Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-20

used by him while he was in Washington.
After Clay died, it came into the hands
of Ainsworth r. Spofford, the librarian.
and then to Mr. Page.
AS / looked at this chair, / asked Mr.
Page something as to the other furniture
and found that much of it had historic
memories.
"This camp chest said he. as he
pointed to a box covered with books,
was carried by my father throughout
the whole civil war, and here" picking
up great steel bit. which hung at it's
side, ''is the bride bit with which he rode
through all his campaigns. He got the
bit at the first battle of Bull Run. taking
1t from the horse of a Yankee. and
making it serve for the south"
Turning to the other end of the room,
1 asked Mr.. Page as to the thing which
surrounded the fireplace. 1T looks like
the electro-plates of some manuscript"
said I.
and that is just what it is was the
reply. Those plates meant a great deal
to me when the books from which they
were printed appeared. They are the cleo
tros of my first stories. The pages on
this side are from "Marse Chan" and
those on top are 'Meh Lady" while here
at the left are some from "In Ole Vir-
ginia," and the 1.-TWO Little Confeder-
ates''
I here asked Mr.. Page when he began
to write and whether it had been easy to
get his stuff published.
LAS to my first writing. I cannot re-
member when did not want to write
made up stories in my head when I was
a boy and wrote them out upon states
when We We're too poor to afford the
paper and pencils I kept on writing at
essays in the paper gave me the nickname
of the "Short-Article Editor" / sent
some things to the Courier Journal, while
] was a tutor near Louisville. XIV. hut
they were not accepted and the same is
true of many of the first things I sent to
the magazines.
What was your first real story?'
Il don't know what you mean by real"
said Mr.. Page, "but the first thing of any
merit which l can remember was a
sketch entitled "A Soldier of the EN-
pire." This was written before Mars
Chan" or ''Meh Lady," although it was
not published until after they had ap-
peared."
What is the story of "Meh Lady,"
Il don't know that it was worth pub
fishing" was the reply. TT was written
during my first practice Of the law at
Richmond. l was always writing at some-
thing or other. and while studying law.
l remember would read about two pages
Of Blackstone or Coke, and then try nv
hand at fiction. | kept this up after
began to practice. and although the
slo"ec. POI " my ahcoiue Tor years came
from the law. the greater part of my
work went to fiction. 1t was at the be-
ginning of that time that I conceived the
plot of 'Meh Lady" 1t seemed to me
good, and l decided to bank nv literary
future upon 1t. | wrote and rewrote it.
l cut it and pruned it, and at last when
it seemed l could not in any way better
1t. l sent it off to Scribner's Magazine,
saying to myself. This is the very best 1
can do. II the story is accepted, / shall
choose literary career and If not, shall
keep to the pratice of the law
At this point Mr.. Page stopped for a
moment, and / said:
II suppose the story was accepted at
once?"
year before I could find out what had
been done with It. ! wrote again and
again, but my letters were evasiyely an
ewered or not answered at ALL and in
the meantime 'Meh Lady was neither