Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-11-02
TRAPPED BY A NOVEL.

SHOW him up, Mrs. jennings, L re
piled, without glancing up from my
manuscript.
A few moments later Mr.. Portman
an entire stranger to me, was ushered
into my room. He came forward-o
man Of large build, some 40 years OF
pair Of dreamy dark eyes upon me
he inquired, in low, earnest tone:
'Mr. Cecil Lawrence, believer
"Yes. Be seated a moment, will
your" / replied, indicating chair
He accepted the offer silently, and
waited my leisure, his eyes fixed upon
the cracking logs in the crate, and
his chin resting upon his hands.
''What can l do for you, Mr.-Mr.
Portman?" l asked, presently, putting
down my pen and turning round upon
my visitor.
"You are Mr.. Cecil Lawrence, the au-
thor, are you not?' he returned.
eyes"
"The author of a Romance in Blue
Dye'?"
Eyes"
"Do you mind telling me how you
came by the plot for that story?" he
said, his dreamy eyes lighting up for
an instant.
'sI'm afraid cannot give you any in
formation upon that matter" replied.
Authors do not generally communi-
cate their methods of work and
thought to strangers, and my time Is
at present so much occupied that, I'M
less you really have some important
business with me / really"
II have important business with
you'll" he exclaimed, almost angrily.
DO you fancy that have come down
all the way from Lancashire to ask a
mere slip of an author his methods of
work."
"From Lancashire?" l said, in sur
prise. Indeed no; no sane man would.
But please state your business"
"Will you answer my question:" he
cried, rising impatiently and folding
his hands behind his back. "How did
you come by the facts in your storyT
"Since you attach such undue i'm
portance to the matter" replied cold.
ly, II can only say that owe some of
the plot of my Romance in Blue Dye
to newspaper paragraph l CHANGED
upon some eighteen months ago."
"Can you show me this paragraph"
REALLY, unless you can tell me in
what way this matter is Of so much
importance to you, l fear l must de-
cline to continue this interview, for,
as ] have already told you, / am ex-
ceedingly busy"
He looked at me steadily for a mo-
ment in silence, and the light came into
his eyes again.
MY name Is POrtman-John Port
man, Of Portman & Stayle, dyers and
cleaners, Rochdale," he said, in a Pc
culiar tone / could not understand.
do you understands"
mo. l may be very dense, but /
don't understand in what way the
statement of your identity proves the
Importance of your visit" responded,
becoming annoyed with him, his man
ners, and his tone.
you don't eh?" he blurted out.
"Well, Stayle, my late partner, was
the man who was found in the vat Of
dye. You are picturesque liar, you
know!'
/ started-not at the fellows insult,
but at the germ Of an idea that was
dawning upon me. This man, then,
was the actual being whom l had Gre
ated, as / thought in the person Of
James Saxon, the murderer of his
I f1tlI 1,1
greatly this man, whose actual exist
ence had never suspected, must have
been annoyed by my book; for, doubt
less, persons who had read it and
knew of the manner in when my Wis
itor's unfortunate partner had met his
death had commented upon the matter
unpleasantly to my visitor.
do you understand me nowY my
visitor demanded, seeing l was not
prepared to say anything about his
previous speech.
Eyes, / fear So" l replied, with a
sickly smile. But, If you have come
here with the intention of bullying me
you made an error in the address. Ny
solicitors, Messrs. Wright & Wright,
Ely Place, are the people to call upon"
He looked at me and frowned. Then
he crossed the room, locked the door,
and put the key In his pocket.
''What the deuce do you mean?"
cried, starting up Indignantly. "You
are presuming unpardonably! Replace
the key and unlock the door, And
went over to him as spoke.
Gently, gently, my good SIR" he
said. II am not nearly satisfied with
our chat yet Look at this and sit
down quietly"
'"This," which he held In my face,
was a revolver. Was l at the mercy
of a mailman "
You are at the wrong end Of Ii,
you know, so sit down and be civil"
shrugged my shoulders and return
ed to my chair, having the unpleasant
sensation that he was covering me
all the time.
When had seated myself, he came
and sat down ut the other side of my
table, laid his revolver In front of him.
and began to bite his nails. / waited
his pleasure silently, wondering what
I could best do.
ITS like thisv' he said, so suddenly
that he startled me out of my thoughts.
81 had n partner. That partner gets
drowned at our works In butt of pur-
ple-not blue, mind you-dye. You sec