The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-02-15
s Herbert French was leav-
ing n street car, in which he
had ridden for about twenty


French knew he had left nothing
but he was not the man to lose th
chance of obtaining anything for tn
sake of lie.
Here you are. sir" and the con
ductor thrust a parcel into his hand.
French gave the conductor dime
and n few minutes later was at tho
house in which he lodged, and ascend
ed 10 his room. Here ne examined thu
article which Fate-Or the car con
ductor-had given him. 1t was
square. bulky package, enveloped II
brown paper and tied neatly with Q
piece Of red tape. There was no adj
dress on the cover, and, opening II, h'
found a quantity OF closely writer
manuscript. inscribed in n firm and
clear handwriting, and headed "Thf
Maze Of Life"
II was story. he could see at a
glance: and no name or address was
upon II. He threw IL on one side,
with n quiet laugh.
mot much fear of that being adver-
tised for" he sail aloud. Some poor
beggar Of an author forgot IL. I sup
pose. who hasn't got n dollar to bless
himself with-like me-
Herbert French was nm individual
who for years had existed in the man
ner which is commonly called Giving
on his wits" That Is 10 say he could
turn his hand--or his head-to nearly
everything but practically skiilful at
nothing.
Once upon n time he held good
position In large business house: hrt
his name became mixed up I'm soue
underhand practices. and he had 10 90.
He had drifted from one thing to an.
other as many man does. and now
he was n canvasser for advertisements
for Il so-called society weekly" run
by a brolen.down journalist There
was n certain amount Of money 10 be
made at the work. and French spent
his scanty earnings like prince How
he managed to live was n puzzle 10
many people and often a puzzle To
himself
His landlady. with whom he settled
promptly. regarded him ms an estima
bic lodger. and was loud in her praises
of the 'littery gent, on the third front y
Those OF whom he occasionally hor
rowtd money referred to him in quite
different fashion.
For 4 day ~ Swo. French watched
the advertising columns Of the news.
papers i'm the hope OF finding n reward
offered for the manuscript in his pos
session. None appeared. however. acd
the little pile of foolscap lay in his
room almost forgotten for some weeks
Then one night he picked II up and
glanced curiously at the first sheet He
read Il and turned To the second. and
ms he did so his interest was aroused.
II was seldom he read anything except
the police reports. but "The Maze of
Life" laid hold Of him Mt once. Page
after page he eagerly devoured.
The fire in his room sank lower and
lower. and finally sank out in feeble
splutter. 4 neighboring clock chimcd
the hour of two. hut still he sat leaning
over the table, his eyes cleaning with
eagerness rs he turned the sheets over
Now and again he would pause and
wipS his forehead with his handker
chief As the fains streaks of dawn
shimmered coldly through the win
dow panes he came TO the end.
GOOD Heavensr' he murmured rs
he sank back. exhausted. What j,
story
He gathered the manuscript togeth.
cr again.
"Who wrote it, wonder? It's n mas.
terpiece-a work Of genius, The poor
devil who lost it-That a blow"
Then came the thought: What to do
with it," He knew the honorable
course open TO him-to advertise H..
But Herbent French always preferred
90 take the positc course TO the hon
Drable one.
Next day an idea struck him. 1t
scared him at first in its insolence. and
he put il on one side as impossible and
too risky. Thinking It over later. II
lost its fearfulness 1t was risky. GER
tainly; but he had grown callous so
taking risks. especially where money
was the inducement. And IL might. he
through unscathed.
"Why not have The Maze OF Life
published as his own work? That Il
would be accepted by a publisher of
repute on it's own merits he felt sure.
a work that throbbed it'll genius. that
gripped the reader from the first chap
ter and held him spellbound to the end.
could not go begging. And the chances
of the real author coming forward :
What then? He preferred not to dwell
ON that.
Yes. he would risk IL. and II he was
discovered he would brazen Il out 60
the end.
He took the manuscript to n type
writing cstat 'ishment. and a few days
later IL was returned with n neatly.
typed copy. He burned the original
and felt much safer when this was
done. Then he despatched the type
written story to one OF the foremost
publishers In the city.
The weeks that followed were tortur
Gus ones to Herbert French. At time.
he regretted having taken the step hs
had done. and wished he had never
seen "The Maze OF Life" He would
laugh at his fears. and picture himself
the author OF the day. A month slipped
by and a polite note reached him from
the publishers TO the enect that theil
reader had reported favorably ON hi,
work and they would be happy to n,
gotia;e for It's publication.