Year: 1875

I


our wrath, and drove the storm cloud
that was gathering on our alabaster
brow. We paused right in the midst of
deathless sentiment, and cooled the
glow of genius that was upon us(we
were writing puff of Mrs. Soothlow's
Winding Syrup, and asked the young
man in, and begged him to sit down.
He obeyed and planted the end of his
backbone on the extreme edge of a
chair that we feltnervous least the scan
| ty grip he had on his seat should lose
its hold and east him PROSTATE to the
mating. We saw by the way he came
into the room that he had never enter
ed an editorial sanctum before, because
he knocked at the door, and took off his
hat when he came in, and said, ''GoOd
afternoon, SIR" instead of kicking the
door open, splitting on the stove, and
yelling, ''Hallo, stealin' editorials, hay2
at the top of his lungs. We mentally
blessed the young man for his innocence,
and even relaxed from our professional
dignity sufficiently to assure him that it
was extremely warm, an act of gracious
eondeseension on our part which over
whelmed the young man with grateful
confusion, and he blushed and stammer-
ed out that sit was indeed very chilly,
ur-ah-haw-yes, yes, quite so, thank
you" And we frowned him into silence,
or he would be plodding through the
mazes of that snarl yet.


Then we glanced ominously at a roll
of manuscript under his arm, and in
those bland, patronizing tones we are
prone to assume with aspiring young
authors prior to tearing out their lungs
with a nail grab, and rending their
quivering bodies limb from limb, we
asked, inquiringly, what we could do
for him, and stealthily reached for the
nail grab.


He said, while his tender face was suf-
fused with bushes, that he had nothing
that we could publish we pushed the
nail grab back to its plaee-but he had
come to ask our kind advice. He was
musician, vocalist, and in a humble
way a composer. He had written a bal
lad, only a simple little thing, but before
sending it to a music house for publica-
tion he thought he would let us hear it,
as we were so accustomed to dramatic
and musical criticism, and then we
would frankly tell him our opinion of
his abilities, and what we thought of his
prospects for the lyric stage.


We were charmed; the idea of having
a local musical protege to bolster up,
and puff, and write, and lie about, made
us break out in smiles like fat baby
with prickly hear. We promised to deal
eandidly with him and asked him il he
had his music with him.


Yes, he had he thought that perhaps
If it wasn't ineonvenient-t that is, if
if


Oh yes, we said, we would be delight
ed. We would lock the door so that no
one could disturb MS, and he could sirg
few bars, or staDza or two, just to
give us an idea of his skill and style in
composition and execution.


Then the timid young man took his
position in the farther corner of the
room and began to unroll his manu-
script.


''You will understand, F." he said, apo
logetieally, ''that although the music is
quite complete and arranged. yet the
words need n little final polishing and
revision. You see" he explained, Il
write poetry little, and have written
the words, as well as the music to this,
my maiden ballad. am aware that it
is far from perfect, and in your criticism
please remember that it is my first eff
fort"


We smiled encOnragingly, and ne put
his left hand in the breast of his vest,
held his music at arms length in his
right hand, laid his head little to one
side and began in a very altitudinOus
voice.


Oar


''Hem, he said, in some confusion,
''that was little high"


He was right. 1t was about 120 de-
grees in the shade. We are no judge of
the human voice, else He started
again.


'eDarl- oh no no, that isn't it either
Dar-oh yes, now 1 have it."


And away he went, in rich some
kind -of-a tone,


Darling am growing o-hoId.


SilV-'


And then we rose up and made a sortie
for the young man, en- nlGssei We twin
ed our brawny hands la his golden locks
and dragged him down to the pressroOm,
and had the boys run him through the
double-eylinder press till they had work
ed off an edition of 5000 OF him. and
then we dashed his CORY carcass, a fiatten-
ed, chaotic aggregation of rags and ruin,
out on the sidewalk, where the needless
feet OF busy men wOuld tranple it into
the dust of the earth. Send rs another
original vocalist and eomposer.-Bur-
Iil;ctOn Hank Eye.


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