Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1917-02-22
SHORT HEROES FOR TALL
BY JANE OSBORN.

For she was the granddaughter OF one
of the greatest Of our men Of letters.
When Betty went to the Office of the
BLACK and White" magazine with
portfolio full of mediocre love stories
she was ushered right into the inner
sanctum, and the specialized, brown
eyed, stocky young man at the desk
offered her a chair.
They talked for five minutes,
touched lightly on the weather, on
Betty's distinguished grandparents and
of story-wrting as vocation. Then
as they rose and Betty saw that with
her own only medium stature she
| could see over the head of the young
man in spectacles, she paused min
| ute.
"Please pardon me for being so
stupid" she said. but before you read
| over those stories | want TO make a
little correction. It's simply a matter
| of-of spelling. | meant to do 1t be-
| fore, but | must have forgotten. I'll
Just keep the stories a day and then
send them in"
The trouble was that Betty had
fallen into the very usual fault of de-
scribing all three heroes in all three
stories as men of unusual height.
Betty saw her mistake. If those
heroes were going to be passed on by
man who was perceptibly shorter
than she was, they would have to be
dwarfed considerably.
The next day Betty sent the stories
back again and that afternoon the
young man in spectacles read them
and accepted them and the very next
day Betty received the check.
About a month and half later when
the number of the "Black and White"
in which her first story appeared was
in the press, Molly received a letter
from the managing editor. 1t was a
most informal letter and, as the writer
explained the fact that he already
felt that he was personally well ac-
quainted with her distinguished grand
father in the spirit, he could not treat
his granddaughter as stranger, and
what he wanted to write to her about
was that he was interested in her
"sawed-off' heroes. 1t was a new
idea-mOst writer's, women especially,
made their heroes so Outrageously
tall.
Betty answered the letter. Then
came a letter from the managing ed
itor, asking for photograph OF
Betty. and the first thing she knew she
and the man in spectacles were writ
ing every week, and his letters were
not like those of managing editor to
a contributor at all, but like those OF
a friend who had known her and her
family for years Then he wrote one
other letter: 81 am a fool, | know,
but / have that picture of yours In
front of me on my desk. | can't for
get It. And as / see those eyes look
ing down at me l feel as If the spirit
of the great literary genius of your
grandfather were spreading a bless
ing over me, only to me ii is Infinitely
sweeter because il shines through the
eyes of woman"
That is what he wrote, but he didn't
send that letter. Instead, he sent n
letter asking her to call at the Office
to discuss II new set of stories.
Betty called and went right into the
managing editors room and there in
the chair where had sat her friend
with spectacles, sprawled "a big over
grown boy of six feet two"
81 see," she began, "the managing
editor is out. | suppose | had better
come again"
"NO, I'm really the managing editor.
Don't look like what you expectedr
"Yes-only-OnlyI thought the man
in spectacles was the managing ed
itor. 1t isn't from you that all those
letters have cOmeT
Eyes, to be sure. The man in spec
tacles was my assistant. He was at
my desk here when l was off on an
autumn vacation. l am sorry. l can't
help it,"
"Yes, l wrote all those letters" the
managing editor was explaining later
after they had discussed the new
series, "and wrote another letter that
/ never sent. May / give it to you
now? Later, when you have gone
home, wish you would read IL. Then
if you will let me / want to come to
see you in your own home tonight.
Read that letter and if you think l
am q perfect fool tell the maid. or
whoever opens the door that you will
not let me come In"
And Betty did read the letter, and
when the maid at the boarding house
where Betty lived went to the door
she asked the caller at Betty's request
TO go upstairs to Betty's sitting room.
After he had been there for little
while he and Betty felt as II they had
known each other always.
"Still," said the oyergrown boy, IL
know l am not at all your ideal. You
have shown so clearly that you don't
like this lean, long type, who has spent
all his energy In length of bone and
muscle. think that is how you put
a. ov,oa CO narciStapf hava xo,, hoan