The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-10-13

" NJ at queen lctorla ana
European monarch set
wCSTQ-E the cables tlrsiing with
SaSlS&St his compliments or the
- exploit the Indignation in
England was not less than the sur
prise for the thing was not 81 common
as il has Since become Bur when ii
trau~p.rll tl.t 80 81 peculiar sLg-
ni4calce was 53 follow tac c2l-ratulJ-
lions. ~ give tt.a weight the infer
euce prevailed THAI tLe white poteutare
and the black had taken simultaneous
leave of their fourteen senses. For the
gift was pearl Of price unparalleled.
picked aforeuue by British cuJ.asses
from polyHes an setting and present
Ell By British royalty 10 The sovereign
who seized this opportunity Of restor-
ing it TO its original possessor.
The incident would have been q god
send to the press q few weeks later
Even in June there were leaders, let
tiers. large headlines. loaded type the
Daily Chronicle dcv1tue half It's liter
airy page to charming drawing of the
island capital which the new Pail
Mall. in q leading article headed by
pun. advised the government 10 blow
to flinders / was myself driving
poor but not dishonest quill al the
time. and the topic of the hour goadei
NE into Satire verse which obtained
a better place than anything had Yet
turned out. | had let my fat in town
and taken inexpensive quarters at
Thames Ditton on the plea Of disin-
terested passion for the river.
First rate, old boy" said Rallies
(who must needs come and see me
there, lying back in the boat while
sculled and steered. i suppose they
pay you pretty well for these, eh?"
Not penny"
Nonsense. Bunny, I thought they
paid 50 well: Give them time and
you'll get your check"
oh no. l shau't" said | gloomily.
ave got to be content with the honor
of getting in. The editor wrote to say
so in 50 many words l added. But
gave the gentleman E'5 distinguished
name
You don't mean to say you've writ
ten for payment already"
No. Il was the last thing ! had in.
tended TO admit But l had done it.
The murder was out. There was no
seGse in further concealment l had
writtea for my money because l really
needed II II he must know, l was
cursedly nara up. RafleS nodded as
though he knew already l warmed
10 my Woes. IL was no easy matter
TO keep your end up as a raw free
lance Of letters For my part I was
afraid l wrote neither well enough nor
III enough for success l suffered from
q persistent Intellectual feeling after
style Verse l could manage. but il
did not pay. To personal paragraphs
and the baser journalism ! could not
and | would not stoop
Raffies nodded again. this time with
smile that stayed in his eyes as he
leaned back watching me. knew
that he was thinking of other things l
had stopped to. and | thought knew
what he was going TO say. He had
said it before so often. He was sure
to say il again. ! had my answer
ready. but evidently he was tired Of
asking the same question. His lids
fell, he took up the paper be had
dropped and sculled the length Of the
old red wall Of Hampton Court before
be spoke again.
And they gave you nothing for
these? Ny dear Bunny, they're CAPT
tai; not only qua verses, but for crys-
tallizing your subject and putting it in
a nutshell. Certainly you've taught me
more about 1t than l knew before. But
is it really worth 100000 single
pearl?'
"A hundred. 1 believe. But that
wouldn't scan"
"A hundred thousand pounds said
Rafiles with his eyes shut. And again
/ made certain what was coming. but
again / was mistaken. IF it's worth
all that" he cried at last, there would
be no getting rid Of it at ALL It's not
like diamond that you can subdivide.
But beg your pardon, Bunny l was
forgetting"
And we said no more about the en-
peror'S gift. for pride thrives on an
empty pocket, and no privation would
have drawn from me the proposal
which had expected Raffies to make.
My expectation had been half a hope,
though ! only knew 1t now. But
neither did we touch again on what
Raflles professed to have forgotten
my "apOstasy," my lapse into virtue"
as he had been pleased to call it. We
were both a little silent, q little con-
strained, each preeccupied with his
own thoughts. It. was months since
we had met and as l saw him of
toward IL o'clock that Sunday night l
fancied it was for more months that
we were saying goodby.
But as we waited for the train 1 saw
those clear eyes peering at me under
the station lamps, and when / met
their glance Rallies shook his head.
You don't look well on 1t, Bunny"
said he. Il never did believe in this
Thames valley. You want change Of
air"
l wished l might get it.
What you really want is a sea voy-
age"
And a winter at St Moritz, or do
you recommend Cannes or Cairo? It's
oil vorv wall fut x,o,, forr.c+