El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-25

20 one knew better than Dawson
n that he was a failure. Indeed,
~ he used to comment upon the
fact In his gently garrulOus way
when he dared stop his work long
sTm Dawson. the dereIict, all right
His lips would twist themselves into
a smile which he fOndly imagined was
Dawson was the "fauguy" Of the
Dawson lived in the cheapest board
Ing house Of the clean and respecta-
bic kind that he could find. It was
within walking distance of downtown
Thus Dawson saved car1are- Sometimes
he slept there, but often he snatched
what sleep he could on the table IN
the papers "mOrgue" But no matter
how strong the stress Of his work, he
managed to take most Of his meals at
the boarding house table, not only be-
cause he had to pay Tor them anyway,
after the fashion Of boarding houses
but because in the basement dining
room Dawson came into his own.
To the bOarders, he was the editor
Of the GlObe"-nO lesser title was ever
bestowed upon him, and his largesse In
the matter Of tickets to circuses, cleo
trical shows, flower shows, and the
thousand and one other things to which
his long connection with the Globe gave
him enUree entrenChed him uuassalla-
bly, in his position as head Of the table.
Each new bOarder was introduced
Globe, and his landlady baszed in much
reflected glory, as she recOunted the
glOries Of Mr. DaWSOnS position, when
impressing the desirability Of her
rooms upon applicants.
we have a new bOarder," Mrs. era
dy beamed as she made the announce
meut at the dinner table one evening.
Her name is Miss kendriCk. and she
just arrived today from OcOnomoWoc
Wisconsin. She is literary, writes lit
tie pieces for the papers, so am going
to put her next to Mr.. Dawson. Here
she Is now" and the landlady rose 10
greet the new boarder
Harriet Kendrick had never known
so much emotion in the 38 colOrless
years as was hers when she stood in
the doorway, shy, awkward. conscious
of her red hair, which she hated
For over 20 years she had dreamed
Of this moment had imagined herself a
literary aspirant in an entrance to 30
hernia, as her badly warped magma
ton interpreted the city boarding
house.
Dawson had a way with him that in
spired confidence in all timid women
He was a sort OF father COnteEsOr TO
the entire feminine contingent or the
Globe staff. from the youngest telephone
operator 10 the gray haired veteran
who did WOmen's clubs. and he did not
leave the table till he had an mixing
Of Harriet Hendricks story, and had
promised TO look out for her
The tale was as colorless as the wo-
man herself
She was an orphan who for years
had ben dependent on the grudgingly
given bounty Of an eccentric uncle. the
owner and editor Of the only local
paper in OcOnOmowOc. She kept house
for him, collected bills, and wrote
items" for ali the different depart
ments Of the paper. But her uncle had
grown more and more eccentric, until
one day in q fit of ungOvernable rage
at one Of her mistakes, he had told
her to get out Of his sight and stay
out"
Dawson was sure there would be
something after awhile but he warned
her that It would take a great deal of
time. and promised TO help her in every
way possible.
Every city and Sunday editor in the
city learned to know and dread the
gentle pertlnacity of the woman who
besieged tilCm with requests for work,
and bOmbarded them with all sorts OF
manuscripts. At first her offerings
were the poems, essays and short stO-
ries, for which the neOphyte generally
pictures the daily newspaper editor to
be pining. Later, under DaWSOn's tute-
lage, she offered them little feature
stories Of the city. At rare intervals
these were taken.
Tt was a curious idyl that went on
under Mrs Grady's kindly chaperonage
in the weeks that changed Harriet Ken
drick from an enthusiastic aspirant to