The evening times., 1901-11-28

Are you busy, Bert?' The editor of
the Epoch turned to the associate
editor 1T is a girls letter. and a very
| indignant girls letter. III read it.
To the Editor of the Epoch
Sir: I have always understood that
! editors laugh at people who roll their
manuscripts, but I sent you my story
/ fat. as you are always advising in your
/ notice TO contributors, and you return
/ ed it rolled Besides this, the number
/ 'SI54' was marked on it wtth i1delible
! pencil. can't send the story out again
| unless I CODY it / haven't any type
/ writer, and if I had one / shouldn't
know how to use it, and my hand gets
so tired copying. 1 think it was shame
| to spoil my nice looking manuscript,
/ and I think you ought to do something
! about it. Please let me near from you
Very truly yours,
! ELIZABETH HASTINGS PRATT
The associate editor laughed Poor
little thing, it was a shame to spoil her
poor little story
Poor little. poor nttie!' said the eeii-
| tor mocIingIy she may be eight feet
tall. and old enough to be your moth
er."
NO. she ISN'T. She is young and
plump ana pretty. and she has dimPEes
/ and beseeching blue eyes. insist that
| it was a shame to spoil her story
The associate editor had the story on
his mind, evidently, for few moments
| later he asked. What was the story?
| Do you know. Halsey?"
Perhaps it was a 'pome'-'Liles to q
Pet Kitten for instance"
Nonsense. She called It a story
/ Where is the manuscript book? Pratt,
Elizabeth H.'-'The Crime of Geofrey
HaIsmere' Humph! Rather tragic.
! Montgomery"-to the cIeTk-'-did you
/ roll that manuscript when you return
4 ed it2'
Yes. il was so big that no envelope
| would hold il"
| You might have wrapped it Hal
sey. don't you think we ought TO make
Montgomery copy the story on the
/ typewriter
Certainly, Bert. make him copy it.
! and you take the story TO Elizabeth
( Pratt Hastings and make her acquaint-
ance." and the editor made a raid on
5 a fresh pile of unsolicited manuscripts.
Bert. or more properly, Hubert
| Marsh. dictated q letter to Miss Pratt,
/ which promptly brought The Crime of
! Godfrey HaIsmere' To be copied Mr.
! Marsh stood over Montgomery while
he did it. and when it was wrapped up,
fat II was pGt in the associate editors
desk Till that gentleman saw ut 10 re-
turn It
Have You returned Elizabeth Pratt
Hastings story" Halsey asked one
/ day
Her name is Elizabeth Hastings
( Pratt said Bert, putting beautiful
! point on his lead pencil 4 think 1
! shall deliver the manuscript on SaJuT-
! 7 I.z-a IN gaa g flTgTJob her TOWN
( on my way 20 Sister Anna's- I want
to prove TO you that Z. H 2. is young,
! beautiful. and dimpled-"
III wager anything you like that
she is tall. thin. and fOrty-twO-
] Make it a hat if you don't mind; I
! shall want one soon
Done Monday morning you will re
/ turn quite chapfaIlen- I shouldn't mind
/ having a hat myself
on Saturday afternoon Mr. Hubert
I Marsh aTrayed himself with even more
( than his usual care and set out for
! Sister Anna's, intending 10 stop al Miss
+ Pratts and deliver the story The neat
( maid who answered his ring told him
that he would find Miss Pratt in the
/ garden He did. He found her not only
IN the garden. but in the hammock, and
he wished that the editor could be
there to see how pretty she was After
! 4 moment however. he felt quite re-
Pardon me but the maid directed
. me here Bert began. with his most
engaging smile Il am the associate
/ editor Of the 'Epoch. and as I was pass
/ ing through your town. I thought I
Z would leave your naHuscript-tO make
sure that il did not get rolled again,
he added playfully-
oh then you have returned it, Miss
Pratt cIasped her hands in tragic fash
I ion y did SO hope that something
might happen to make you keep it
( should think you might have kept IL
This may seem a trif1ing matter to you,
bu& il means a great deal to me. I need
, the money so much. She slipped out
of the hammock :I;sd stood before Bert
/ in q supplicating attitude Why can't
you print it, Is it SO bad2
Bert felt that he was in tight place.
and he heartily wished that he had let
Montgomery mail the story She was
so pretty
Wen. YOU see that sort of thing is
not exactly in our line, he began lame
What sort Of thing? You print sto-
ries all the time Is it too long. or too
short or too WhatE
Decidedly. it was too what. Bert
thought. and as ne remembered some
% the description
Sit down. please and tell me all
about my little story Take the big
chair. Now we can be comfortable
while We talk"
Comfortable St. Lawrence on a grid
iron was in bliss compared with Bert in
the easy garden chair. as he after
ward confded to the senior editor.
What are the faults Of my story2
Isn't the writing plain? I couldn't af-
ford to have it typewriter, but I cop
led it carefully with stub pen and the
/ best black ink
1T was beautifully written. beaud-
fully sad Bert, in burst of enthusi-
asm. But. you see. in considering a
1 story there are other things besides
| Decmanship To be taken into account
Mr. Marsh then launched into a
learned disGuisition on the short-StOry
In fact. the short-story was one Of his
hobbies He always wrote ii with a
! hypten, to distinguish it from the story
which is merely short. and he managed
to speak it so that You knew the hy-
phen was there He felt that he was
talking well. but the unappreciative
Miss Pratt pulled him up shortly and
brought him back to a concrete exam
pie