The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-01-09

MY work." she said, with startled
mir. Il did not say that they were my
work. 1 am here on behalf of very
dear friend of mine to offer these stories
for your consideration"
But why take all that trouble? You
should have posted them to us; they
would have been carefully considered"
mo, l would not trust them to the
post. l wanted to see you personally
and give them to you in your own
hands," and, suiting the action to the
word, she advanced toward Frank and
offered him the parcel. He reluctantly
took it from her, exclaiming:
Il am afraid 1 cannot promise that
they will be accepted. We are over
crowded with short stories"
Il do not want you to promise that.
All l ask is that you will read them"
II will read them, certainly"
Thank you very much. That is very
kind of you. Good morning"
Frank touched the bell and politely
bowed his visitor out. She responded
with an old-fashioned courtesy, and
with another smiling THANK you" de-
scended the stairs.
Frank sat himself at his table and
banged the brown paper parcel down
viciously. He took up his pen, but not
to write. The thoughts would not be
led away from the recent interview. He
could not help laughing outright at the
quaint old lady and her squeaky voice
Then he began to toy with the parcel.
Finally he opened it; there lay the three
stories neatly typewriter. He looked
for the authors name and address. Ali
that he could see Immediately under
the title of each story was: by Jul
nita." No name, no address.
well, this is the oldest experience
/ have ever had" he muttered to him
self. Then he thought he might as well
read one of the stories. He did SO, and
words of surprise and delight kept ris
ing to his lips. Then he read the sec
ond, which gave him still more pleas
ure. After reading the last one he eX
claimed:
'By George! here's a find. 'Junita,
my friend, l lift my hat to you, met
aphorically speaking. You are a genius.
If you don't make your fortune, and at
the same time give the Chatterer big
leg-up, my name isn't Frank Haylcr."
And after marking big "A" on each
of the manuscripts he went out to lunch.
When he returned he set to work Wig
orously, and whether it was the lunch
or the satisfied feeling that he had
accepted something that morning
which would enhance the value of his
journal from literary point of view, he
knew not, but he certainly surprised
himself at the excellent matter that
seemed to flow from his pen.
He wrote far into the afternoon.
When he had finished he proudly eA-
claimed:
There, if those articles don't put
some life into the thing, and if 'Junita's'
stories don't send up the circulation,
I'm a Dutchman. Frank, old man." he
continued, as he slapped himself com
placently on the breast, 1.-THE Chatterer
is going to boom large. I know it. [
feel j.. 'Junita' has come in the nick of
time. She has brought me luck!"
He went home to his bachelor cham
bers in an excellent frame of mind.
After light dinner he dressed very
carefully, and took a cab to the PAN
theon theater, where he formed one of
a large audience assembled to witness
the debut in London of Miss Agnes
Trenderville, a new actress from the
provinces. who had been spoken of very
highly wherever she had appeared.
Frank was an enthusiastic first-nighter,
for he had made up his mind that the
Chatterer should be we'll to the fore in
all dramatic matters.
He was delighted with the new actress.
She was revelation, and he felt that he
could honestly praise her in the col
umns of his next issue. AS he strolled
into his club, on his way home from the
theater, the first man he met was jim
mic Fleet, the eminent dramatic critic,
who greeted him with:
well, Frank, old man, what do you
think of her?"
Think OF her, my boy? She's splen-
did"
$50 I think. You mark my words,
she's the coming actress"
Coming. Jimmie! l should say that
she has arrived, very much so; and,
what is more, she has come to stay"
He was right. The new actress was
success from the very start. Interviews,
portraits, sketches concerning her ap-
peared day after day in almost every
paper, and Miss Agnes Trenderville was
the most tallied-of lady in London,
while the Pantheon theater was crowd
ed to excess every night, a thing that
had not happened for many months
past.
Frank Hayler was fortunate enough
to be introduced to the eminent actress
few days later at Il fashionable "at
home" He was surprised to find how
unassuming, unaffected and distinctly
ladylike she was. What wonder that he
fell in love with her at first sight? He
was introduced to her as mfr. Hayler,
the editor of the Chatterer."
The new number of the paper had ap-