The Delta independent., 1899-08-04
PRICE OF SUCCESS.

happy. sid l.
WHY quericd Holden lnconica!ly
"Why. indeedr' exclaimed L After
ten years of hard. patient toll you have.
in the graceful language Of the Gauls.
ARRIVED. o.. in plain. colloquial Amer
ic;:a. yol have got there with both
fcc:. No:r first production is big
success: royalties ere rolling in: mEn-
a;se-s wl.o:n once you pursued in vain
:re nos: pursuing you. anxious to Sc
cr..e 1T yo.r own terms the very plays
th.t they formerly refused without
reading. E::d ! l:now you have plenty
of them. According to my calculations.
mp to the tire went abroad two years
ago. yol Inrst have at least barrel
full OF playsof I'll Einds-poetical. con-
ic::l. traSic.l-calculated to suit all
t.stcs Consequently all you have to do
is to zip dowa into that barrel bring
up an old piece. place it and then sit
beck and dra.. Your royalties Why.
my boz. yoa are retired and pensioned
at 35. with fame and money at com
mnnd and life practically before yoa.
Why s.:orid you not be happyr"
..Yon forget tie price Of succcsA.
said Holden bitterly.
..Oh. of course. you have worked
hard fo- Gll yon now enjoy. but that's
all ovo- ro.'. ;.:.d yo:i have the satisfac.
tioa of knowing that it's paid for. -
Yes sid Holden almost sally.
but yo,. do net realize how dearly ]
have paid 70. it
"Weu. possibiy not said I half
aooloyet:caily "You know ] was far
away while yeu were putting In yoas
last and probably your hardest lictA
and cid not hear from you until the
news Of the phenomenal success Of .
new American playwright wHs cssbled
across the wafer. Why. you re intcraa-
t:onnliy famous. my boy. ard you ought
to he p.o1d Of II.
~ an. raid Holden. ''brt with ry
pride is mingled a pang OF regret that
shall nerer outgrow. however I may i'm
prove upon and make permanent. my
present good fortune. As some one h:.s
said:
advancement iimrs OF steps Of p-.a;
.ccc,as IL not Ia flight e!atc:
We have to sa..cr Just to rn.u
The inisc-y Of being great.
II do not Enow who wrote those ines
but whoever no was he brought that
pearl of truth from the depths Of bitter
experience maybe something like
mine.
Tell re sbout II. Old fellow. said
I syinratheticnlly. for SAW that some
real sorrow underlay his words
"Well. will. said Holden. 1T Is n
subject l seldom refer to. for hate
public condolencesL But yU-l G-e an old
friend who knew me when my light
was hidden under bushel and are not
like those tickle. fiattering moths who
dutter about the latest fame. The meta
phor is poor. for am not shining ligh,
even now. hut already l have had
enough Of sycophancy. and-well. you
know what mean. old man
when you left the country. lid
Just nbout settled down to the dreary
routine life Of IN editor. whom sor:e
journalistic wit has described rs n re-
porter with his legs worn out. had
despaircd Of ever getting my plays ac-
cepted and could foresee nothing but IN
endless round Of grinding out cut and
dried opinions for other men until
myself bcc:,ic as dry rs they and WIS
kicked ont to make room for frcsher
material had married. and Of course
we lived mp 10 my salary-what news
paper man does notr Then the baby
came. and for n time we lived oven u
little beyond II. As consequence was
forced To put my nose even closer to the
grindsto;ie and trrn my spare hand to
hack work in order to help out
~ didn't mind the hard work. The
only regret was that IL led TO nothing
and kept me away from my chosen
work. The human mind can do only
about as much as the body. and when
all its time is expended upon routine
there il no energy left for original
work. The fact that ! gradually crawled
out Of debt and even laid by few dol
lars was small compensation for the
smashing Of my dreams and the realiza-
tion that at such gait could never
succeed in the line most desired
''We1l. that was about the situation
I was in when opportunity knocked st
my door The season production Of a
rrccsnsful star proved failure too com
plete to he carpentered into even a
scinisucccss The play had bccn relied
upon ~ Till ont the season. and he had
nothing definite in reserve. As il hap
pcned ! had outlined 20 him plot
which is,psvrs.d him. snd be sent me
word thss u l-Would sabrnis the coon,-
pletea play - sooa - possible he would
considsr u 10 was ~ vaguess po.ibil-
~ TIT ~ 0(oA1 eessps q u noshins
bsst9 o0DUA. yse ! ~ - Il was my
1Ess ~ = = pssashility ny iass
ebsDcA -
Il essN ~ psssibay write she risy
b siDs - sttu rsea1o ~ edito.iei