The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-09-25
TIE Pfot THAT Failed
Showing How the Plan OF a Novel
May Be Too Intricate.

| We fellows had missed Dicks cheer
full face a good deal from the Levitt
club of late, and the idea took posses
sion of us that he must be i'll or in love.
AS his especial friend was commits
stoned to investigate. To this end I
called upon him at his chambers in the
! Temple.
/ knocked, but received no reply, so
pushed open the door and entered.
l expected to find the room empty;
but, to my surprise, right before me as
/ entered sat Dick Graham at writ
ing table which was strewn with man
uscripts and odd scraps of paper.
''Dick, old chap" said l, stepping
forward to his desk and laying my
hand upon his shoulder, whats upi
Turned deaf all of a suddenT
''Good heavensp' he cried. I'll
you gave me a fright, Harold. didn't
know any one was in the room"
81 beg your pardon" l replied. "But
1 knocked several times, and as l re-
ceived no invitation to come in 1 en-
tered
1.-THE fact Isl he began apoIogetical-
Iy, with glance at his desk.
Eyes, yes" | interrupted. 'T see
your COMPOUNDED old yarns. Well,
you've simply got to turn them up for
a spell. Now, come"
81 would" replied Dick, were en-
gagged upon any ordinary story, but
this one l am working at now is my
masterpiece"
"H'mT coughed slightly.
Really" said Dick, Pm in earnest
this time. Look here, I've just conceiv-
ed the Idea for a plot which when
worked into story will startle the
world with It's brilliancy. Just have a
squirt at the outline Perhaps a sug-
gestion might help me-"
Eagerly he raked together about a
dozen scraps of paper covered with dia-
grams and sheet of paper closely
written upon.
my idea," he began, "ls this: Two
fellows, named respectively Dick and
Harry, are in love with two girls, Lucy
and Mabel Now. Dick loves Lucy,
while Harry's affections are centered
upon Mabel. Very well. But there is
trouble. e., Mabel doesn't care a
straw about Harry. Her fancy is
Dick. And the object Of Lucy's tender
passion is Harry. D'you seer
eyes," rather family.
"Well," he continued, there Is to be
a masked ball in their town, and my
four characters will be present. Dick
intends to go as a Chinaman1and Harry
as Mr.. Answers. Mabel is going as
Queen Mary and Lucy as Mrs. Kruger.
By some means they all get to know
what the DISCUSSES of the others will
be. But at the last moment each
couple exchange their dresses, revers-
ing the characters. D'you seer"
IL think grasp it." l muttered
between my set teeth.
"Well," continued Dick, ''the con-
sequence is that Harry, who was going
as Mr.. Answers, but who has really
gone as Chinaman, proposes to Lucy,
who is made up as Queen Mary, taking
her to be Mabel who as a matter of
LdCl - IudSQuSlduAhS do MI D. AA QSCA'
A cold sweat was beginning to break
out all over me, and | believe l must
have worn that same kind Of hunted
expression which was now increasing
on poor Dicks face. He had gathered
two or three scraps of paper, and was
illustrating the idea" to me by means
of rough sketches of the characters
from one to the other of whom he drew
arrows to point his meaning.
"Go on" l said desperately.
tYou see," he said, In compliance
"here is an arrow pointing from Dick
to Lucy, showing he loves her; here is
another from Lucy to Harry, showing
she loves Harry" l fairly trembled
now, and Graham's hair was assuming
a rigid perpendicular. "Then here is
curved line from Harry to Lucy in the
diagram, showing them at the ball,
which points to the fact
Heavens, manp' broke out, drop
it, or I'll go madp'
"Do have little patiencew he cried
.excitedly. TITS getting quite simple,
I assure you. There are only few
points to clear up, and it'll be as simple
as A B c."
He dipped his pen in the ink, and
drew another diagram representing
the four characters.
''You see by this" he said, pointing
to 1t, "that Dick, who ought to be a
Chinaman, is really Mr.. Answers;
while the girl he-that is, her-and
Harry has changed his disguise from
Mr.. Answers to a Chinaman. Well
Dick loves Lucy-Queen Mary, really
but he takes Mrs. Kruger to be she
See, if''-
"Pardon me, Dick, old fellow" in
terrupted. at may be that l am very
dense, but l must confess that can't
follow YOU"
sThats because you're a fool!' he
snapped. ''This is the grandest. most
novel, simplest and at the same time
most intricate plot ever Matched"
"Well, have another try to explain"
said L.