The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1895-10-05
tninx OF a gooG name with a good, ster-

60. l. Eiust t1!IA IL OEt WIFI LIE tDR
home. les: he worked very slowly. bat
be was very confident OF success when
he should have got c er7th:ng right"
And az the .hi.e. said Bourne,
THE poor fellow vas Killing himself
with dfiak.. | wont:er = lie knew 1T"
lie knew Il well eicug.l." Ralph
Ericsson rep.ed. He Didn't rarticular-
~ part to live Tie u thing thai
made life fale-"hio 70 him IL thee days
was his WGrk. add ii tire state lie was
III lie esslld - 1t waIk without the
drink. L Wl.paed H. Lis Imagination
and tet1. I-m auf 81 the uo-Id u c1.--
monfIaees into which LIE had declined,
i r. which he always tended to -e-
lapse, Sometimes | demonstrated with
llin. ie ;iFyaEs Listened patiently, and
ae always Elat.e the same reply. Il was
10 nse, ne said Il lie gave up t.1inL-
ing T. Moul have 70 give up working.
he uldnt mind dying soon. bnt lie want
ed 10 lo something worth doing before
he died IL the Old time ideas used to
L - hIca spontaneously. Now he
could enly bring them back artiSticaLy
- R+-A@- 1 ftilAtis4bt1. liz LION
down t.eI.y-fS Lie Of Schiller. ami
showed h3a tls-t wonderful passage whe.e
the Il s1a-lsn de:scl;bes tie poet sitt....
II h .st-Areaata 1t .Tana wreckinc his
heal.a With ~s7i.Hrlants 10 quicken the
Worain. Ct MS 9snius--the toilv7o.u
but devoted sui slsEe. under the silent.
starry canopy % hight. Offering I'D the
troubled moments IF existence on tie al
tar CT eternity That was his case, he
sad. The Grzuk might kill him. but if
1t on4y helped hin TO leave q work Of
genius behind he didn't care. Then he
Went On talking of his work. telling ne
Of scenes he had projected for it. scenes
OF such marvellous dramatic strength
that l had not the heart to rep-oaeh
him any n.o1e. bit / felt instead that
the sacrifice of his health ana life TO such
an end Wa we'll worth the making"
lie spoke with a rare and wonderful
enthusiasm. which carried his listeners
with him. They sat thinking silently
fer a few minutes, and then St. John
Bourne said:
Ericsson, | shall produce that play"
After Il further pause he added:
L will put 1t on at q benefit matinee
fer Jessie. II it succeeds, it shall 90 in
to the evenings bill, and there will be
the authors fees for Jessie. By Jove.
Norman Nolues' child will be an heir
ess, after all"
Then, refectirely:
Il suppose the play isn't left quite in
q finished state. If it wants ANYTIME
cone 70 It, | think / will let you try
your hand OF it. Ericsson. You seem to
know better than the rest Of as what
Norman ideas We're. It'll be a chance
for you, my boy"
1t was q chance he had not dared to
hope for. He smiled his thanks, telling
himself that st. John Bourne was one
OF the few theatrical managers who
sometimes carry ont their promises. A
few minutes later Mrs. Saunders came
into the room, and the business of get
ting together the effects and papers of
the man Ct genius could be begun.
The ~valuables were mostly gone, a
bundle OF pawn tickets bearing witness to
their whereabouts. Beyond these there
We're only a few books and photographs.
a drawer full of letters and some pic
torial souvenirs Of popular dramas. and.
finally, there was the play, the chief OBJ
ject Of their visit.
1t was contained in a battered rose
wood desk. carefully locked, which the
landlady brought them. together with
the key. ST. John Bourne, to whom. as
the duly appointed guardian Of the dead
man S child, the document belonged.
took tie desk from her and opened it.
He drew the sheets out one by one
laid them on the table. On the first.
neatly and laboriously printed in archaic
vas the title, "A Modern
Hero, a New and Original Drama in
-Four Acts. by Norman Voules." The
second contained q carefully drawn dia-
gram OF the stage, with the mysterious
letters, %. Pr. Z. E." etc. en-
tered III their proper places. The next
had a long list Of characters, with the
names scratched out and altered here
and there, and an imaginary cast. There
followed other lists Of characters, with
other names, Tom altered 70 Harry. for
example, and Helen changed to Kate.
ana other imaginary casts. Next came
stray scraps Of isolated dialogue and
stray hints for individual and
brief memoranda concerning them, such
as: N. B.-A very strong situation
this. Must wosk up to it very careful
". "Nem--This must play not less
than seven minutes. ..Query.-Is this
curtain originate And that was all
The other sheets Were blank. or, at the
most. only stained with whisky.
There nust be some mistake" ST.