St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-06-14

anu, moreover, ulSRraceIully pro-
duced, badly printed on cheap paper
and SO carelessly bound that long
ere | reached my lodgings it had
come to pieces in my hand.
However has he managed it ?" |
cried as remembered the very small
sales that my books, on which | had
spent so much time and trouble, and
which had been published by some of
the first houses in London, had
reached.
The mystery was solved to me as |
looked over the pile of letters which
had collected during my absence.
Among these was thin post card,
addressed in an unfamiliar hand
upon which was written the follow
ing communication:
Dear SRA sincere friend considers
it his duty to point out to you that
you are cruelty and scandalously
libeled in a miserable shilling book
called "a Disgrace to Society,"" pub
lished by Messrs, Anderson & Matt
land. You owe it both to youself
and to your friends to take measures
to put stop to the circulation of
these falsehoods about you.
A True Well Wisher.
Now, as soon as had read this,
having in the meanwhile forgotten
all about Ross and his book, my first
impulse was to rush out to the near
est boOkstalI and to copy of the
work referred to. Then suddenly it
flashed across my mind that | had
the book in my pocket, and remem-
berlng what | had seen at Ross
rooms began to understand the adj
vertiSing sheme OF which he had
spoken so sanguinely, and which,
according to what had seen and
my own impulse at the moment |
had read the post card, seemed decid-
edly an effectual one.
| happened to meet Ross that same
evening just as he was alighting
from hanson outside fashionable
Regent street cafe. AS soon as he
saw me he rushed up and cried out {:
What did | tell you, old chap? Is it
a success, or is it not? We are print
ing the sixtieth to SEVENTEEN thous-
and at this moment.
II suppose it is to you | owe this
highly interesting missive?" said,
holding out the post card that had
received.
Ross glanced at it, and turning
rather red said: II didn't know that
your name was in the directory, or |
would have given instructions that
you were not to be written to. Not
that it matters much now that the
success of the book is assured. Well,
yes, that was the idea, and famously
it has worked, as you have seen. We
sent cards to everybody in the
Who's Who in the clergy list, in the
court section of the London directory
and in the law list. OF course every
body who received card Immediate
ly rushed off to the nearest book
seller to get the book and to find out
how it referred to him. You see
everybody has more or less of skel-
eton in his cupboard, and there you
are, don't you know. A fresh batch
of post cards is going out tonight.
Tell me, what do you think of the
idea ?"
II don't know l said. ITS origi-
nal certainly. Perhaps on the point
of taste. y
ooh, taste be hanged" cried Ross.
Money is the thing to be got, and
money am getting. That wretched
book which dashed off my type
writer in a fortnight has already
brought me in over &400, and l
wouldn't sell my interest in it at
present for twice as much again.
And then look what a start it gives
ME as a literary fellow. Won't the
publishers be after me soon, Ross,
the author of the book which, with
out being advertised or reviewed in
the papers, ran through over 100
editions in six weeks? tell you my
fortune is made, thanks to that hap
py thought of mine"
l said nothing and shortly alter
ward quilted him.
His sanguine hopes were not des-
tined to realization, by curious ex-
ample of the irony Of fate. On the
very next day after had met him a
suit for libel was commenced against
him by clergyman in the north of
England named Burrell, who, having
his attention called to libel on him
in the form of a story i'll which the
names were so thlnly disguised as to
be recognizable by anyone of his ac-
quaintances, and seeing in the story
a malicious and grossly exaggerated
version of certain circumstances
which had occurred in his family, in
structed his solicitor to commence
proceedings. While these were pend
ing, the publishers, to reduce their
responsibility to the lowest degree
suspended the sale of the
book, in spite of the fact that the
demand for copies increased daily.
Very heavy damages were claimed
by the plaintiff. The affair was,
however settled out of court, a set.
Element which left Ross considerably
out of pocket by his first and last lit
erary venture.
81 never heard of this fellow Bur-
rell in my lite," he told me mournful.
lu "The story. such as it WAS came