The morning times., 1896-12-06

spiration comes to me? Resides, as I've
told MIR. west, l have a few debts, con-
racted while I've been out of work
won't run away and leave them unpaid
In the face of such a situation 1 was
powerless TO advise. never could guess
riddle nor solve n single one OF the
problems OF existence. one by one I
nave given them all up, either on my own
account or another's- However when
we had parted from Smith, in the small
hours OF the morning, l yenturcd to ask
why West did not lend Smith enough
money to keep him going while he gave
tile Invention trial.
III l do tnat,' he replied smith
Will leave the city, and then / can't
study him any more. / tell you he's
great character, and / must know him
through and through before / lose sight
of him. OF course 1 know him well
enough now to be sure that he is a man
OF remarkable ability and the highest
principle, but L must wait TO see how he
VIII meet the great question which his un-
fortunate marriage has thrust into his life.
VIII he make martyr OF himself or will he
Durst the bond that holds him down to
slavery"
In view OF the unusual crcumsta nces,''
said l, would 1t be too great an intrusion
II you should go TO her and offer some
| advicc?''
'i'se been to see her." he answered,
instructive violent distrust which char
actcuzes the uneducated. Mentally and
Aorally she is a mere jellyrlsh But it
| is wonderful what terrible burden such
| an inconsiderable creature can be to the
man who marries her"
Smith had fascinated me scarcely less
| than West, and took advantage OF every
| opportunity OF meeting him. We three
| spent half n dozen evenings in the little
| back room OF the saloon during the next
| fortnight. On the last CT these occasions,
| Just as we were breaking up the session,
| observed that West lent Smith $50. 1t
| was Il considerable sum, and l feared that
Smith would not be able TO return it, as
he had agreed to do, on the following
| Saturday.
] Borrowing separates friends, especially
| when they are so unequally favored by
| fortune as were Smith and West. 1t was
evident that West might he Of great service
| TO the younger man, particularly If the lat
| ter Continued to trifle with the pen. I
| would have been very sorry % pitiful
matter OF money destroy their mutual re-
| gard. The thought worried me during the
| week On Saturday / ercCavCTod to find
| Smith Ia oider to learn whether he had
succeeded in obtaining the money which
he had expected as the return Of certain
literary lators. In case he had tcen dis
| appointed it was my intention 10 advance
him the .mCrey in order that he might pay
West promptly, as agreed. I waited for
Smith i'll the counting II ON of magazine
from which. as unGers;C cd, small sum
was due to him, but he did not come. Then,
| with considerable hesitatiGE-.or l dreaded
meeting his wife-I went to his home,
high up in tenement house On Lispenard
| street
A weary, heavy-eyed girl of fourteen met
| me at the door. Her coarse dress was
covered with bits Of thread and the ravel-
| lings OF cheap cloths. So many pins were
stuck into the front of it that i think If
she had run against a wall. it might have
! killed her. After Some delay and en-
barrassing explanation, was admitted into
the front room OF the tenement. where /
found Mrs. Smith. Her appearance CORE
sponded closely with that Of the girl A
number OF coarse dresses in various stages
OF manufacture We're strewn about the
room.
Mrs Smith had been pretty girl but
hard work had worn her almost to a
! skeleton She viewed me, at first. with
evident suspicion. / sIw the look that
West had described But it faded pres
emily. and her face took on a much more
ainiable expression. She sent the girl
out of the room. Then turning to me with
an air OF one who has taken great resolu-
ton, size said:
"You're a friend of Mr.. Vests. Wen,
I want you TO ask him to let my husband
alone He ought to know that John
can't afford such company Johnhas been
out of work almost a year. and I've
| had to support the family by dressma King
-dressmaking down here where l can
scarcely make money enough to pay tha,
girl at the end of the week And YET
John goes and sits half the night with
this Mr.. West, drinking beer and paying
for his share of it. And he's beginning
70 feel atove honest work. He saws there
of n in tis
world. II there are. l wish he'd find
one of them. and find it mi ghty quick
Ny hair began TO stir at the roots
tried to remember whether I had evel
let Smith pay for my beer.
Il understand said l. that YOUR hus-
: band was earning money by writing. Are
not these clippings of articles that he has
written?''
I | picked up two or three that lay on a
: table in the middle of there They Were
marked in pencil with the date on which
: they had been written, as was Smiths Gus
TOM The very first one saw was little
thing which happened TO know had beer
written by member of the staff of the
magazine in which il had appeared.
] will spare the reader the remainder oil
my interview with Mrs. Smith. I gave hcl
such assurances as could. and made N J
| escape at the earliest possible moment
! Then I went TO the office of the electric
|
where learned that Smith had been dis
charged for incorrigible lying. His grea
idea had been patented by somebody els,
about two years before and had bcenin us'
in the plant before Smith had ccme to W orl
there.
found Smith that evening before hesa'
!, West and forced from him what would hav
been a confession IL the man had been abb
to tell the truth. I was convinced tn;
i he had never written 4 line for public
ton. He owed West not fifty, but thrG
. hundred and fifty dollars, but the student u
l. character still held him for an honest ma
and expected 10 be repaid.
told Smith thatif he borrowed any NOR
II money of West or spent any more OF HI
. wife's money in my presence or failed
: use his best endeavorS to secure einpio,
u ment 1 would expose him. and / thin
u that I made some impression upon him.
N But / did not disclose his iniquity
+ West for / knew that TO do il would be
II destroy n great work of fiction alread
Il far advanced. l would not have 1t q
nv literary conscience that / had cheate
II the world of such character study 1
lie John Smith, even in that early da
:, promised o be.
n No further explanation OF the succc
e Of the book is needed. 1t is 4 great pie
'e of realism, because it was written by
I'd man gifted by providence with an enti
X inability to understand any person or an
ld thing as it exists in nature. Had he pc
y sessed that unfortunate power he Won
1f have beer scientist. and nobody Won
to have cared to read his writings.
IN
re A TeleEraphic Joke.
u It wac Mr. W DimOcE Nhp Derp