The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-03-13

HctO I Secured
Ny Literary
Hssisfanf.
torieInaI.l

the development of my stories. ! have
such an assistant, a woman. she
knows well what 4 need and recognizes
It when she sees 1t. Her position is
permanent. She is my wife. TEis is
how got her:
advertised for such a person as l
! have here indicated, all candidates TO
meet me at my house on n certain day
aud hour. When they were assembled
| l questioned them In preliminary
manner and weeded out all but three
/ of them. They were all women. Then
l gave them the following problems:
Here is a story" said. "of dinner
party at which there were. say, dozen
! guests. One of the ladies' present had
ON her finger peculiar ring. One sit
! ting next her asked to see 1t. 1t was
handed to her for examination. Her
next neighbor desiring 70 see 1t, II was
/ passed 10 him and from him to the next
l and the next till II had been examined
by every one at the table Meanwhile
II there was the hum of conversati tion, and
the ring was forgotten. Then the lady
asked that whoever had It would re-
III lul IL ~ itI. NJ Ollt Duu lut TIHk. ltS
owner looked astonished, then indig-
nant. One of the guests proposed that
the party submit to search. The propo.
sitlon was adopted, and each guest con-
sented except one young man, who de-
clared that he would not submit to
such ignominy. Then the host said:
81 will pay the value of the ring
do not wish to suffer the notorlety the
bringing of this matter up In the courts
would involve All except one of us
have proved ourselves innocent. He IL
either guilty or for some reason known
only to himself is content to remain
considered so
"a year after this upon the moving
of sideboard the ring was found in
a crevice. There had been no theft.
II will give three different reasons
why the young man declined to submit
to search, he being, like the rest, inno-
cent. Each reason may be used as
the denouement, or. rather, consider
it the motif of the story. | have my
own opinion which of the three Is the
strongest for use. If but ope of you
agrees with me | shall consider her the
best fitted for my assistant since she
will see situations more clearly as see
them. If more than one Of you choose
my preferred denouement | will offer
another test These are the situations
refer to-
First The young man was very
poor and would rather be considered a
, thief than have it known that he had
not cent in his pocket.
"Second.-lle had sick sister at
home and had taken from n table a
bird to carry TO her. He would rather
| be considered a thief than have his
act and the poverty of his family ex-
posed.
"Third.-He considered that an inno-
cent man. would demean himself by
consentlng TO be searched"
l asked the young ladies' to write
their choice of these three interpreta-
tons, giving their reasons for It. One
= chose the second, stating, in substance,
that nothing could be more noble than
bearing the obloquy of a thief rather
than expose the family poverty. An
other chose the first, stating that there
was something whimsical In one pre-.
ferring to be conside.ad thief rather
: than turn his pockets inside out, expos
ing his penilious condition. The re-
naming girl chose the third PROPOSE
: tlon, assigning as her reason that there
was something grand In an innocent
:. man content to be considered thief
5 rather than submit to being searched
;. She contended that theoretically either
: of the other propositions would detrac'
from the first.
= "Young ladies'" | said, "my test 4,
e sufficient. Which of the three PROPOSE
:. tlons Is preferable IL matter of opln
= lon. To me the third appeals mos
9 especially. and tn, explanation Is alst
the one that would give"
The girls who had chosen Nos. ant
arose and left me with the young
lady who had best accorded with my
views.
How came it," | asked, "that yot
chose n denouement which no one bu
Z an experienced writer would be likt !,
to appreciateT
"The basis or your three motifs" sh;
e said, "are an honest pride, stupit
10 pride and devotion to another. Th
man who would suffer to be consider
h ed thief rather than poverty strickel
J, is fool. He who would be consld
cred thief simply to screen famil,
10 poverty Is weak and impractical. Th
It man too proud to vlndlcate himself Il
the hands Of skilled writer may al
ways be made interesting"
"You surprise me-" 4 said, wit
"a your keen cutting analysis. Have yol
i. had experience In these mattersT
"Yes; | have been reader Of shor
N story manuscripts for years. hay
read basketful of stories ON the me
tif underlying your first proposition,
dozen basketfuls on the one underly
ing your second proposition, but don
remember ever reading one on til
third"
"You viii not be likely to troubl
me with threadbare themes"
"Nor new ones either. II you pa
a me for such rather than salary,
~ shall sturve, There Is nothing new"
nI will nav Vou n salaryv -