil OF hair which she was
unwinding with that peculiar back
hand motion possible only To her sex
She had caught the new expression in
the mirror, and as she turned Johnson
book
Mrs. Johnson took the volume curl
ously, opened il at the title page. and as
the authors name greeted her eyes she
turned slightly pale, then flushed. ex-
claiming naively, "AbsalOm, YOU don't
mean to say
But I do" retorted Mr.. Johnson.
fo.ding his wife in his arms: and if any
one had been on the other side they
might have seen a salt and plethoric
tear Of supreme JOY and gladness cOurs-
ing down the authors cheek.
It was but the weakness of a moment;
recovering himself, with conscious pride
the author told his story: how ne had
ly1F for. he
her; how he had found publisher who
after examining the manuscript, had pro-
nOunced il one Of the most remarIa BILE
books OF the day. and had encourag ed
him TO issue it Immediately. he (JohnsOn)
paying the simple. ordinary expenses of
type-setung, binding and publishing
while they circulated the book to the
four corners OF the earth. All the mi
mute details OF the work were gone over;
now. upon various occasions. he had been
nearly caught while writing: what time
he had had keeping the proof away from
the curious eyes of the family and much
more Mrs. johnson was delighted She
had never suspected that her husband
was literary, and frankly told him so
but as Johnson had not suspected il him
self until very lately. he was not dis
cOmfited.
The following day Johnson entered
the board Of trade rooms with a new in
dividuality. The rumOr had already
gone abroad. and he was introduced 10
his colleagues by a facetiOus friend as
author" while in honor of the oc-
casion another friend had suspended from
the wall a gigantic gold pen, borrowed
from a statiOner. suggestive of the su-
premacy of that weapon either in war
or peace.
johnson" in the words Of a friend
on the bull side Of the market stood
the racket WELL" he could afford 10. as
he had produced the book and was the
lion His mail quadrupled. Congratu-
lations poured in from all quarters; like
wise requests and hints for a copy of
the work. and in one way and another
the author gave away twenty copies with
his autograph in writing on the title
page in two days.
He had previously subscribed to two
literary press-clippinE bureaus that
promised for the small sum of s. to
send him 100 notices of himself and his
book. culled from the papers of the
world. They said IL was the custom to
do this among literary men. so Johnson
did it; besides he wanted to know what
the world thought Of his efforts
Within a week OF the publication two
small local papers gave the book some
veTy favorable reviews The Evening
Herald, in which Johnson was a stock
holder published column with a sketch
Of Johnson's life. A morning paper in
which johnson & Blear We're heavy adj
vertisers, gave the merchant what the
literary reviewer called a 'hundred-and-