The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-02-13

Society ON the bookstall at the station.
At the Victoria bookstall l saw anothe,
heap of tho same book, and ON asking
the clerk how this book was selling he
answered, Like hot cakes. Driving
home, / saw it well in evidence at va.
rious bookshops IL was evidently a bic
success, and | wondered rather e~nvious.
~ how Ross had managed to obtain this
TOR 80 very worthless a production. ]
had purchased q copy at Victoria, and
looking over 1t in the cab had had my
first opinion of it confirmed. Tt was q
wretched piece of work, and, moreover.
disgraoefully produced, badly printed on
cheap paper and so carelessly bound
that long ere / reached my lodgings it
had come to pieces i'm my hand.
However has he managed it?'' |
cried as / remembered the very small
sales that my books, ON which I had
spent so much time and trouble, and
which had been published by some of
the first houses in London, had reached.
The mystery was solved to me as /
looked over the pile of letters which had
collected during my absence. Among
these was a thin post card, addressed
In an unfamiliar hand, upon which was
written the following communication:
DEAR srR-A sincere friend considers it his
duty to point out to you that you are cruelty
and scandalously libeied in a miserable shil.
Ling book called "A Disgrace to Society, I" pub
hshed by Messrs. Anderson q Maitland. You
owe 1t both TO yourself and to your friends to
take measures TO put a stop to the circulation
OF these fal9AhOOds ahont you
ATRuE WELL wrsHER.
Now, as soon as I had read this, hay
ing in the meanwhile forgotten all about
Ross and his book, my first impulse was
to rush out to the nearest bookstall and
to ask for a copy of the work referred
TO. Then suddenly it flashed across my
mind that / had the book in my pocket,
and remembering what / had seen at
Ross rooms / began to understand the
advertising scheme of which he had
spoken SO sanguinely, and which, ac-
cordlng to what / had seen and my |
own impulse at the moment, I had read
the post card, seemed. decidedly an ef-
fectual me-.
1 happened to meet Ross that same
evening just as he was alighting from
. hanson outside o fashionable Regent
street cafe. AS Don as he saw me he
rushed up and cried ont: What did /
tell You, old chap? Is it o success, or is
It not? We are printing the sixtieth to
SEVENTEEN thousand at this moment"
II SUPPOSE it is to you I owe this
interesting missive?" I said.
holding out the post card that I had re-
Ross glanced at it, and turning rather
ed said: II didn't know that your name
in the directory, or / would have
'iven instructions that you were not to
70 written to. Not that it matters much
Iow that the success of the book is as
ured. Well, yes, that was the idea, and
amously it, has worked. as you have ,
BEN. We sent cards to everybody i'm the !
Who's Who in the clergy list, i'm the !
section of the London directory :
nd in the law list. OF course everybody :
tho received a card Immediately rushed
u to the nearest bookseller to get the ii
ook and to find out how it referred to :
You see, everybody has more or
ss OF a skeleton in his cupboard, and q
lere You are, don't you know. A fresh
atch Of post cards is going out tonight. 8
ell me, what do you think of the B
I
II don't know" I said. ''It's origi-
certainly. Perhaps on the point of
"Oh, taste be hangedi'' cried Ross. ar
Money is the thing to be got, and mon Ri
/ am getting. That wretched little ! !
'ok which / dashed of ON my type N
in a fortnight has already brought O.
Q in yer e40O, and / wouldn't sell
y interest in it at present for twice rs
uch again. And then look what q start da
gives me as a literary fellow. Won't
o publishers be after me soon, Ross,
Q author OF the book which, without -
ing advertised OF reviewed i'm the pa =
rs, ran through over 100 editions inI
< weeks? / tell You my fortune il
thanks to that happy thought of n
/ said nothing and shortly afterwa ard
lifted him.
His sanguine hopes were not destined
realization, by a curious example Of
Q irony OF fate. On the very next day
ter ! had met him q suit for libel was
mmenced against him by a clergyman
the north of England named Burrell,
10. having his attention called to
'el on him in the form Of a story in
lich the names were 90 thinly dis
ised as to be recognizable by any one
his acquaintance, and seeing i'm the
ny a malicious and grossly exagger.
I'd version OF certain circumstances
lich had occurred in his family, in
ucted his solicitor 10 commence pro
sdings While these were pending the
blishers, to reduce their responsibility
the lowest degree possible, suspended
. sale of the book. i'm spite OF the fact
the demand for copies increased
lily. Very heavy damages were claim
by the plaintiff. The affair was,
viewer, settled out Of court, a settle
mt which, left Ross considerably out
pocket by his first and last literary
nture.
II " heard OF this fellow BurreIl
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