Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-10-15

crowd attracted by the noisy iremen.
1t was 2 o'clock in the morning be-
fore 1 finished writing the last chapter
Of 1.-THE Gem of Good Hope" and,
throwing myself into bed, tried to
sleep. But l was tortured by a fear
that 1 had left something uneonnected
that would make the story ridiculous.
However, I managed to get foul hours
slumber and, after a hasty breakfast,
went to the Office with the manuscript.
After the typographical errors had
been eliminated the proofs came to me
for revision. They were a sight to be-
hold. The proOfreader had put one or
more query marks in every paragraph,
the sheets looking as If insects emerg-
ing from an inkwell had meandered
owe the paper. Most of these errors
arose from fixing the body of the story
to accord with my ~denouement. |
might have turned them into good Eng
lish, but every query mark let loose a
million discrepancies. However, l did
the best could with them In the linn
tied time and attention l was able to
give them and passed the revised
sheets IN till the last chapter was
reached, which l was pleased to see
read very smoothly even If it deleted
every intention Of the author.
I wished that the book could be is
sued at once instead of in a couple of
months. If the story came out imme-
diately its glazing incongruities might
be forgotten before the return of the
authoress. I knew very well that she
would make 1t hot for me, and If she
returned when the story was issued it
was quite likely there would be a
veritable Tophet. If she returned later
and my vision of her story was found
not to be so bad as might have been
expected she might let me down with
comparative ease.
A perusal Of the page proofs took
away all hope. My ending of the story
was not at all borne out by the circum-
stances. Every one of forty-nine of
the fifty chapters bristled with reasons
why my d-enouenent could not have
been possible. l, the author, the firm,
would be ruined. Nevertheless the
issue must go as it was. The story
had been advertised for issue on a GER
tain date and must be In the hands of
the dealers at that time.
When l took up the first criticism
on the story l trembled. 1t happened
to be one of those that to us who know
mean that the writer had not time to
read the book. 1t spoke of Miss Quig-
ley's marvellous ingenuity, etc. l
groaned. Marvellous ingenuity! Just
wait till some fifteen dollar a week I'M
derstrapper has read the book atten-
lively.
The next criticism l read was more
definite. 1t spoke of the story as the
most subtle of all Miss Quigley's Won
derful plans. The critic was reminded
story writers who left purposely a
shadow of doubt in the readers mind
just what was intended. The story of
1.-The Lady and the Tiger" the denoue-
ment of which was left to the reader,
was cited as a most successful effort
in this line of work.
An idea popped into my brain. Turn
LIE W ny otCAOSldpDGlY L 01IldLSu lnt
following item, which l sent to a trade
paper devoted to book news:
The Gem of Good Hope by Alice
Quigley, is a new departure in detective
story writing. After ably leading the
reader through a number of incidents,
each calculated to suggest a theory, the
writer with consummate skill brings the
story to an end upon a theory not at all
in harmony with the facts laid down,
leaving the reader to form any theory
that he can fit to the narrative.
Having secured the publication of
this item In one paper, | took meas
ures to have 1t copied by others. 1t
was not long before many of those
who read the book had heard that it
was intended for a puzzle to be work
ed out by the reader. The consequence
was that every reader perused the
pages with the utmost attention in or
der that he might be the better able
to form the correct theory.
AS soon as this view of the case was
spread abroad the sales of 1.-THE Gem
of Good Hope" rapidly increased. l
seriously meditated offering a prize for
the person who should give the correct
Interpretation to the story. l would
surely have done so, but since it would
be impossible to name anything that
would conform to the facts as laid
down l did not see how any n could
win the prize. This, of course, would
reflect On the integrity of the pub
fishers.
Fortunately before Miss Quigley re-
turned from her trip her book had had
an enormous sale. l saw a notice in
a newspaper of her arrival and forti-
fed myself with a number of checks
with which to make a defense when
she visited me. She came in with
eyes afame and SO choked with GRIM
nations for me that she could not ut
ter them. L took advantage of the de-
49, A. n RI