The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1895-03-07

tion upon the Acadaneum, great |
weekly critical journal. His own try
ing experience had added just the
which the Acadaneum delighted in, and
Trigg speedily rose in the estimation
of his superiors on the paper.
Trigg naturally hated successful
men.
One night at large literary dinner
he found himself next an old man who
was introduced to him as the editor of
the magazine of which his friend Den
ton was the sub. Trigg had by this
time become known as a rising man in
what may be termed the cruel school
of criticism, and the aged editor was
very gracious to him.
81 wish" he said at last, that you
could find time to write us an article
on any subject that pleased you"
Trigg turned npon the benevolent old
man.
''And l WISH" he replied, ''as did the
Scriptural character, that you would
write book"
The old man beamed upon him with
surprise.
1.-THE Scriptural character" he said,
''hoped that his enemy would write
book. am certainly not an enemy Of
yours"
mot now. perhaps" said Trigg bru-
tally. "You are like all the rest. You
doesn't need it. Now that am get
ting along you ask me to write for
your magazine, ignoring the fact that
you have rejected more INNS. of mine
than any other man in London, which
is saying good deal"
The editor looked at him now with
genuine surprise in his eyes.
"My dear SIR he said, ''you are Ia
boring under some strange mistake. l
never in my life saw MMS. of yours"
81 am sorry to contradict yon.' re-
piled Trigg, "but have too many let
ters in my possession which tend to
prove the contrary. l have, believe
some in your own handwriting, not in
| tended for my eyes, of course, in which
you speak with great frankness, OF
| what you were pleased to term the
utter driver l have written"
Il would like very much, said the
surprised editor, ito see one of those
| letters. To tell the truth l am getting
on in years, and my position on the
magazine is largely nominal. l occa-
sionally contribute something, but the
MSS. sent in are entirely dealt with
by our reader and finally by Mr.. Den
ton. He is the real editor of the maga-
zine, as thought everybody knew, and
has been for the past ten years"
"You surprise me- said Trigg. ''Of
course until quite recently have known
nothing of the inner life of literary
London, and since joining the staff of
the Acadaneum 1 have been too busy
to pay attention to it. Have you, then,
no power on the magazine with which
your name is connected?"
| sOh, l have the power if / choose to
exercise it; but have very little taste
| for the drudgery of editing, and ! leave
| it entirely in the hands of my subor
dinates."
what you say" said Trigg, in
| terests me more than you can be aware
of. l would like, if you do not mind,
to show you some day number of let
| ters have had from the office of your
| magazine"
81 should be pleased to see them,"
answered the other, and they made an
appointment to meet at the club of the
| editor.
The old man was very much aston
| ished when he saw the letters.
''These alleged extracts from notes
| of mine are not in my writing. They
| were never written by me. If Denton
wished to reject your MSS. he should at
least have had the honesty to take the
| responsibility upon himself.
The next week Trigg received a note
| from the editor of the magazine in
| question. 1t was to the following eff
| feet:
'sIf you think it worth an item in
your usual column of literary notes
you have my authority for making the
| announcement that Alfred Denton, for
| many years subeditor of the - maga-
| zine, is no longer connected with that
periodical"
Trigg chuckled as he read this let
| ter,
denton" he said to himself, 'the
treacherous scoundrel, will find out
now that it is easier to lose situation
like that than to get another" And he
added cutting line to the item he
wrote about his former friend, which,
without being libelous, indicated that
Denton's leaving of the magazine was
| practically dismissal in disgrace.
Denton soon realized that rumors
| were abroad about him, and his
endeavors to get fresh footing
in the line that led to ultimate edit
orship were discouraging failures 1t
was under these circumstances that he
wrote his first book and had it pub
lished under a nom de plume.
1t CALLED Trigg for many day after
| to know that what he wrote about this
book was upon the whole favorable,
indeed exceedingly favorable for Trigg,
| who at once recognized the merit of
| the work without in the least guessing
who its author was.
BY this time Trigg had reached a
commanding position upon his paper,
1 and what ho wrote for IFS columns Has