Smyrna times., 1900-05-23

-' 80 OllSluitl lnaIIer!'
A pause ensued. The ticking of a |
CLOCK ON the mantelpiece alone broke |
'he silence of the room. The editor
"aIched the woman keenly. A sudden |
spaSm passed over her face and q
hunted look came into her eyes. Then
Ior the first time the man noticed her
paIlor and the poverty of her attire:
she had clasped her hands together. as
IL TO make an appeal, and he saw that
even her gloves were carefully mend
ed.
III you would rather not answer" he
SAID gently and in a very different tone
from that which he had intended to
adopt toward "NIr. Hellingham." you
need not do so. Only, think you must
acknowledge that it is impossible for
me to publish the story in my maga-
zine.'
"Will you tell me w-whyY she ask
ed, trying to control her voice. Il will
own that | shouldn't have offered it
to you without an explanation, per-
haps. But ~
For answer he took from drawer a
newspaper and a pile of manuscript
This is your manuscript" he remark
ed, watching her keenly as she put
out her hand for it, "and this" he
added gravely. taking up the paper,
''is the journal in which a certain
story entitled The Liar appeared.
Now perhaps you will understand"
The girls hand trembled so that she
could hardly hold the printed sheet.
After mOmentary glance she laid it
down again, and then, turning her
blanched face to him, she said tremu-
lously, 81 ask your pardon"
"Will you tell me, Miss Chester" he
asked slowly. "why you sent this to
me? Was it for the sake of getting
into print-a natural enough vanity.
I'll allOw-or," he continued in a softer
tone, was the payment that you
would have received Sad the manu-
script been accepted an important con-
sideration"
"Oh, Mr.. Baird" she exclaimed, try
ing to regain her compOsure. Il know
it was a dreadfully dishonorable thing
to do, but-but you don't know how
hard it has been for me in London. A
woman has no chance at all, and for a
| girl like me, without interest or
| friends, it seems impossible to get
work. I've lost heart utterly now. and
I'm so tired of it all"
"Have you met with any success at
all?' he asked sympathetically.
Eyes, little, but not very much and
nothing regular. | got some fairly reg
ular work on The Morning Comet, put
the paper failed last summer and left
some money owing to me, too" she
added sadly.
"That was hard lines. Did you write
much for it?
Eyes, a good deal. l did all those
articles on The Provincialism of Lon
| dom and also the serial The Heart of a
Woman with some short tales as
we'll"
"By Jove! Was it you who wrote
THE Heart of a Woman then? he ex-
| claimed, with interest. "HOw silly of
me! | ought to have remembered the
name. 1t was "a capital story. You
should get it published in volume form.
I'm sure it would succeed"
| "I've tried to, but it was no good.
The first firm l offered it to kept it for
seven months and then wrote to say
they would bring the story out if
would bear the expense. The next peo-
pie who considered it were not so bad.
They asked me to pay only half the
cost. | knew they were a good firm
and would treat me well. and so tried
to get the money before the book would
be too much out of date.
THAT is why you sent this manu-
script to me then"
"Yes: saw that you were offering
23 guineas for the best 10000 word sto-
ry. The money meant such lot to me,
and | was so awfully hard up! be-
gan story and got half way through
with il, but il wasn't alive. and some
how couldn't get on with it. Then one
day | came across an old file of the
Cape Town Mercury in the reading
room at the museum. l saw story
called The Liar in 1t and liked the
central idea very much. ] worked II
up and changed the construction a lit
tie and added another chapter. and
then-well. then | sent it here. never
imagined any one would recognize II
The paper was over ten years old and
had lasted only dozen numbers.
"And now think I've nothing more
to say" she went on. Except that I'm
ever so sorry about it all! hope you
won't think too badly of me. 1t was
such a temptation! Will you tell me
though"-her voice faltered-"how II
was you found out? l didn't think any
one in London could have read the
Cape Town Mercury or. even II they
had read The Liar that they coulc
remember it now. 1t is a curious coin
cidence of course"
"Yes," answered the man slowly, "aI
| extraordinary coincidence. The rae
is. though-er-I myself happen to b'
the original author of The Liar =
Sketch.
The Cunning of the Crow.