Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1895-10-19
Tale Of a Typewriter.

Raymond Rose sat In his comfortable
after. breakfast chair reading his after.
breakfast newspaper. All his surround
ings denoted comfort. lie was bachelor
Of thirty.five years. Ills dark and rather
large face beamed with the kindliness
which comes Of being thoroughly com.
Portable. lie was neither thin nor stout
his frame had just contrived to hit that
happy medium which Is styled ICON.
Portable"
He felt himself succcss-in literature.
At thirty five his position was assured, SO
be must, at any rate, have been m0der-
ate success. lie wrote when and what
he pleased. just now he had completed
Q volume OF short stories.
In fact, Raymond was one Of those
felicitous men who have In their life every
thing that they want-save one thing,
and they don't know what TINT Is.
So Raymond Rose read his morning
paper glanced around his own comfortable
apartment, sighed and frowned. Then,
bethinking himself Of his volume Of short
stories. turned again to the newspaper and
studied the advertisement sheet.
TYPEwRrrINa done for authors and others
ct the rate Of Sd. per 200 words; paper
found. Apply MissG. Ramsay, o Neither.
court Terrace, N. w.
"Cheap." mut,cred Raymond, Ids.
tinctly cheap! Think I'll try It,"
Then he began to wonder. In his usual
way, % to what Miss q. Ramsay looked
like. and whether Nethercourt Terrace
was shabbily gcnteel or dirtily slum.likc.
''lt's almost like sweating" he muir.
INJURED. II suppose she Is hard up.
Wants work badly, perhaps. The price
does seem fearfully low all the same. All!
we'll, lis the same for me rs for any one
else"
From which II may be deduced that II
Ilaymond's talents were q little above the
average, his philanthropy was quite nor
NAL. Not that he was mean. No one
ever thought Of calling him that. Only
his enemies dared to hint that he was
"closc." lie was merely tho ordinary
English business man.
lie sat him down before desk aud
penned note, which he addressed ~
Miss q. Ramsay, Of Netliercourt Terrace.
The missive contained request TO be In.
formed whether Miss Ramsay could under
take to typc.write Mr.. Roses "Volume OF
Short Stories" for Immediate publication.
Then with cased mind he proceeded to
forget all about Miss Ramsay, Neither.
court Terrace, and the cxigencies OF the
hard.presscd typist. Some letters had to
be answered, proofs corrected and one
newspaper article written.
Having accomplished these various
tasks, he partoOk OF light luncheon,
walked little by way Of exercise, smoked,
and finally, a. evening drew on, settled
himself comfortably In his comfortable
chair and looked over his manuscript
stories.
One or two required more alteration and
addition than he had given them. One,
he thought would have to DO rewritten.
The rest were good enough for his pur.
pose, which, after all, WAS to make IN In.
come, 30 he told himself. They were moi
great works. Critics would style them
'.fsir, wholesome mediocrity." Friends
would smile and prophecy their deserved
" popular reception.
Then Raymond Rose went to bed and
slept tho sleep OF the highly respectable,
As has been before observed he was q
comfortable man. rocking little of TIM
future and mot at all OF the mast. Unreal
lied homes. ambitions, aspirations wer,
nothing 10 him. "Thcy are fulfilled" In
would have told himself, had he recalled
them. which he didn't. "and becaus,
thew are not fulfilled 10 the precise way Il,
which I then hoped that they would be
cannot sincerely grieye. Circumstances
mould the man. He Is more puppet
swayed by their force. II am less thar
I should DO blame dsttery aud fortune
not me. lam but an instrument In theiI
hands," Which u the way In which
many sophistacal persons avoid similsl
conscience. pricking difIiculties.
THE next morning lie got up, break
tasted and read the morning paper, a
wa his wont. Then he turned once NOR,
to his short stories. EE
Did he feel seedy thIs morning. Ha.
tue weather depressed himP or what wa,
the natter Certainly Ills work seemed fal
less satisfactory than he lad ever preyi
ously found It. To bis senses, refreshed
by u nighps rest, these stories appeare,
weak and dull, Why had no never notice,
these things before9 Or, rather, WIN
should he have noticed them now, at th
eleventh hour? This sudden conscious
ness was most inconvenient.
..Miss Ramsay, SIR" suddenly said hi
housekeeper from the doorway.
Raymond Rose turned In his chair
none too pleased at the interruption.
"Thank you," he said, end stared
stared ct hi; visitor. wondering for tn