The Yale expositor., 1908-06-26
,copynsnt. by shOrtstory Pub. COZ
BY r. {. CHASE

Thomas Ticklemore, author, will
hardly be remembered by the pres
ent generation of readers of fiction,
though his vogue some ten years ago
was as great as 1t proved ephemeral.
He had served the usual weary APP
premiership to letters, during which
his only extravaganza was postage
stamps, and his superlative luxury
three meals a day, when the publica'
ton of his striking tale, King Sub
terfuge, the Subtle" first brought him
into prominence. At the very thresh-
old of fame he encountered the auto
graph collector. His greatly augment
ed mail now brought him fresh com
missions, fat checks and flattering
words of praise and encouragement
but also, in the proportion of twenty
I, to one, requests for his autograph
from that incomprehensible class that
attaches value to this simple product
of the writer's art.
Had his success been less sudden
and the resulting demand for the more
legitimate product of his pen been less
overwhelming, a pardonable vanity
might have induced him to yield to
these requests; but as it was, he took
the advice of his friend Coolpitcher
the comedian.
Never dear boy" said that vet
eran in popularity, ION your blessed
life. Ignore 'em. Don't make your
self too cheap"
In this counsel Coolpitcher was en-
tirely consistent with his own prac
tice; for though he had never been
niggardly of his autograph, and had
indeed, given it freely during a long
and checkered public career, chiefly
in the form of LOUIS, he had never
made it at all cheap to its re
cipients.
1t was not long before it got abroad
that the distinguished Mr.. Tickle
more had never given his autograph
to any one, even going to the length
of signing private notes with a rub
Der stamp, and of making verbal con
tracts only, to the jeopardy of his pc
cuniary interests. This singular fact
circulated widely in the newspapers
by his astute publishers as a literary
note, stimulated his admirers to re
doubled energy in the pursuit of sc
unique a possession. More than one
hotel man privately wrote the distin
guished name in an old register, and
then employed some disinterested per
son to discover it.
That Coolpitcher's advice was likely
to be a source of direct profit to the
author himself never occurred tC
either of Them nor was it so at first
save in the small economy in postage
stamps that it occasioned, until the
growth of Ticklemores income ne
cessitated the opening of bank &C
count. This expedient was agreeably
forced upon him in a very few month!
after the publication of King Subter
fuge, the Subtle" which ran nimbly
into edition after edition.
Upon the evening of the day OF
which Mr.. Ticklemore made his frs
| deposit, there appeared in a lesdins
| daily paper that had published /;
standing offer of $500 for a genuine
authenticated autograph, phote-en
| graved fac-simile of his signature. anC
| an announcement that the origina
| could be seen at the Paragon Office
| There, behind strong plate glass, anC
| jealousy guarded by a husky police
man, Tinklemore beheld the signatur,
he had furnished the bank for com
parison. Later he received a note o
| apology from the president saying
| that, while he was the last man t
accuse a brother official of underhand
ed conduct, simple justice to himsel
demanded the statement that, for hi!
| part, he was incapable of converting
public trust to private ends, Will,
| the cashier, whom he mot that even
| ing in society, said with some bitter
ness that it was a hard position for al
| upright man to be mixed up with PEG
| pie whose moral sense was a minus
| quantity. From which Ticklemore in
ferred that they had divided the spoils
At the months end, when he called
| for his book, which had been sent IL
to be balanced, the young man whC
banded it to him said:
You need not have troubled t
bring in your book, Mr.. Ticklemore
since see you have no checks out"
"Ah, but have" he replied, lots o
them" And indeed, charmed by thu
novelty of the thing, he had writer
an unnecessarily large number, il
payment of divers small bills. Non,
of these had been presented for pay
ment.
He could not account for this. anc
when at the end of the second month
he again received back his book with
out a single debit item, he was no
only puzzled but vaguely alarmed.
He did not seek Coolpitchers ad
vice, however, in this matter. Cool
pitchers pronounced talent for supply
ing debit items seemed to him peril
GUS at such a crisis, so he kept tn,
matter quite to himself.
In a few days the explanation ar
rived in an accidental way. A strug
Cling literary friend said to him:
IL see you have set up a bank &C
| Ia