The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1915-09-24

| ODllSeu 10 listen 10 the SOUNDS or the
crowd attracted by the noisy firemen.
1t was o'clock In the morning be-
fore finished writing the last chapter
Of THE Gem of Good Hope" and.
| throwing myself iato bed. tried to
sleep. But | was tortured by fear
that had left something unconnected
| that would make the story ridiculous.
| However. l managed to get four hours
| slumber and. after a hasty breakfast.
went to tie Office with the manuscript
After the typographical errors had
been eliminated the proofs came to me
for revision. They were sight to be-
hold. The proofreader had put one or
more query marks in every paragraph.
the sheets looking as IL insects emerg-
ing from an inkwell had meandered
over 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
fish. but every query mark let loose
million discrepancies. However, l did
the best ! could with them in the lin
lied time and attention | was able to
give them and passed the revised
sheets on till the last chapter was
reached. which was pleased to see
read very smoothly even If It deleted
every intention of the author.
l wished that the book could be is
sued at once instead of in couple of
months. If the story came out imme-
diately its glaring incongrulties might
be forgotten before the return of the
authoress. ! knew very well that she
would make It hot for me, and If she
returned when the story was issued II
was quite likely there would be
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.
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 denouement could not have
been possible. l, the author. the firm.
would be ruined. Nevertheless the
issue must go as 1t was. The story
had been advertised for issue on 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 trembed. 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.
groaned Marvellous ingenuity. Just
wait till some fifteen dollar 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
of the stories of eminent detective
story writer's who left purposely
shadow Of doubt in the readers mind
just what was intended. The story of
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.
ing to my stenographer, dictated the
following item, which / sent to trade
paper devoted to book news:
The Gem of Good Hope" by Alice
QuiSley, is a new departure in detective
story writing. After ably leading the
reader through a number of incidents
each calculated to suggest theory. the
writer with consummate skill brings the
story to an end upon 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, l took meas
ures to have it copied by others. 1t
was not long before many of those
who read the book had heard that 1t
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 ease was
spread abroad the sales Of 1.-THE Gem
of Good Hope" rapidly increased. l
seriously meditated Offering prize for
the person who should give the correct
Interpretation to the story. 1 would
surely have done so, but since it would
be impossible to name anything that
would conform to the facts as laid
down / did not see how any one 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 number of checks
with which to make a defense when
she visited me. She came In with
eyes aflame and so choked with GRIM
nations for me that she could not ut
ter them. took advantage Of the de-
lay to hand her a $1,000 check. She
took It without looking at it and, hav-
ing found her voice. fired yOlley. To