The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-09-27

A~ his hand; so he kept l,ss than
half his earnings for himself,
and lived in second-rate lodgings. shar-
ing his sitting room with anotae: man
--Tolson West.
West was journalist, a man of con-
siderable learning and ability; on artis-
tic matters an authority; but he was
by nature unobtrusive and retiring,
and to us The Pioneer, apart from his
excellent work. he was chiefly notewor-
thy for his undisguised admiration for
Kelsall and his tales. 1t was pleas
ure to see a man so appreciative of
another. They lived together some
four years, and then Kelsall was
struck down with fever. He took
chill when he was recovering and died;
and there was no one who knew the
man personally or through his writ
ings but was sorry.
1t was a terrible blow to West. Io
had nursed Kelsall with more than a
womans care all through his Illness,
and he was nearly heart-broken when
he died. Some of us tried to cheer
him, but our visits were not welcomed
and never repeated. And so he lived
a lone and solitary man. nursing his
grief-and drinking.
Then a most singular thing hap
pened. West. who went in for solid
truth. or what he took for it. and VINO
we did not think capable of writing a
line of fiction to save his life, sudden
ly came out as a story writer and
I'm a very short time bid fair to equal
Kelsall in reputation. And he didn't
seem a bit proud of It, but was moro
was referred to: as a matter of fact,
he published his tales under a pseu-
donym. This did not insure secrecy
and a month after his first story APP
peared we of The Pioneer knew that
caleb Hardcastle" and Tolson West
were one and the same man.
Before long West threw up his Jour
nalistic work and confined himself 20
his tales.
They were just the antithesis of Kel-
sails bright writings; and yet there
were those who knew of the relation
ship of the two men, who said they
detected Kelsall's influence in them,
and even his humor. Though most
gruesomely metamorphosed Some in
deed went so far as to say that West
was palming of Kelsall's unpublishe 1
they account for his outburst as a
writer.
All the while, West. instead of being
elated by his sudden good fortune,
seemed to grow more depressed and
reserved. till at last he became abso-
lutely misanthrOpic. He would shut
himself up in his sitting rooms for
days at time. His meals were left
outside his door; he slept in the room
nothing was seen of him, and nothing
heard but the interminable "click' OF
his typewriter.
But his tales, They fairly carried
YOU away with them Never since
Swift was there such Caustir wit and
biting satire: never since Poe such
abandonment TO the gratesque and the
terrible. His plots were daring To tenn
GRITTY. and before long it was rumored
that on This account some of the mag
a2ines were refusing them.
was sitting in my room ore night
when n note was brought TO me:
For Gods sake COMET. West
I was somewhat surprised; as much
to receive the note itself as at its emo
tional wording. for / scarcely reckonel
myself among his fTiends-indeed,
did not know he had any
Fearing he had met with an accident
7 put on my hat at once and made
straight for his rooms. His landlady
met me at the door
IT was to take you mp directly you
came. sir" she said and then contiden'
italy. land I'm more than glad Mr.
West has senI fer You. I don't know
what has come over him Of late"
Is he i'll. them
"NC. sir: leastwiSe not as | knows Of
but haven't seen him for week, He
hasn't been out of his room since las
Thursday"
by this time we had reached Vests
door. Mrs Farper knocked and called
ont:
Mr. Bethel sir"
The door was flung open and Yves
stood or the threshold. He almOs
dragged me in, and then slammed tn,
door i'm his landlady's face. He looked
at mo for moment in a nervous, hes
itating way. then sat down, buried
his face in his hands and burst int
tears
come, come. man" | said, "what tn
dickens is up7 You've got beastly
fit of the blues, anyway. You've beel
oVerwOrking yourself"
He made no reply: 50 TO give hin
time TO recover himself I wake,
around the room noting details as
did so, The place was dirty and un
tidy to the last degree and II had evi
IDENTITY served as a living and sleepin'
room for some time. UnWaShed plato
and cups We're scattered among III
books and papers. empty spirit bottle
were thrown about the floor, and ,
Tumbler beside st. BY it w9s the typa
writer with a blank sheet of paper il
it and all around were innumerabl
sheets of written copy. on III
sofa were pillows, rags and blankets
and the fireplace was chaotic with Gin
ntiers.
" West had somewhat recovered b,
this time and came toward me. IL
was terribly changed. Never robus
at his best, he now looked Ike
broken-down old man. All life SCENE,
to have left his drawn and bloodles
face; his eyes gittered with an un
natural light; his hair was 5treake
with gray. His clothes were Girt,
and disheveled, and l doubted If h
had washed for a week.
Bethel" he said, as he came IN I
me, I'm glad you've come. I don
think l could have stood it Cor a da
longer"
stood what old chap? Your room
I don't think / could either. VIII
don't you open the windows ana hav
the place cleaned? You ought to &c
out for some fresh air."
He looked at me in a piteous way.
ST cant Rsfhplls / can't ANou1
to heaven : could"
Nonsense mani" / said IN d3 chefr
a tone as l could assume "cOme OF