The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-06-12

t'rly expressed, because I've taken time
with it. I've cut it down and worked
1t over. and I've viewed it always in
the new light that has come to me.
Bless the dear girl. Let's talk of her
for awhile and let criticism rest. AS
for your opinion. l pity and forgive
you. Let thai suffice"
So we talked about the dear girl and,
as before. wound up with a game of
billiards. And, by the way, Blake
made a Roman holiday of me. His bill
lizards had improved a hundred per cent
within the week.
Il was agreed that | should drop in
upon him at his lodgings after dinner.
Miss Woodruff was not to be at home.
and an evening in his bachelor quar-
tiers was the best that Blake could
hope for.
1t may have been 8 o'clock when 1
arrived. Blake came to the door of his
little parlor in response to my rap. He
had on an old red sweater with a
faded 81 on the front of it. An old pair
of trousers and a straw hat with no
crown in it completed his visible attire.
had seen Blake wearathis hat be-
fore. when he had to work late at
night. The brim shaded his eyes, and
the absence of the crown, in his opin-
ion. prevented IN injurious effect upon
the hair such as is said to come from
wearing ones hat in the house.
P1oEo hos rlnpty of hot, o,d e. -
ments of excitement it stands out from
his head at all sorts of angles. On the
occasion in question it streamed I'D
through that broken hat as if the cir
clet of straw had been a funnel sup.
piled with a mighty draft of air.
Everything has gone to the devil!,
was his greeting to me.
"What do you mean?" l cried. "Has
Miss Woodruff
ooh. no; she's all right, but that in
fernal villain Hatfield. to whom I've
owed a couple of hundred dollars for a
year or two. is going to make trouble"
"What trouble can he make?" de-
manded.
"Why, he'll tell Mr.. Woodruff, and
then my cake is dough-" said Blake.
You see. l neglected to mention the
Hatfield matter in my talk with Wood
ruff, and he'll remember that. tell
you it would ruin my life"
But there's nothing d%isgraceful
about this debt"
'"No, except that l didn't tell Wood
ruff about it. There's the pinch. I've
got to raise the money for Hatfield to.
morrow" Z.
How in blue blazes are you going
to do It'll" l demanded. 81 haven't 1t.
and
tive seen Harper" said Blake. eff
I'll finish that Porto Rican romance
for him, he'll pay spot cash. There's
about 5000 words to write. and l can't
do it-except that I've got to-. Why.
old man. fancy my trying to write to-
night. I'm so worried. so totally up
set, that my brains are mush. can't
think Of my own name. Yet l must do
it. But, oh" he groaned. sit will be
awful rot!'
He rather staggered than walked to
his chair beside the big table in the
center of the room.
"Sit down and keep STILL" he said,
"but don't leave me. Just stay by
through this night, and maybe a
turn the trick. If I'm left alone, l shall
either go crazy or go to sleep, and ones
as bad as the other tonight"
Three seconds later his pen was dig.
ging holes in the paper. At first 1t
went heavily onward, and frequently
he stopped and paced the floor, assur-
ing me that no man so miserable as he
was could possibly write.
Presently. however. he began to 20
more steadily. His eyes took on a
glare. He no longer addressed any re-
marks to me. but he said things about
Porto Rico and the character Of his
story to the air.
Meanwhile he smoked long black CT
gars, the ends of which he chewed saw
agely.
This continued for hours. About 1
o'clock he slowed up, and several times