The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-07-11
Hope Deferred.

VI course, she had always ben of al
imaginative turn, and had seen thing
rather romanticall;, besides having
git OF words. But she had neve
thought Of writing a story, not even ;
NIUE ,oem, such as great many
schoJl girls write-girlS, some of them
VIII little imagination. and still les!
Slft OF words. Then came her vaIedic
tory, which was praised and printed
and part Of it reprinted in city paper
After that she decided to write.
There vas plenty to write Of and sht
Was buoyant, full of enthusiasm and
young. 1t seemed but natural to hel
that she should write ior the young at
hrst, believing that with added skill
she would be fitted later for mature
audience. To write skillfully for the
young is hardly the lesser art; but
she did not realize this, nor the value
nor charm of her work.
She was surprised, very much sur
prlsed, and oh, SO delighted, when
there came to her. perhaps fortnight
later, a brief and apprehensAe note
from the editor Of The Juvenile, and
a check-nOt large one, for they did
not pay much in those days of quar-
ter Of a century back; but the letter
AID the check made her blood dance
and bound and quiver and sent her far
out 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 a
check for her first story, and had asked
for more! Dear heart! it is good to be
young and alive, looking up to the
sky and to feel that somewhere in the
big world there is a place for lis.
1t seems almost too bad that she did
not persevere. So many have persevered
with so much less encouragement. a
fair start and an open way-why was
it that love must come along just then
to divert and hinder. True, she did not
undertake the second 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 an editor was the best thing
10 the world, after all. She finally gave
t up, and told Tom all about it1when
she. became engaged to him and Of
course Tom told her that when they
we're married she should write stories
Ill day long if she wanted to.
That was easy for Tom to say. No
loubt he meant it, too, at the time.
But you see, during the first year there
vas the little new home to fix up, and
Turing the next year there was little
lew baby to cuddle and care for, while
With other years there were other little
lew babies and cares, and the house
rev larger, and more leaves were add
d to the extension table, though the
lingering hope of one day finding time
o write did not wholly die until the
econd and perhaps even the third baby
anne along.
She gave up the idea then altogether,
nd with what seemed an added rea-
on, for her first story sold to The
uvenile had never been printed!
rue, she had heard that for one rea-
On and another magazines sometimes
elaycd publication for as much as four
five years, and she was rather
leased at first that perhaps her oldest
er boy, would be able to understand
y the time mothers story" appeared. |
They watched for it together at last;
ut when seven years had passed since
was written she began to despair of |
ever appearing. When eight or nine
ears had gone their way she put the
after out of her mind altogether, and
.garded herself as fortunate that she
i'd not adopted literature as calling.
he manuscript had doubtless been
rgotten and destroyed. She would for
It. too.
Not SO with the children. The tradi-
on of a story that their mother had
ritten and sold to their favorite pub
,ation was every precious to them.
Id each number of The Juvenile was
arched carefully and with a fresh
.ng of disappointment as each month
Issed and added itself to the years
at brought them to manhood and
with lives and homes and
res Of their own.
She was all done at last--she and
I'M. The house was much too big for
EN- now, and the table had been mar
wed down leaf by leaf until it was
st where it was when they began
ore than twenty-five years before.
e was still in the prime of life, and
ey were not rich enough to travel.
m. who had been hurt in a runaway
years before, had never quite re-
rered. and the burden of the family
q been heavy on his shoulders. Once