The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1916-02-24
By MARY C. ATWOOD


Constantinople, where he liked it 80
well that he stayed there long while
and learned the language perfectly.
"All this while fame refused to perch
on his banner, but poverty did. When
be was pretty near starved in Con.
stantinople he got job to write a
serial novel for a daily newspaper
there. He was to I'll two columns q
day, no more and no less. The price
he was paid for his work was JUS,
enough to keep him alive. ~
1T happened that he struck vein
that was natural to him, and good
one too. He became absorbed in his
work and was glad to be absorbed, be,
cause it made him forget his troubles
But having only enough writing to do
each day to occupy three or four hours,
he spent the rest Of his time planning
ahead. He would lay out impossible
situations just to keep himself busy
solving them. As for his general plan,
that was 50 intricate that no one
would ever suppose it possible to ex,
tricate his hero from the ENHANCEMENT
into which an adverse fate had cast
him.
Zone day while he was at work on
his story he was astonished to see two
policemen enter his den. Without q
word Of explanation he was ordered to
follow them and bring with him his
manuscript. 1t occurred to him that
something he had written in his novel
about the government might have
caused his arrest, but this could not
be, for OH his arrival. he was not only
permitted to keep what he had writ
ten, but was commanded to finish his
work. That he might be we'll situated
to do SO, he was given pleasant quar-.
ters and plenty to eat and drink. At
first he was so frightened that he could
not write, whereupOn q member of the
government sent him word that he
was in no danger. This gave him
courage, and he pursued lis task
IF he was anxious to kill time be-
fore his arrest be was now doubly so.
he invented new complications and
unraveled them. The situation grew
more involved the nearer he approach.
ed the end, just as stone revoIved
about a stick moves more rapidly as
the string is shortened. He devoted
every minute Of his time and every
fiber of his brain to his work and at
the end Of q few weeks after his i'm
prisonment wrote the concluding chap
ter.
When his story was finished he
dreaded the long hours Of confinement
during which he would be free to
brood upon his situation. He had not
received the slightest information as
to his offense. But he had not long to
fret. As soon as his work was fin
ished his prison doors were thrown
open and he was permitted to 90 out
free man, besides being given large
bag Of gold.
las soon as he was released he made
inquiries of officials high in the serv.
ice Of the government as to why he
had been arrested and thrown into
prison and whence came the money.
And what do you suppose was the
reason given? The sultan had one day
picked up copy Of the newspaper in
which his story was running and be-
came interested In it. Too impatient
to wait for it to come out from day to
day in small quantities, he had taken
a course to hasten the denouement.
''Comstock was just tickled to Death.
He sent in request through one of
the sultan's household asking If the
sultan would give him a puff to print
with the publication of his novel in
America. He was told that the sultan
couldn't come down to that, but Com
stock hit OH the expedient Of writing
out brief account Of the matter for
the newspapers. This he translated
into English and got 1t started II
American journals.
"WeIl, he published bis novel, Of
course, just as these notices about his
being imprisoned because the sultan of
Turkey couldn't wait to see how 1t was
coming out were being copied from pa
per to paper, and everybody was crazy
to read the book. One edition after
another was run out by the presses SO
fast that the printers got dizzy, but
couldn't supply the demand .Comstock
made twenty or thirty thousand dol
lars out of the story. and publishers are
waiting for him when he gets up in
the morning to secure contract for
his next"
"What was the name Of this Turkish
story?'
II don't remember the name, but 1t
stood first in lot Of six best sellers"