Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-12-26

I
how you and the children love the day
and delight in making preparations for
IT, that such course is necessary.
But it costs money. and money havs
not. Indeed. | am afraid this Euro
pean trouble is going 70 throw me out
of business
The words were spoken by the hus-
band and father at the breakfast table
shortly before Christmas. He bad
served an apprenticeship with a pub
| fishing firm saving his money. In
which he was assisted by Il frugal
wife. until he had accumulated $4,000.
/ This he had used to set himself up
! in business relying for success upon
an idea he had conceived that he pos
sessed a faculty for discerning those
qualities in Il novel which are calcu-
dated to please the public. In this he
was disappointed. The public did not
seem to fancy the books he published.
and he lost most of his capital. Then
came the war, and no one had money
to buy books. The prospect looked
| very gloomy.
II am perfectly willing. Ernest" re-
piled his wife, ito do anything you
deem necessary"
II know you will. my dear. It's the
/ disappointment to the children that
| troubles me-"
81 will see that the children are sat
/ isfied with what we may be able to
do for them"
The husband made no further re-
mark. turning over the pages of the
morning paper listlessly. He did not
hurry to go to business, for there was
little to do when he got there. Final
ly his eve struck an advertisement and
he threw down the paper with groan.
THAT novel, a Mystery of a Mir
ror.' has reached a sale of 100000 cop
les 1t was offered to me, and de-
clined it. There's not particle of lit
erary merit in the whole book. What's
a publisher to do. I'd like to know.
when the public win take in such rot
as that and won't read real Etera-
ture?'
1.-THE critics say that a Mystery of
Mirror is Ingenious said his wife
whats ingenuity to do with litera-
ture? | tell you there's no literary
taste any more
The wife was thoughtfully silent for
awhile then said:
1--WE have for centuries been judging
literature by the same old standard.
and | am beginning to think that we
are partly wrong. According to this
standard, there is no merit in the work
of n detective story writer who has
made a great reputation and fortune
besides Our literary magnates say that
there is no literary merit in these sto-
ries. l once thought so myself, but
am beginning to doubt it"
There's money in them-that is. in
some of them-at least for the author.
Whoever wrote a Mystery of a Mir
ror' has made a small fortune. It's q
dollar book, and 10 per cent royalty on
a hundred thousand copies is $4,000. |
If I had accepted the rotten stuff I
might have made that out of it my |
self"
Never mind. dear. Better luck next
time. l think myself that publishing
a novel is like buying ticket in lot
terry. If you succeed in tiding over the
present trouble | hope you will put
your money into something that isn't
so risky.
WarfieId made no reply. but rose
from the table with a sigh. kissed mis-
wife and children and went to his bust
ness AS soon as he had gone the wife
and mother gathered her children about
her and, taking them into her conf
dence. told them that papa had lost
money in his business and had request.
ed that they ignore the coming Christ
mas. She had a plan that she thought,
would make the anniversary just as
pleasant as usual. She didn't say what
it was. but pledged every child to make
no mention of Christmas till Christmas
came. They were all agog to know
what the plan was. but she would not
tell them. Nevertheless all agreed that,
on papa's account, they would do just
what their mother wished
Whatever preparations for Christ
mas Mrs. Warfield made she kept her
own counsel. If gifts came into tho
house in advance she contrived to re-
ceive them herself and hide them
But. whether they came or not. her hus-
hand and children were ignorant of the
fact. The husband being absent dur
ing the day and the children at school
there was ample opportunity to take in
articles without their knowing any
thing about it. The children. reposing
every confidence in their mother. made
III SOihpidihl at NOT RECEIVING IuiluS III
spend for gifts for each other. for mann
ma had told them that she would
provide presents for each TO give
When Christmas eve came the ,
children insisted on hanging
up their stockings. Their mother made I
40 objection to their doing so. for she s
lad told her husband that she had pro {
fided a few inexpensive toys TO tn I
hem. After the youngsters were in
ied she brought out the packages. Her
could not see that they were |
Inexpensive. but made no comment II q
lis wife was keeping II secret from e
Tim he was keeping one from her He 7
lad lost every dollar of his capital and
vas expecting on the LIST of January TO
lose out his business. What he would |