LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7803, 20 April 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

. THE PAKqSTERSMIPj The story ol Maud and Cecil is Instructive. It shows tie folly of get- , ting tot© :» groove., Cecil, Haverstone earned a precarious living by writing for the papers. be plclteS up an odd guinea here and there by. tetiing lies about Jashionr able people St knew casually. Herosorted a football match now .and - tUuij MosUy he .made his money ~ i £*th4 eertiain Sort ot .sentimental tale tl»t one paper in particular was always gftad to have. In this tale al lady a*!' gentleman talked agreeably about things,, and at the " mneteenth-hjundrcd ' word the man ' -' proposed and was accepted. It was a different gentleman eoch week, hut he always proposed half-way down ' . - tIW-SMOTJireoronwr arid-then the subeditor took you by the hand, and I , through •> maze ,of fiscal, statistics 'lea you''pleasantly to tic end of the page. Cecil's chief difficulty was finding a new name for his hero each we*. : Tfie heroine's name was always Ethel. (CeeM had once", been jilted by a girl aanied Ethel ; she tires now. doing .penance in his stor- "-' lea.'and those who would could read between Uw'lines.) There was noth"T tag brutally direct about these, week- -'*' Jy offers' of marriage ;• no' blunt "1 love-youi" H needed an Ethel with , Iwo months previous experience to ontterstand.that this really was ado i deration. One week' it would end : * ' And you ? ' sMd Clarence, witl / ii world of meaning in his tone. Ethel Jxsked *>#n. '•'• • I wonder what Jim will say,' she murmured."Kert week : '•'.' So-eo I'm gotog to Brixton,' Be tinishpa tamely. "Ethel raised her beautiful eye; to *is. '■'"■-, ■ . : " -Don't go-3«egiiiald,' she wbte peroa.," , So Regioal stayed, and the proprie tors of the Weekly Post .forwarded e cheque for two guineas to Mr Ceci Haversians and: . .beggwl lyin to pre sent it 'within a" fortnight. .Wtoicl tavarlbbly he did. Ko'w Cecil-had, a cousin, Maud Ar tour, who na"d a studio in Earl's Goart. On one sa'd and miserabh t - aay be went to see her. She gavi him lea. ij **lt'a ripping of you to come," shi '.. said, '* because I'm feeiing very hum py and miserable. I'm going to bor * jt>u with "rnj*Vnbappy talc." f I've had a blow too," said Cecil ** but you bore away first." "■Well, Ihn going tb»gfve up paint iog.. It's too expensive." "* But, my good" Maud, what cv er— —" .''.., t " I'm going to devote my undoubtf„ ad genius exclusively to hlack-and ~ white worK." "" There's no opening- for real gen / .fas," said Ceeil seotentibusly. 9, *oh,[ don't say that, Cedl Sear; « I read your stories- in the Post. Whj Is she always called Ethel ? " I. . *.I once knew a girl called Ethel,' ~' Mgan Cecil, "So that you know \thcre Is ancr * name. I see." <** BuJ you've read the last one I'm ' . *Snto- The paper's gone smash. It ,w«s bound to come. No paper coulc (fond the strain.". ~'* Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose it's ratiter bunkered you?" ** It has. rather. It' was a rugulai ; two gouueas weekly, you soef" Yf *' *eU. I've got an idea. Mi Travers was saying that some ma*f* a ' 8 ,«re: very glad to buy illu» . trawo stories all complete. Lei's gt tnfii '-partnership.' "There arc two rooms below this that you wight take, and we'll write and draw iMaaUrul; Stories all day." -Arte*' a littlp; discussion the thing "■* arranged. A month later the ■ jwrtoership gojt to work. * "WcJwi-'mid'Maud, ** I've got a lot of drawings- knoweking about, and we might'fix' 'em into some of your okl stories, ft's a pity to dostray them." • " , Cecil look'ed through them. " I say," ho saW, after a bit, "these are nearly all horses. Don't you .draw anything else ) " "%,"£» are my best subject," *W Maud, glancing- up from a bungto of has. manuscript. "Do you only do Ibis sort of dialogue "thing ' It's, very good, but " "I doa't wish to be rude." said Cedl, "bat it seems to me that a true artist should be able to draw anything.'* " Pardon, my plain-spokcnncss," •aid Maud, "but if a man who calls himself aa author can't write a Itorse story—-" " Never' yet," said Cecil firmly, '■' hafl a. story of mine so far demeaned itself as to let a bor sew a ti'4er intq it." "Can't yoy write an adventure taje? I can do a ripping cbarsrinc rmnotpros. Do ! **- " I will not drag a charging rhinoceros into my stories." " Cecil Hear | "■ " I don't know anything about rUinDceroses."- '•' No} but'i do." " U>pk here. Maud, sarely you can ffl-aw « man m a frock cout and a orl te « Paris dress. That's all the illustrating my stories want; and it t* «J> the pubUc seem to want." "Oh.'l can, ef course. Only a lot Of Other people could do it much better 1 . Whereas-—'-Cecil sußdenly stopped at one of the drawings, **&* : Jove ! "he said. " I should tfthlk B&. UStls is a charging rhino•tsros U you like." ' " There are ? " criod Maiid. „. [•' Yes,',' said .Cecil thoughtfully, "I wish I coukf write those sort of storte9..«* . Mss Arth'nr Wat down on the floor and arraOKCd .her drawing and Coal's stories at ber ieet. * Vow," she began. ''let's see what can be doneViy contrivance. If * girt who dressed entirely on the ajiramer snlo* cant fix up these, t*en " a <Jialo Si'e of Cecil's i n •rhich HanaW. contrary to.the usual custom of Bthel's young men, let tto public into the secret of his intended proposal. Half-way through B»e story It was made clear that the . hero was trying to summon up his eotrage Tor the plunge. Maud pounced upon this. {' This will do," she said, •" How ever~—'' ,- "Why yes. R ona M ia palpably r *'£7" w about hls nr °p osai . is °'t : - £'Wel!»" t •' Wh y« <D "V you've just gat to ', silt i« two extra lines and the thing * ?*; dl " f - ' RonaM, who. when hunt- j ■•■ fern Bast Africa., bad faced a f

