The Washington herald., 1921-10-02
WRITES
OF HIS 40 YEARS
LITERARY LAB0RS
Hall Caine, at Summit of
Career, Chances
Backyard.
NJ SIR HALL GAME.


1t is forty years since my life as
a novelist began. I was then stay
ing with Rossetti in a farmhouse
In the vale of st. John in Cumber-
land. Our surroundings were bright
and inspiring by day, but when
night fell they were almost awe
some. Rossetti was a sleepless man
(rarely sleeping before . or
O'Clock in the morning), and TO DE-
guile the long hours after dark
read aloud to him from old mas
ters: Fielding. Richardson. scott.
Tureenieff. Occasionally I varied
this by telling stories sometimes or
Cumbrian life. but generally OF
Manx. Down to that time, though
had been haunting the outer
courts of literature. had not writ
ten any friction and one morning
as we were going up, candle In
hand, to bed. Rossetti thrilled mo
to the heart by saying. as nearly as
I can remember: do you know. my
boy, you are a natural story teller
ana I shouldn't be surprised IL that
is the direction IN which the future
of your life will lie. To be the
Manx bard-that would be, some
thing"
Novel writing Not Easy.
Since then 1 have written twelve
novels, a poor output In point OF
number, but then I have written
each of them at least twice, and
some Zone way or other) three, FOUR
and even five times.
The truth is that though I began,
as 1 believe, with the natural apn-
tude of the story-teler. have found
story telling very hard indeed. 1t
1. a fine and difficult art, and J
do not think even the greatest OF
my fellow novelists. living or dead
have ever mastered it-no. not one
Assuredly nobody knows better
than do that I have not,
and when 1 look back at the work
of my forty years, and see how
often have lessened the grip or
stopped the flow of my stories by
saying essential things too soon or
too late or not at all. tell my
self that II I were compelled to be
one of my own critics (which God
forbid) 1 should be the deadliest OF
them all.
My bank book for the year 1855
gives the account Of my hrst earn
ing as a novelist. / was then some
years married, my first child was
born, and I was living In q coun-
try cottage outside London, and
supporting my little family on my
earnings as "asual journalist. Ap-
were at the ge rate Of IS every
ten days, exclusive OF rates and
taxes, and my incomings about bal
anced them. had already pub
lished two novels.
For the copyright Of the first
received f50-payment at the rate
of the presentday Unemployment
dole for the time spent on 1t. Fol
the second had received rather
more-earnings In the measure OF q
nit boys wages And / was then al
work on my third story. The bank
book shows ESQ as the first earn
ings of this third novel, and an old
letter shows the source from whfcS
this money came.
n Cauny SCOT
When my third story was about
half done I wrote to the editor ,ol
a Scotch weekly Journal. offerins
it for serial publication at tha'
price. The good man (his letter be-
fore mel was very cautious: 1T II
a great risk taking an unfinished
story by an unknown author tou'
circulation Is so great, but IL we car
have the sole serial rights in Scot
land I do not think the price yo,
ask, ESQ, will be a drawback. Ant
il your story takes on with ou
readers you may, Of course, com
mand higher terms for a futur,
tale"
agreed, and the money was paic
to me apparently I needed 1t IL
advance), but when my novel wal
finished the editor rued his bargain
In another letter he tells me tha
on second thought he has decide'
not to publish my story in tn,
journal of great circulation" beins
afraid 1t would not take on" will
his readers. but to run it in ar
evening paper published by the sam
proprietors. This he did. curtailin,
1t numerically, as IL anxious to ge
it over and done with.
OF course. my pride was humble,
to the dust. and in my wrath
wrote a wild. vain and ineffectua
letter OF protest (Which, I am told
still exists), but my real reveng
came later. That was in 1885, an,
at the beginning of the presen
year, 1921, the good man being lon,
gone. his successor in the editoria
chair wrote asking for the tenn
porary use Of the same story ant
offering $3.50 for 1t. I answered {
trust, good-naturedly), telling tn
foregoing story. and he replie'
amicably, saying, Don't visit tn
sins of the fathers upon the chill
dren." I did not. The story wa
THE Deemster."
| Not the least Of my rewDrds as
story-teller has been the difficult
of simple souls to distinguish m
fiction from fact After the publ
cation of the first of my Man
novels, an old Manxwoman brough
me a worn table knife. saying 1t wa
the actual knife with which Da
had killed EVAN, and that Dan (h
is supposed to have lived 200 year
ago) gave 1t to her himself to kee
1t out of the way of the police.
After the publication of the sec
ond of my Manx novels. an old Man
fisherman told me that he perfect
remembered Jasons' -four mill a
Porty Vullin lit had never existed
except in my own brain), and tha
he had "felled" 1t himself. An
after the publication of my thir
Manx novel an acquaintance of m
boyhood conceived the idea that h
was the original of Pete Quillian
set up in business In that cha .cte
and lived on 1t to the day of hi
death. 90