The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-20
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HOPES AF|[[D. !
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an imaginative turn, and had seen
things rather romantically, besides
having a gift of words. But she had
never thought of writing a story, not
even little poem, such as a great
many schoolgirls write-girls, some
of them, with little Imagination and
still less gift OF words. Then came her
valedictory, which was praised and
printed, and part of it reprinted in a
city paper. After that she decided
to write.
There was plenty to write Of, and
she was buoyant, full Of enthusiasm
and young. 1t seemed but natural to
her that she would write for the young
at first, believing that with added skill
she would be fitted later for ma
the young is hardly the lesser art: but
she did not realize this, nor the value
and charm of her work.
She was surprised, very much sur
prised, and oh, so delighted, when
there came to her, perhaps a fort
night later, a brief appreciative note
from the editor Of the Juvenile, and
check-not large one, for they did
not pay much in those days of quar-
ter of century back; but the letter
and the check made her blood dance
and bound and culver, and sent her
far into the fields, to lie in the tall
grass and look up at the sky, and to
whisper over and over to herself that
she was an author! an author! a
real live author, who wrote for this
great new publication for the young,
which from the far-away city had sent
her check for her first story, and
had asked for more! Dear heart! it
is good to be young and alive, and
somewhere in the big world there is
a place for us.
1t seems almost too bad that she did
not persevere. So many have perse-
vered with so much less encourage
ment. A fair start and an open way
why was it that love must come
along just then to divert and to him
der. True, she did undertake a Sec
ond story, but the same evening she
met Tom for the first time, and that
night, as she lay looking out at the
stars, she was not SO sure that being
ar author was the best thing in the
world, after all. She finally gave it
up, and told Tom about it when she
became engaged to him, and OF course
Tom told her that when they were
married she should write stories all
day long if she wanted to.
That was easy for Tom to say. No
n hn iv,n
But, you see, during the first year
there was the little house to fix up,
and during the second year there was
the little new baby to cuddle and care
for, while with other years there were
other little new babies and cares, and
the house grew larger. and more
leaves were added to the extension
table, though the lingering hope Of
! one day finding time to write did not
wholly die until the second, and per-
haps even the third, baby came along
She gave up the idea then altogeth-
er, and with what seemed an added
reason, for her first story sold to the
Juvenile had never been printed!
True, she had heard that for one rea-
| son and another magazines som metimes
delayed publication for as much as
four or five years, and She was rather
pleased at first that perhaps her old
est boy, would be able to understand
by the time mothers story" appeared.
They watched for 1t together at
last; but when seven years had passed
since it was written she began to de-
spair Of its ever appearing. When
eight or nine years had gone their
way she put the matter out of her
mind altogether and regarded herself
as fortunate that she had not adopted
literature as a calling. The manu-
script had doubtless been destroyed
and forgotten. She would forget, too.
Not SO with the children. The ira
dition Of story that their mother
had once written and sold to their fa-
vorite publication was very precious
to them. and each number Of the Ju.
venile was searched carefully and
with fresh pang Of disappointment
as each month passed and added itself
to the years, and the years brought
them to manhood and womanhood,
with lives and homes and cares of
their own.
She was all alone at last-she and
Tom. The house was much too big
for them now, and the table had been
narrowed down leaf by leaf until 1T
was just where it was when they be-
gan more than twenty-five years be-
fore. She was still in the prime of
life, and they were not rich enough to
travel. Tom, who had been hurt in a
runaway ten years before had never
quite recovered, and the burden of
family haa been heavy on his shoul-