Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-02-03
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COPYRIGHT 1898 bT J1LpnNCTT COMPANY,
PUBLISHED bY 5PTCIA[ ENHANCEMENT WITH TnEKy
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a goblet with brandy and laughed aloud
as the decanter clinked against the glass
i'll his hand, laugh that subsidized to a
/ chuckle and rose again. beating upon the
( stiffness like the wings of u Gagged bird.
ut wouldn't be out of order to drink
a toast to my own defeat"
When he re-entered his studio few
months later, his eyes We're flaming.
though the smile-a hideous contortion
fingered on his lips.
An open letter ON his disordered desk
faced him as he sat down. The closing
lines caught his eye:
+ viii finally withdraw 1.-THE Worlds Way"
from the road in a fortnight. Now that four
act society drama is what I'm waiting for. In
two years I've had only two curtain raisers
from you-Tags of things that only drew at all
because your name was to them. If | can't rely
/ on you, must look elsewhere. If you're not
I going TO write any more, for Gods sake say SO.
GEORGE PLUNKET.
! He read it and tore it to bits. There
was sob in his throat as his eager hands
went searching through the mass of pa
pers for half sketched plots and notes of
ideas not worth the leaves they were
/ scrawled upon. He would not even
leave scrap. All should be destroyed.
And these crowded, dusty drawers,
they, too, must be emptied, lest some
day when he had sunk into comfortable
apathy, with only profound respect
for the well being Of the body, he might
open them and hear each futtering leaf
/ whisper how he had once dreamed a
dream.
He worked with an eager intensity, as
/ If following his hearts desire. even went
on his knees and scattered the scrawled
sheets right and left, then paused alb
ruptly and looked with puzzled eyes at
what he had dragged out-a long roll of
manuscript, dusty and tied with gray
tape. He did not remember it. had new
er seen it before Yet, wait. Now that
it lay unfolded before him, fully writ
| ten play, he did recall the title, Doctor
Fleming
Just before his departure for Europe,
distinguished looking man in the ira
ditional shabbiness of unrecognized gen.
ius had called on him with this play,
asking in shy, embarrassed way that
he, the splendidly prosperous young au-
thor, would read it and tell him what its
merits We're. His papers were never
/ touched by his servant. 1t had lain for
| gotten in his desk fer more than a year.
And the man who had brought it-where
was he?
Still lneeling among the mass of dusty
papers, he turned the leaves. A letter
! futtered to the ground:
/ DEAR SRI inclose this note, as it may not
be possible to have an interview with you. The
play "Dr. Fleming" which beg you to read
4 as a favor to me, has Tor its basis incidents in
my own life. The scene in Russia is pTrticu-
larry accurate, and think presents dramatic
situation distinctly new. Your respectfully,
/ FELlX DAwsoS, No. - Bedford street.
! P. S.-lf you can find time to look it over,
you will be doing me an inestimable favor. l
] beg that you will be careful of it, as | have no
copy, and even though commercially worth
less it is very dear tome.
Very dear to you" Tom said slowly.
Il know just how you felt, Mr. Felix
Dawson, when You wrote those words,
Very dear to YOU You shall have your
treasure back
He turned the first page with pity
ing, half languid interest, but only the
first. After that he knelt amid the de-
struction of his own work, paying trib-
ute with enraptured senses to the genius
of another man. The manuscript fut-
tered to the floor when the last climax
was reached-a climax that made every
nerve vibrate and awoke his senses like
a trumpet call-and with strained, hot
hands he grasped the chair.
He looked around the silent room and
down at the bundle of half furled papers.
Oh, that imagined life pictured there
through laughter and signing, like gems
through dust and tears! 1t was more
precious than a magician's wand.
IF it were mine-if it were miner he
said aloud and woman's laugh drifted
up from the street, as if she had heard
that cry and Knocked him.