**■ *XJ*P?'IS ' ' rhinoceros without the | r> JlWrtest qualm, now trembled un- "" *^?*^ r ' at the tKou RM ">f Atii so ' em. Picture of Ronald absolutely taUßlralass facing charging rhinoceros Paßemealh the wor3s '.,.,' »mUn* inifteast Africa, he ha<l fao- ' p>* f ,n, * in K rhinoceros. • " j \ aS" 1 ,ook «' at her in admiration ' g ,-*W exjprawod his approval.

Bert and 1 Ethel, the latter, momentarily offended at some silly remark of the man's " rang the bell for her horse to be brought round." Afterwards she relented, and they got engaged, but there none the less was the picture. " She ordered her horse to be brought round," were the words underneath. I There could only bo one uul to this ; and the constant reader of C'ccir.s stories will have no difficulty in guessing what the end was. When you live in the same house with a person ; when you see her every day, land every day have a fresh opportunity of admiring her cleverness and ,bcauty: when you—tout enough. After a dazes stories of his had been gladly accepted Cecil began to see that Ethel was a thing very much of the past. | " There ! " said Va\id one day as she waved a ch?quc in the air, !" wTtat do you think of iour partnership ? " I " It's been repping." said Cecil ;_ i" let's renew it for a fresh term." I " night <) ! Six months, and a week's notice on either side ? " He took her hand. | " Xo," he said. " For ever, my ■dear." She raised her eyes to his. * » • « " I don't know what the illustration could have been. Rather happily, and ancle of Cecil's died about that timo and left him a thousand pounds. They honeymooned round the world. . . . And now Cecil writes most desperate stories of adventure in tha Rockies. Maud's illustrations are much admired. I'm inclined to think that Ishe is really best os grizzlies, in I spite of that charging rhinoceros.—A. IMHne in- the Westminster Budget,