The Florence daily tribune., 1899-02-10
PRICE OF SUCCESS.


happy. said L
"WhyT" queried Holden laconically
''why. indeed" exclaimed l. After
ten years of hard, patient toll you have,
in the graceful language of the Gauls,
arrived, or, in plain, colloquial Amer
lean, you have got there with both
feet Your first production is big
success; royalties are rolling in; man
ayers whom once You pursued in vain
are now pursuing you. anxious TO Sc
cure at your own terms the very plays
that they formerly refused without
reading And | know you have plenty
of them According to my calculations,
up to the time went abroad two years
ago, You must have at least a barrel
full of plays of all kiuds-poetical, com
ical. tragical-c calculated to suit all
tastes Consequently all You have to do
is to dip down into that barrel bring
up an old piece, place it and then sit
back and draw your royalties Why.
my boy. you are retired and pensioned
at 80. with fame and money at com
mand and life practically before you.
Why should you not be happy -
lyon forget the price of success,
said Holden bitterly
'Oh. of course, you have worked
hard for all You now enjoy, but that's
all over now. and you have the satisfac-
ton of knowing that it's paid for
"Yes, said Holden almost sadly.
"but you do not realize how dearly
have paid for it .
well possibly not, 7" said l half
alphabetically ''You know l was far
away while You were putting in your
last and probably your hardest licks,
and did not hear from you until the
news of the phenomenal success of
new American playwright was cabled
across the water Why, you re interna-
tionally famous, my boy, and you ought
to be proud of it. -
81 aIn, said Holden. .but with ry
pride is mingled a pang of regret that
shall never outgrow, however ! may i'm
prove upon and make permanent. my
present good fortune AS some one has
said
advancement limps on steps of pain;
Success Il not in flight elate;
We have toSsuffer Just gain
The misery of being great
~ do not know who wrote those 'res.
but whoever he was he brought that
pearl of truth from the depths of bitter
experience maybe something like
mine.
Tell me about it. old fellow. said
I sympathetically. for l saw that some
real sorrow underlay his words,
well, will - said Holden. 1T is
subject | seldom refer to, for | hate
public condolences But yc-7 are an old
friend who knew me when my light
was hidden under a bushel and are not
like those tickle, hattering moths who
flutter about the latest flame. The meta
phor is poor. for | am not a shining light
even now. but already l have had
enough of sycophancy. and-well. you
know what | mean, old man.
when you left the country. had
just about settled down to the dreary
routine life of an editor, whom some
| journalistic wit has described as "a re-
porter with his legs worn out l had
despaired of ever getting my plays ac-
\ cepted and could foresee nothing but an
endless round of grinding out cut and
| dried opinions for other men until
myself became as dry as they and was
kicked out to make room for fresher
material. had married. and of course
we lived up TO my salary-what news
paper man does not Then the baby
came, and for time we lived even a
little beyond it As consequence was
forced TO put my nose even closer to the
/ grindstone and turn my spare hand to
hack work in order to help out. q
Il didn' mind the hard work The
only regret was that it 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 is 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 a gait l could never
succeed in the line most desired
well, that was about the situation
was in when opportunity knocked at
my door. The seasons production of
successful star proved a failure too com
plete to be carpentered into even
semlsnccess. The play had been relied
upon to fill ont the season. and he had
nothing definite in reserve. AS it hap
pened. had outlined to him plot
which impressed him. and he sent me
word that if | would submit the com
pleted play as soon as possible he would
consider it 1t was the vaguest possibil-
lty that he might accept it if nothing
better offered. yet fels that it was my
first and in all probability my last
chance
81 could not possibly write the play
IN time and still retain my editorial