, 1896-11-13
A BAG OF LETTERS.

'"'t Nv hl'N NAibl'NEhbN III"
to appreciate those comforts to which
he had only lately become entitled, for
only about Il month before Jack, like
Lord Byron, ''awoke one morning to
find himself famous"
He had had II long and bitter strug-
gle with adverse fortune. For more than
ten years he had toiled untiringly, re-
warded only with poverty, starvation
and neglect. He had lived and worked
in a garnet, carrying his drawings from
editor to editor-always on foot. for he
could not afford to pay omnibus fare
only to be tod that they had not enough
work to give to their own staff. But
now at last fate had smiled upon him.
an enterprising art editor had 'disn0v-
cred" him-and he had become the fash
ion.
He was seated at his case hcfcic the
fire slipping his coffee. He had already
looked over the daily paper and thrown
it aside. a large pile of letters lay on
the table beside him. but he had not
opened any OF them, probably l~oeEuse
he knew beforehand what th,ir con-
tents were likely to be. When he bad
completed mis- mcditations ca the morn
ing's news, however. he took one up
and opened it. 1t was from the editor Of
one of the leading ladies' ~wccklios, The
Glass of Fashion, and it ran thus:
Dear NJ. Torrington-Wc have been
much gratiticd'- ooh. hang the COM
pliments,' exclaimed Jack, and he
hung thcm-that is to say, he skipped
them. Would vou," the editor contin-
ued, ''hayc time to undertake one or
two full page drawings for nj summer
number? The subject would be entirely
your own choice, but of course it
would be something appropriate to the
season. You can name your w price"
"Oh, most likely" said Jack, and
he threw tbs letter into the fire. This
was the editor who had written to him
only two years before, LAS You do not
excel at this kind of work, | fear it will
not be possible for us to employ you"
This letter was followed by about IL doZ-
en- more from other editors in very much
the same terms.
The next letter that Jack picked up
was directed i'll Il graceful feminine
hand. There was n dainty perfume
about it, and there was IL crest Oh the
envelope.
"Who the devil can this be-" thought
Jack. He opened it.
Dear Sir" it began, "Surely | can
not be wrong in surprising you are tho
same Mr.. Torrington who was sketch
inu down bprp u vpar up'-
Lets SEQ what the name is-Anna
Delacy Thornc. Oh, by Jove, l know.
It's that woman down in Shropshire
who used to come and bother me to
show her my sketches, and who used to
tell me how happy | was TO be able to
do such charming work, and who never
once asked INT into her house to have u
cup of tea. Well, what morc?'
"'Those delightful pen and ink
sketches Oh, bother. Every body
knew that you would be famous some
day. My husband saw your portrait in
ono of the papers, and he says he is
quite sure it is you, etc. Is there any
chance of your coming down this way
next summer? We should be so glad to
sec you, and | should find you plenty
of models Thanks, l can do that for
myself. Have you tho sketch still
which l ADMIRED so much of two girls
standing on the bridge and would it be
very expensive?'
Eyes, madam, it would be expensive,
but you could have had it last year for
8 shillings." This letter also was toss
ed into the fire.
The next was directed in III untidy
scrawl, with many smudgcs and ortho-
graphical mistakes. 1t ran thus:
onncrd sur wos SO glcd to here of yur susccs
and so wos mother line suryu discrvd it II
emmy won did for yu hcv worked 50 long for
nuthin and had SO much trubbic l hop yu air
very well / shud be SO glcd if yu cud Civ me
sum workc mother hes ben i'll and fether is
out of wurkc and 1 hcv had nuthing to do
for . months and priscs air SO hi just now
we air Loving now at number 10 sidney street.
yur obedunt servent, sopHEY MATHEWS.
poor little thing!' said Jack to
himself. "She had rather good shout.
ders. | must see if 1 can find anything
for her to do"
The next letter was from u fellow
student of his who had been rather sue.
cessful us u portrait painter, but Of
whom Jack had seen nothing since their
student days, except now and then
when they had met by accident:
DEAR JACK-I really must congratulate you
on your unprecedented success. Everybody Is
asking me about you. l feel quite proud OF
having been your fellow student. But always
knew TINT you were going to do great things.
Why, / never saw any one get along as you
did. You simply %eallopcd, while other fellows
crawled. You were certain to make your marx
sooner or later. / wish You would come round
and ~critioiso tile portrait which ! am painting
of Mrs. Bolton, the celebrated beauty. II ID
nearly finished. md / should 10 like to SEE
what Won would think of it. I am Sat home"
Thursday afternoons.
''The devil you arel So am H. said
Jack.
The next letter that he took up was
directed i'll IL hand the sight OF which
two or three years ago would have
caused all his pulses to throb with emo
ton.
"Surely 1 know that writing" he
said to himself. well, I should think
do. Let's see what she has to say!'
DEAR Mr.. ToRR1SGroS-Let me congrntu.
late you q thousand timos on your success.
We ali knew that you were going to be famous
sooner or later
~ wonder who everybody isF
Everybody says that you are the nrst black
and white artist Of the day.
"How strange that you never told me
soi'' thought Jack.
Your drawiAss in Up 70 Dato are simply
lovely. Mother says she never saw anything
Tint che jiker . .-rch - It's w:ZAHc AAye