Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1899-04-14

position, yet l hesitated TO resign the
latter, for winter was at hand. and we
needed my weekly salary. Then there
was the probability that all my labor
would go for naught, and l would be
left out in the cold, for you know that
in newspaperdom it is easier to resign
a position than to get one, for when a
man steps out there are always 20 9TH
ers ready aud anxious TO take his place,
many Of them just as good and some
considerably cheaper.
''But the dear little wife, who never
doubted my success. decided for me.
So l resigned my desk and went to
work with might ard main or lay play.
l Ind scarcely been at It a week before
the baby tell i'll, and then cur small
savings began to Fly. No n knows
how money can go until his income is
cut off and his expenses are increased,
and very soon we were brought face to
face with the problem of how to live on
nothing a week. Still / worked on,
sandwiching in sketches and stories
enough to keep us going between the
acts Of my play. until &c seemed as il
the pen were constantly in my hand
and my brain was In u whirL We we're
never reduced to actual want. nor even
thanks to the kindness of our cred
itors-to public humiliation, but for
the first time since my marriage i was
compelled to renew acquaintance with
tho pawnbrokers, and my pride was
humbled forever.
"Worse still was the constant worry
and caro- for Cur little enc. We could
not afford to hire o nurse. so the wife
and l took turns in standing watch over
her. PGhy L4G Just r:aeL.d IS 6s5
when sh6 was learning to lisp our
names. and she chung to rs with that
blind confidence Of childhood which
tugs at human heartstrings stronger
than anything ! know on Garth. Then
we tasted the bitter anguish of seeing
our little darling, whom we had learned
to love so. fade and wither before u
eyes like a tender flower. aad We could
not help her.
IL wGs constantly tormcnted by the
fear that lack Of ready honey was de-
priving my child of Hone relief or lux
cry that might bring her back TO health.
so, when about this time l received an
offer Of another position. / was On the
point Of accepting it. Bat ny wife for
babe me. She insisted upon my finish
ing tho play which she felt certain
would bring mo fame and fortune. I'm
hositatingly she sacrificed her baby upon
the altar OF my ambition. and II &c
cepted that awful sacrifice.
"Crities say hat my play bristles
with wit and epigram; that its humor
is irresistible End i.s situatiors simply
conyalsing. Yet / often wcEdcr as /
watch the people laughing at and ap-
plauding the performance how it would
affect them If they knew that those
lines were written by the bedside Of my
dying baby. In the still. solemn hours
Of the night. while my dear. devoted
little wife slept the sleep of the utterly
exhausted. Would they laugh II they
knew that between those laughable lines
l often paused to soothe my baby's fe-
vered brow and wet her parchcd lips :
Some of those side splitting scenes were
written with my little one in my arms
and a heavier weight than her frail lit
tie form on my heart. 1t would have
been q tragedy had 1 written as l felt.
"Then in The midst of rChearsals the
hurry, worry and manifold vexations
incident to staging n new play, the pic
lure Of that pallid little face On the pill
low, with tho tired, fearful one Of my
wife bending over 1t, would come be-
tween me and the stage. and those
laugh provoking speeches sounded like
ribald mockeries to my ears. How will
ingly would l have forfeited even the
certainty Of success to bring the glow
Of health and happiness back TO those
two loved faces.
"On the night Of the first perform
ance there was no one to respond to the
calls for the author. 1 was sitting by
the bed of my baby, watching her little
life flicker and go out wen at the hour
when my fame and fortune were born.
And were they to increase n thousand
fold they could never blot out the bitter
memory of that night. 1t was part Of
the price Of success, and it can never be
all paid on this earth.
Holden passed. and there wero tears
In his eyes.
} Pardon mo for ~paining you. old fel.
low. " no resumed, ''but l must talk &c
some one. Tho little wife never refers
TO our lost darling before me if she car
help it. for she fears to pain me the
more, and for the same reason l refrain
from speaking of it to her. But / car
, see in her thin. pale face and tear drain
ed eyes the same thought that is con
, stantly torturing me--if fortune had
but como a little sooner. might it not
I hoo -~.-.T ~ huhnfa ne. e. 20 A.
! was in truth the price Of success it was
) all too dear. willard Holcomb IN
, Washington Post.
Dress Goods Named For Towns.
Thu or;gin % Aha Dor,aa III taxtiis