The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1900-10-20

her frankly that her stuff was the
'veriest rot. L Did she become Of
| fendeslP Not !. bit Il. She il
/ thoroughly Aniiablc. She would
make him MlIteit lslhc thoughtit
fshculd be, compliment him, and
ecll ii.
One day she said TO him, "a
certain paper wants a sketch; tell
me what 10 write.' He was busy
and cvinced little interest. ssYou
might AZ well tell me, for | am
going to sit here III your uffice un-
Gil you do. He finally told her
to writea sketch Of Tom Wood
ward, a dashing Confederate cav
| lRlryman, whose advanturous life
land tragic end had enough ele-
iinent of proper romance for
d novel Then ho had to help her
get the data. A few days later
She smilingly informed him that
tho paper had sent her hand
sume check and Tint rich relatives
] Of Woodward in far-a-away New
1 EnglaiS, who first learned Of his
fate through her story, had writ
ten her asking her TO come and
visit them.
Her first book wasa little paper
covered story, which the called
"The Singing Wire" She is
heartily ashamed of that effort
now, aud it is never mentioned
in connection with her name. A
thousand copies were printed at
Clarkesvilie and she sold them all
BY personal solicitation.
One day she asked young law
yer at Hopkinsyille: s.Candiclly,
what do you think of me?"
"Candid.y," he replied, ~
think you are "A Fool in Spots. "
She laughed heartily. 1t was not
long after that before her second
novel appeared from st. Louis
Publisher. Its title was IA Fool
in Spots" !"
1t was more than year before
she published her next novel. It
was this work that brought her
name prominently into notice,
coupled with censure and praise,
and bitter assault and fierce de-
fense. Smoking Flax" is its title
and many editions where sold.
Not because it ris meritoious or
wholesome, but because q young
woman had the tcmerity to induct
defense Of oflynching into tory.
The plot Is simple enough. A
young Northerner with pronounc-
ed views on the barbarity of lyn-
ching, casts his fortunes in
Southern community and gives
out some platitudes about the evil
of lynching. He falls in love, of
course. His fiance is the victim
of a negro brute, and the catas-
trophe is lynching and a conver-
sion to the Southern method Of
dealiDg@with such eFfniess after
the publication of Smoking
Flax" its author became favo-
rite with New York yellow Jour.
nails. Page pictures of"her were
printed. She had accomplished
no literary feat for the treatment
was crude and barren of artistic
relief, but she was talked about
and the work of her pen was
wanted in certain quarters. "As
the Heart Panteth" followed. In
this simple love story another So
cial theory is discussed. While
there is no enduring merit in this
work, it is but simple justice to
Miss Riyes to say that it abounds
with thoughts that are beautiful
and pure, passages that have the
touch Of a refined hand aud situa-
tions, THAT an artistic sense has
rescued from the Ridiculous.
The novel whose leaves "bleed
when they are cut may add to
that character of fame which Miss
Rlves set out to win, but it is
doubtful if her fame will ever be
envied. Not even the praise of
Ella Wheeler Wilcox can invest
hysteria with the quality of hero
ism, or excuse a work whose
claim to popular favor rests sole
| ly upon its morbid sensuality.
Miss Rives has triumpbed over
many difficulties and with only
ordinary capacity, supplemented
by tirelcss perseverance and other
substitutes for genius, achieved
an extraordinary, if unenyiable,
position.