Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-11
DAILY SHORT STORY
Making a chump of a Hero.
[OriginaI.l


'that it would be nice for us to make
story together?''
We were sitting in the library in easy
chairs, before log fire. Story writing
was a part OF my work, and 1 did it
for pay. Therefore 1 discouraged Jul
LAS plan.
There's too much shop about it for
me-" 1 said.
But I'm curious to know how these
things are done. Come; yield to me for
once How do you beginT'
1.-The first thing to determine upon is
plan. To tell the truth, one seldom
strikes an original subject for story,
but if one is handy at the business he
may take an old theme and serve it up
daintily, so as to give it the flavor of
originality. In all or nearly all stories
there are a male lover and a female
lover, a VIII
"You mean a man who has given his
heart to a woman who responds to his
passion ra4
''Yes; that's it when we get it on pa
per, but before that we say firSt-to
take common subject-here's the
man lover, here's the woman lover-or
loveress, if you prefer it. And now for
the complications. Experience teaches
us to avoid details that are very COM
mon. Don't make the lover and lover
ess''-
Il wish you'd find other names for
them"
spoon in the conservatory"
Its a delightful place for lovemak-
ing"
That's the reason story makers al
ways use it, Then don't make the
The firemen are the ones to do that if
it must be done at ALL
Never mind the dOn'ts. Get on
with the story"
"WeH, first we'll give them names.
The lover is Charles. Perhaps we'd
better make him young lawyer; the
loveress-I mean the loved One-is
Lucy. and the villain is an officer of
the United States army who distin-
guished himself in the Spanish war"
What funny kind of villain cried
Julia, suddenly looking up at me.
wherein does his villainy consist"
"In loving the heroine
But Captain She stopped and
coIored
Captain Pebbles, to give him d name.
is really not so much to blame as Lucy.
who fails to see Charles advantages
and insists on giving her heart TO the
captain. You see. the villainy is i'll the
military trappings that have induced
so many girls to lead garrison lives who
might otherwise have had comfortable
homes"
al see" said Julia, wagging her toe
on a foot rest, but don't think that
has anything to do with it if she loves
him."
well, to go OH with the story, Lucy
gives Charles the grand bounce. I
mean she dismisses him as a lover,
though she retains him as a friend.
You see, Charles has loved her a long
while, and she was always very nice to
him till the captain came along, when
she changed like a weather vane"-
Nothing of the kind. l mean you
can't make a heroine of a girl as tickle
as that"
THAT is what Charles thinks about
it. so after bearing Lucy's acceptance
of the captains attentions for some
time he just buttons up his coat. puts
| on his hat with n slap on the crown,
Grams his hands into his trousers peck.
cts and goes off by himself, perfectly
Indifferent"
wouldn't it be nice complication
| to shave him suddenly struck with an
other girl?" asked Julia, glancing at me
sidewise. And then he finds out when
| it is too late that Lucy's acceptance of
the captains attentions We're simply
the result of pique."
Hin! 1t seems that we are going
| all wrong. The lover and loveress lex
cuse the word; can't find another) APP
pear to be very commonplace people.
easily made jealous without cause, es-
pecially the girl
"YOu mean the man."
"Wen, never mind which is to blame.
The villain turns out to be the only SEN
sible one of the lot, and a real hero in
military way if not as a lover"
Lets have it that the captain is en-
gagged to another girl all the while"
"What?'
Eyes; the captain is engaged and has
made Lucy his confidant."
THAT won't do"
"Why notY'
Because it will make the hero of the
story appear like an overjealous chump.
Besides the heroine has no business to
nave secrets from her real lover"
do heroines go about revealing con-
fdences?"
scratched my head thoughtfully.
had set out to make my principal man
/ hero. Julia had shaped him q gander.
III tell you what Wen do" said at
/ last "Thackeray made hero in VAN
ity Fam of Major. Dobbin, who started
in as a chump. Suppose we reverse the
process and make a chump of the hero"
1--WE don't need to do that. The hero
has made chump of himself
1 turned and met a merry pair of
eyes and a smile.