Bradford County telegraph. (Starke, Fla.) 1888-current, 1895-10-11


Minnie shiyered.
''You are cold?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Well, you had better be going"
and he handed her her furs. at is
80 kind and good of you, Minnie, but
but I'll try little longer for that
fortune" and the ghost of smile
fingered on his face for an instant.
81 suppose I could not help you in
any way, Brandon2 May I leave my
check book2"
The question was put very hesitat-
ingly, and while the inner man cried
eyes, in piteous accents, the outer
gentleman declined the kind offer with
q courteous frmness.
81 have read several of your short
stories" Minnie said, as she pulled on
her gloves, land 1 think they are
really clever. But you ought to try
something big-athree-volume novel. "
'They are going out OF fashion and,
besides, they take such time. One
can scribble off short stories like nur-
sery rhymes and the return is quick. "
He referred to the return of the
manuscripts; she thought he meant
payment.
'But here" he went on rapidly,
going to the table and taking up his
unfinished book, "here is a novel l
have almost completed. None CT your
ordinary drivel, but realism, and that
is the demand of the hour. 1t will not
be more than 40, 900 words, and I Gm
confident of its success"
EWhen you finish your book, Bran
don," she advised, "send it to Irvine
& Irvine. They will publish i: in
their 'Nom-de-plume' series. You will
have an eccentric, idiotic poster all to
yourself in the new art style and the
puzzle of the hour will be: what is
the writer's nsmeY Is it he or a
shef Then, when the papers have
criticised your book, praised it,
slsshed it and discussed it for all it is
worth, your real name will be discov-
cred; interviewers will regard you as
a special prize; your photo will be
attempted in the evening news-sheets
and you will be famous"
Her throat burned while she spoke;
her voice WAS very dry, and her bon
hommie artificial.
"Good-by, good-by!"
"Kiss me, Brandon; a last kiss"
He bent and pressed his lips to
hers, then turned quickly away as she
hurried downstairs and home, and sat
in his chair far into the evening the
most miserable man on earth.
It was about a week later, and
Brandon was still in his lodgings. His
landIsdy had informed him imneGi-
stely after Minnie's visit that some
one had settled p long standing debt,
80 he need not worry over his little
account. He blessed her; she passed
the blessing on to Minnie Horton.
He sat at the table endeavoring to
think out his novel, but he could not
compose single sentence for on the
news-sheet spread out before him
there danced in the blacklist of type q
paragraph which had paralyzed all the
energy in him. Minnie was 20 be mar
riedI She had taken him at his word,
and would wed Percy Olcott in three
months time.
Well, that ended it. The one ray of
hope that had made his existence
bearsble had been flashed from his
life, and death was the only panacea
Poisoning, hanging, drowning or a
bullet-anything' to get out of the
world quickly. And he had loved her
80 muchi OF course, it was his own
choice; If he could only have conven-
tionsIly murdered his pride and
laughed In the worlds face he might
have been happy with the woman he
loved, but he could not, and now be
could not 1--we.
Thus ran his reflections, when the
landlady brought him letter, written
on perfumed yellow paper. He reeog-
nized the handwriting at once. 1t was
from Minnie, and confirmed the news,
paper item. She retained his ring as
keepsake.
| 'Do not give way to ridiculous
passion" she advised him, and his
face hardened as he read the words
again. Not he'll Why should he
Must his life be suddenly extinguished,
his hopes dispelled, because he had
lost the love of one woman? There
were SCORES of others-all beautiful,
all loving, all good-no, some good
and when he was ismousl he hsG
struck the right chord, and his whole
being sprang into q furious blaze o
ambitions desire to cheat the wo
man who he thought had Tilted him
and laugh at her in mockery and tri
umph.
He walked his room feverishly, hi
hands clenohed and his lips set tight
while the fire of ambition forged his
, determination and withered his love
, By heavens, he would be famousl Dsy
! after night he would tail at that booI
, until it WA finished, and'then-thel
his triumph?
Yes, that was it; work, work, AM
, forget her; and he pitched the dsint,
/ note into the fire and commenced. H
, unfroze; all his energies returned, al
| his thoughts rushed back upon hin
J and fell over each other as his PEI
, raced across the paper. In few dsy
a his book was ready for the publishers
= Brandon received q reply from Ii
0 vino & Irvine within two days Thi
q was q revelation that astounded him
s But what surprised him still more wa