Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1895-02-21

nothing Of the inner life Of literary
London, and since joining the sts4 oe
the Acadaneum have been Too buy
to pay attention to II. Have You, thel.
no power on the magazine with which
your name is Connected"
"Oh, / have the power II choose %
exercise It; but ! have very little taste
for the drudgery Of editing, and leavs
1t entirely In the hands Of my nbos.
dinates"
"what you say" said Trigg, 'in-
terests me more than you can b aware
Of. would like, II you do not mind,
TO show you some daya number Of lot
ters have had from the Office Of your
magazine"
II should be pleased TO sec them"
answered the other, and they made N
appointment to meet OF the club Of the
editor.
The old man was very much aston
ishcd when he saw the letters
"These alleged extracts from notes
Of mine are not in my writing. They
were never written by me. II Denton
wished to reject your MSS. he should d
least have had the. honesty to take tho
responsibility upon himself"
The next week Trigg received q note
from the editor Of the magazine IN
question. 1t was to the following e.
feet:
III you think 1t worth IN item u
your usual column Of literary notes
you have my authority for making tho
announcement that Alfred Denton, tor
many years subeditor Of the - maya
zine, Is no longer connected with that
periodical
Trigg chuckled as he read this lev
ter,
Denton" he said to himself, the
treacherous scoundrel, will find ont
now that 1t Is easier to lose situation
like that than to get smother" Andhs
added cutting line to the item b.
wrote about his former friend, which,
without being libelous, indicated that
Dentons leaving Of the magazine VA
practically dismissal In Disgrace.
Denton soon realized that rumors
were abroad about him, and hie
endeavors to get fresh footing
In the line that led to ultimate edit
orship were discouraging failurea II
was under these circumstances that b
wrote his first book and had II pub
lIshed under a nom dc plume.
1t CALLED Trigg for many day after
to know that what he wrote about thia
book was upon the whole favorable,
indeed exceedingly favorable for TFigg,
who ut once recognized the merit Of
the work without in the least guessing
who Its author was.
By this time Trigg had reached >
commanding position upon bis paper,
and what he wrote for its columns VA
printed as he wrote II, with no blus
pencil supervision.
Denton, pleased with the SUCCESS Of
his first book, allowed It to be ~.
nounced that he was the anonymous
author.
Trigg gnashed his teeth when be
realized that he had helped his enemy,
but he held his peace and waited.
A three.volume novel was announced
When those three volumes came To ~
Acadaneum office, Trigg felt that BIZ
time for vengeance had come. 10 o.
voted page to 1t. Nothing 10 bitter
and SO crushing even before or since
appeared in the cynical columns Of
that paper. 1t was mercilesa, and
everyone recognized that Denton had
received his dcath-blow as novelist
None realized this more than Denton
himself, who was driven to the verge
Of dispair. His publisher was appalled,,
and he and the author had conlplta-
ton, but both admitted that nothing
could be done.
BY all laws Of logic the sale Of tho
book should have stopped ct that
moment, but the very contrary was the
case. The ferceness and the msgni-
tudc Of the attack ut once gave Denton
q place in the world Of literature that
1t might in the ordinary course Of
events have taken years to attain.
There instantly arose discussion
about the book in various papers
throughout the country. The demand
for II increased. People wanted to
read work that had been SO merci-
lessly slated The libraries sent In
order after order, and second edition
was announced. Still the demand kept
up, and as the book had genuine merit
and rs the attack was In reality villain.
ously unfair although Economically
clever, public sympathy began to veer
towards the author.
The FIRST edition Of the novel In cheap
form was sold the day Of publication,
and was speedily followed by second
and third and o fourth.
1t Is quite possible for critic TO
overestimatc his power, and II was
some time before Trigg realized that
his revenge was boomerang. Hls
criticize had been the making Of bis On.
envy, and Denton's position in tho lit
erary world was now assured, No ono
could destroy 1t but himself, and, a.
everyone knows, he was too clever 4
man to do that, His succeeding boQk1
have more than borne out the promise
Of the first and second,
Thus II happened that each map'e
upon tho other succeeded "a
placing In both cases the square beg
In the square hole, and although thesA
two men were the making Of eA0k
other, although each, In reality, WI
the others best friend with the WORT
yet such Is the contssyiues4
Of human nature, that no two people
In London hate each other 20 bitterly
rs Frederick Trigg and Alfred Denton.
Detroit Free Press
-.0no historv ~ oostumea 0ivAa 1 .Ak9