Putnam patriot., 1909-04-30
A VALUABLE PLAY.
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sy BERTHA 0. AIsoP.

f41Hin- seemed to come bis war
 fg.z5ig srguIted lope. fer he was on.
 e.# ra Miss Mildred Linn. the daazh. er ef Alouze Beakard Linn. 8 retired merchant. perfectly able to fsorlien her
 f u ae day If her wedding. Every- f6las IVES viug on oiled wheels with sIr Sfeuzefteu when trouble cane IS rssul If fu of careiesSuess for which be had n0 one to b'ame but himself
 Mir Iiun uas passessed of literary tasrcs. which un his retirement he pro- eeeded to tu5iIE ate. He wrote a novel that proved quite success. Then his prospective son-in-law suggested fhat he try his hand at play Mr. Linn deihHrretl o4 the ground that. not having q knaN ledge of stage require nzeuts. he wuaid not know how . # his piav fer nrt ducfion on tine boards. er. Sfenfertan toid him That he would gladly cdIIaberate win him n that re= snect Nr. Linn consented. and the play was written
 Al the time it's author handed 1t in for perusal the marriage between sten- terton and Miss Linn was being planned to take place in the near fu- ture. Then for the first time t oe- cured to the young manager that a criticism on d production of enc whose san-in-law he was about to become h. volved rather delicate situation Mir. inn had not shown himself amenable 10 adverse criticism and if it were of FnIs ff,r against the critic on the eve of his wedding Mr Iian was amiable, even foviai. but a trifie vain of his talents. Stenterten. when he went to his rooms on the evening he received the manu- seriBt. took il with him. He stopped on the way 1t one of his theaters and didn't reach his rooms till midnight Ii was a week before he found an op- p4rtahitv 10 read the manuscript. then, after hunting for il in every nook and crannv of his rooms. came 10 the con easisH that t was lost. This was tke Ii af earelessness that brought trouble to the young expeetant bride groom
 The first thing he did was 10 make a casual inquiry of the author if he had a duplicate copy of the play When he received .sno" for an answer the bot tom seemed te drop out of the universe, and when Mr Linn added I've done q lot of work on that play, and if you lose 1t I'll never forgive you the young man nearly swooned. He couldn't attend to business during the day and couldn't sleep nights. Finally a plan-a desperate plan, it IS true suggested itself He told Mir. Linn that he had read his play and had found It immense. There was. however, want of smoothness in it consequent upon it's putting together. All that would disappear under a rewriting. He ad- vised that this be done without seeing the original manuscript. NIT. Linn considered the matter. but finally de- efded not to adopt the suggestion. Stenterton's last hope was dashed. Weeks passed and the play was not mentioned The young couple set day for the wedding. The parent de murred. He wanted to know when he was to receive reply to the accept. anee of his play These managers, he said 10 his daughter. are making us playwrights tired with their mat. tention IF my own son-in-law Ia ca pablo of treating me thus I'd rather he wouldn't he my son-in-law.
 One day Mir Linn. yielding to his daughters solicitations. consented to forego the treatment he had received from her fiance so far as 10 permit the wedding to take place. But he said that for wedding gift they must be content with the play. He meant to force Stenterton to get cut of It what there was in il.
 Of course this was a disappointment to the young couple. but great relief Arrangements for the wedding were madA. and. now that Mir. Linn bad sat. isfied his pride in the matter of his play. he seemed more amiable with re- spect to the approaching nuptiais Your wedding present will make you rich. Nillie.s he said "It's worth $50- GOO. and l know it. Rats exelaim- ed Stenterton when he heard this He talks just like every other anna teur playwright They all think thera
  heaven. I'm out of tue serape. I'm satisfied"
 On the morning of the wedding Mir Linn handed the pair box which, he said. contained their wedding present
 But thought yeur play was to be our present from you. papa" said Mii- Lred. Have you reientedT T' .s\0f af aN said my D4uV worth SJ0.000. You'll get nothing from me except that"
 Meanwhile Mildred opened the box There was the missing manuscript For heavens sakew exclaimed the girl
 How did you get it?' asked the young man. turning all the shades healthy flesh can turn.
 You Jeff il iB carriage the even ing l gave il to you II had my name l on il and was returned to me" Meanwhile Mildred turned mp the first leaf of the manuscript. Whats this. \ check, For s5o.ooo.' Didn't I tell you my play was worth that sum- said the playwright. Mtdred threw her arms about her fathers neek while her lovers face were all snrts of expressions from siili- ness to joy
 After the wedding the manager read the play and was so well satisfied with it's merits that he desired to stage H. But his farher-in-law said it was rub bish and would not consent