Evening star., 1906-03-11

T. Roosevelt. ! Vasf$s
OF course the financial result 77fzsI3@ s pl
of this state of things ESg9Y iii
Portable competency, though per- ..f - :,
haps not atfluenCe. But Harry u FSs ax&*#
Harcourt not ambitious. The ~t,I %4e<ssxzf
b9st rates of the best periodicals sss
were good enough for 1SSsss4
lin, and he lived hap |xe sSs9s
ply with his wife and G@@s-@<S-zz-@z---z
children in a suburban -
town, and occasionally
ran over to the city for
a breath of hot air" as he expressed it in his
Ight-literary way
Harcourt was a methodical man. Indeed, it
to this trait that he attributed his success. In
the preface of his career he had systematized his
work. He had reduced all jokes to common denom-
nators and discovered that the skeletons of all
short stories looked alike. He had classified tables
OF jests ready for instant They alpha
beticallv arranged, as Appendicitis, Bernard Shaw,
Chauffeurs, Divorce, and so Moreover he was
always time In January he wrote his summer
girl verses his Fourth of July jokes and his articles
on The Advantages of the City as a Summer
Resort" In June he wrote his Christmas ballads
and his jests on New-Year resolutions.
He worked at his desk every day from nine till
one, his copy was always neat and clean, and his
return enveops carefully stamped and addressed.
They rarely used for he kept his trained
finger the editorial pulse, and most of his stuff
was accepted its first offer.
So all was well, and may deduce, there
WAS not a fly in Harry Harcourt's light-literary
ointment.
But suddenly and with no apparent reason things
began to change. One day manuscript was
returned to him in his own neat return-enveop.
Though unusual, this not absolutely unpre-
cedented, and it caused Harcourt only a monentary
surprise, after which he sent it off again to the
next most desirable editor. But next day two more
manuscripts came back to him, and the day after
another. After this he began to have nearly
many reflections acceptanCes then just many,
u-d then more.
The sensation in Harcourt's mind regarding this
phenomenon was not disappointment, discourage
mcat, dismay or despair. 1t was healthy intelli-
-,nt curiosity as to what the dickens it all meant.
4I knew his market and his work too we'll to think
Tor a moment that one was overcrowded the
o-lcr inferior. There must be a reason, he knew
q good reason-and he determined to find it. He
WAS in that peculiar stage where an author is both
too successful and not successful enough to march
boldly to his editors and ask explanation. So he
puzzled over it himself; but he couldn't solve the
m-stery And matters grew worse. His stuff was
selling poorly that his bank-account was seriously
threatened.
Something must be done; but what? He thought
Of Dr. Oslers theory, and wondered if he ought to
b, chorotorncd He didn't feel that he ought
TO be, but he wrote humorous poem the thought,
IS was his wont on all such thoughts. The poem
was returned to him with printed thanks and
again he was mildly surprised and deeply
m -stifed.
lie was thinking it all over one day, when his
friend Jack Norton came into his library. Norton
was a wcll-to-do man, and consequently in
automobile toys.
Il say, Harcourt," D." he said lend me your horse