The morning times., 1895-07-23
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At 10 and ~.
GBY Emma n. Wise.

tDJ IliLld Nj bAoc.l
Esther Lindsay was nineteen when her
first story was published 1t was not the
first one she had written by any means.
Ever since she had been able to form the
alphabetical characters and join them leg
IDLY, her fertile brain had been weaving all
sorts of possible and impossible romances,
many of which she had forwarded to pu blish-
ers in various parts of the country, beIiev-
ing with all the fervor of her youthful
egotism thather crude sentiments still more
crudely wrought would inspire in some
editors soul the same faith in her great
ness which she herself already possessed.
ButsomehOw her contributions always fell
short of the mark OF excellence necessary TO
insure them favorable consideration, and
manuscript after rmanuscript was returned To
her and was securely locked away in the
lower drawer of her old-fashioned bureau
which had been ndedicated, with good many
tears or disappointment, as a repository for
all rejected offerings at the shrine OF litera-
tuTe By the time she was nineteen there
were probably Il hundred or more of those
haplesS productions laid away either To be
ignominously forgotten or TO be resurrected
and revised when her mind should become
sufficiently matured to sift out whatever
meritorious material there might be in
them and use it to good advantage
She worked steadily for more than three
months OH her Story of the Steamer Ken
drick.' Que night she finished rewriting it
for the tweDty-fjrst time and the next day
She sent ii TO Jesse Arnold, editor OF the
Ironton Inland Weekly, with a five-Hne note
ASKING him to read il carefully and even If
he could not use j to let her know what
he thought OF it,
OF all the editors in the land she seemed
to have chosen him as her most favored
target; why, She could not have told, for she
had no personal acquaintance with him and
his letters accompanying returned mdnu-
script had been even more curt and forbid
ding than those OF his brother publishers.
But for all that each unhappily ending ven
ture only added fresh fuel TO her zeal to
secure foOthold among the ranks OF the
INLAND Weekly's contributors and compel its
chief by sheer force of her importantly TO
acknowledge her developed or potential
ability
Her Story of the Steamer Rendrick' was
not work of genius but there were phases
OF the plot that were strong and passa ges
that We're unusually well conceived AMI eG-
ecuted, and after reading il three times Jesse
Arnold, who was conscientious editor, de-
cided TO keep IL. He accepted it with that
feeling OF uncertainty with which an insur-
auceman issues policy on aneXtra hazard
ous risk and congratulated himself on his
shire wdncSs with eqialdeli ght when ittUrned
out to be preferred The public liked the
story aud several critics who coDdeSCended
to review the Inland Weekly praised it
Perhaps Editor Arnold himself was more
fully ware OF the glaring absurditieS in
the piece he had brought out than were
any of its readers, aud each favorable COM
ment that came TO his notice only made them
all the more apparent. At last he concluded
TO write to his unknown literary protege
and warn her against certain errors which
mi ght be pard0ned in young authors first
story, but which, if often repeated, would be
d serious dra wbaCk TO her advancement in
her art Before he did so, however, she sent
him another hastily written story and a
letter which was a strange tumble of
gratitude TO him for bringing her before
the public, thankfuIueSs that she had been
so well received, aud unStinted express
sious of a steadfast belief that she was
launched on sea of success where wrecks
and disasters were an impoSsibihty- In
conclusion she limited that he ought TO be
eternaIly grateful to her for allowing him
TO print story which would, in all prob
ability, shed Iuster round his own repu-
tation as well as her own.
That evening he wrote the contemplated
letter
You are in danger Of being spoiled he
said in part You need advice and feel
that | have the right 70 address you in the
capacity of censor Remember you are in
Will live will be the very essence, the en-
bC6unent of that world. Visionary, ideal
istic sketches such as yours may make very
good reading. but they are not the true stuff
You have unQueStiOned ability. but II You
wish TO succeed you must turn Il 70 the por-
trayal of living men and women, not the
! imaginary puppets that YOU have manipu-
lated Cor the most part in your story OF the
/ Steamer KendriCE' Take your hero. for
stance 1t may be quite comforting for a
| time to come in contact, through themedlum
! of printers ink and paper, with an Apollo,
a mental Hercules, a spiritual god, and a
| financial Croesus, all combined III one
! American man and New Yorker at that.
! but doubt if any of us would relish closer
! acquaintance with him; he would be apt to
! prove unpalatable Besides, he would be an
eXcreSCence on the human race, and after
| your second or third story the public would
! have none of him. So take warning Make
! your hero a real man-full of imperfeCtionS
/ if need be-and let the gods take care OF
! themselves"
! Esther Lindsay read and reread the edi-
| tors letter He had not intended To make
it unnecessa rily pointed or critical, but OF all
the characters she had ever ConluTed up
/ her last hero had been the object OF her most
| sincere admiration and the admonltion TO
/ shun him and his ilk touched her In the most
/ Vulnerable spot.
! u want tuaJ man TO UNDERSTAND lltr
| she said to her mother, after having dreamed
! over the contents of tie letter for couple
/ of nights, "and in order to bring thar about
/ / am going down to Ironton and see him,
! for il would be utterly useless for me 70
! attempt to explain in writing Just what
/ stand 1 have taken on this subject"
! Her family knew her too well TO remon-
! strate against the proposed visit, and the
/ next morning she took the early train io
/ Ironton 1t was late in the afternoon when
| she reached the office of he IrontOn
| Inland Weekly Jesse Arnold was closing
| his office and she met him just outside bis
! door She inquired for him and he stepped
! back into his paper -bestrewn den and mo
( toned to her to follow.
/ Il am Jesse Arnold - he said in that stiff
! way which he habituaIly adopted when ad
| dressing strangers. What is it you wish to
see me about?"
| At his best the editor was not a good
! looking man, and that day when he stood
! between her and the window, where TIT
( full beams of the evening sun poured in anC
/ seemed to eXaggerate every defect or hE
person from the most upright end OF his
| short, straight black hair 10 his dispropGr
/ tionately large feet, he was painfully con
scious that hislooseIy knit body and swarthN
| complexion never appeared TO worse ad
! vantage.
!. She took in the details of the room anC
| the general makeup OF its occupant witt
| one comprehensive sweep of her clear blu
| eyes and then said, simply:
| Il am Esther Lindsay. IL il does not
Inconvenience you l should like to tall
/ to you little while about this last lette
! you wrote me-"
! There was bat trace OF his former re-