Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-05-27
HotU I Secured
NY Literary
HSSiSfonf.
[Original.l

sufficient demand to warrant my nav
ing an assistant. An amanuensis, you
say? No, not an amanuenSiS or Ste
nographer-an assistant in my literary
work. The duties are hunting up mo-
tives, situations, sceneS-indeed, a lot
of material which l constantly need in
the development of my stories. have
such an assistant, woman. She
knows we'll what need and recognizes
it when she sees it. Her position is
permanent. She is my wife. This is
how l got her:
/ advertised for such person as l
have here indicated, all candidates to
meet me at my house on certain day
and 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 problem:
Here is 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 it. 1t was
handed to her for examination. Her
next neighbOr desiring to see it, it was
passed to him and from him to the next
and the next till it had been examined
by every one at the table. Meanwhile
there was the hum of conversation, and
the ring was forgotten. Then the lady
asked that whoever had it would re-
turn 1t to her. No one had the ring. Its
owner looked astonished, then indig-
nant One Of the guests proposed that
the party submit to search. The propo-
sition 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:
"I will pay the value of the ring. /
do not wish to suffer the notoriety the
bringing of this matter up in the courts
would involve. All except one of us
have proved ourselves innocent He is
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, limo
cent. Each reason may be used as
the denouement, or, gather, / consider
1t the motif of the story. l have my
own opinion which Of the three Is the
strongest for use. If but one 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 l will offer
refer to-:
'First.-The young man was very
poor and would rather be considered
thief than have 1t known that he had
not cent in his pocket.
"SecOnd.-He had sick sister at
home and had taken from a table
bird to carry to her. He would rather
be considered thief than have his
act and the poverty of his family ex-
posed.
''Third.-He considered that an inn0-
cent man would demean himself by
cOnsenting to be searched"
/ asked the young ladies to write
their choice Of these three interpreta-
lions, giving their reasons for it. One
chose the second, stating, In substance,
that nothing could be more noble than
bearing the obloquy of thief rather
than expose the family poverty. An
other chose the first, stating that there
was something whimsical In one pre-
| ferring to be considered thief rather
than turn his pockets inside out, expos
ing his penurious condition. The re-
naming girl chose the third PROPOSE
ton, assigning as her reason that there
was something grand In an innocent
man content to be considered q thief
rather than submit to being searched.
She commended that theoretically either
Of the other propositions would detract
from the first.
| young ladies'" l said my test Is
sufficient. Which Of the three PROPOSE
lions Is preferable is matter of Opin-
ion. To me the third appeals most
especially, and the explanation is also
the one that would give"
| The girls who had chosen Nos. and
2 arose and left me with the young
lady who had best accorded with my
views.
| How came it," l asked, that you
chose denouement which no one but
an experienced writer would be likely
to appreciated"
1.-The basis of your three motifs" she
said, 'are an honest pride, stupid
pride and devotion to another. The
man who would suffer to be consider
ed thief rather than poverty stricken
is a fool. He who would he consid-
cred thief simply to screen family
poverty is weak and impractical The
man too proud to vindicate himself in
the hands Of skilled writer may al
ways be made interesting"
"You surprise me-" said, with
your keen cutting analysis. Have you
had experience in these mattersT
Eyes; / have been a reader of short
story manuscripts for years. I have