The Storyteller.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7869, 11 July 1905, Page 4

The Storyteller.

1 A BY-ROAD TO FAME.

"i s—l am bound to admit the I ti ti of your remark. The year Uat' hits ust passed leaves mc a little high rup the great ladder than I was at the beginning. Bui the profess is a wearisome one." "Never mind tbs process, Allan. R'hei one runs a race, one does not look ,ii the ground at one's feet, but at i.f goal. ' Ali.ui Mosiyn drew the girl's head lo its own and kissed the lips (hat him such good counsel. ••.Mi, Rose," he said, "I only wish yn-.ji philosophy were as easy to jtr.o ice as it is sound in theory. I'>i;t the long long waiting oppresses in.- ar too often. Besides, the grcatei i :e happiness in the end, the more a:-hut is Hie wish to obtain it. Am! with me it is not merely a que lion of fame.'.' i; se Ashmead blushed. We haw waited patiently huh-.r-to. Allan," she -said. "Surely we aie not going to despair now. I km v. well how difficult :t is to win a 11.1me in literature, but I Stow, toe that where there is real geoius, the end is sure. Editors are not slow to recognise hard work, and joti are making a good headway as it is. Another year may make all the difference."

Allan Mostyn lifted his head, and the grave, thoughtful look upon bis Lee passed away. '•1*1 us hope so," he said. And then, giving a turn to the conversation : ••! kaoked in at the Press Ctab

coming along. That lucky beggar, Tit lit, was in the office. I beard him tell the secretary he was just off to Asia. He must be netting at least a couple of thousand a year now. I wonder what he's going to Asi.l for. Shouldn't be surprised if it .'as some reckless expedition to the neighbourhood of Thibet. He's lather a vea-turesome fellow, as his iii.u y escapades in the late war go to urove. I heard him tell the secret ry that all letters were to be in .inert for him till he forwarded fui her instructions."

' !'m glad yon joined the Press Club, Allan. It may bring you into personal contact with people who iiuv be useful to you. At any rate, it 's a good address. Were there any letters for you '•" Allan shook his head.

'No," he said, gloomily. "I was hoping tlwre would be one from Hollis I wrote them a few days ago, asking if there was an opening foi a erics of short detective stories. I A'-i the letter to Hollis himself, and he has not acknowledged it so far." lose Ashmcad smiled, and laid her sot hand carressmgly on his.

' You arc not yourself to-day, ile. r," she said. "It is not like you l" 'ic crumbling at trifles. Let us ■£<> :'or a walk. The air is bracing, !h >gh cold, and a brisk walk may do you good." 1 ie head ef the -house of Messrs fill iridge Hollis, Limited, publishers and printers, sat in his private ol! e, arid ran his eye through the pi! of correspondence that lay on his writing table. He was a man oi ii-'i or thereabouts, with keen, iniel! dual face.

• ildrtdge lioilis bad once been a pi- ific writer himself, but had now siii titutcd the profession of literary pi' irielor and editor for the more ile-. illory one of author. i real had been the success of the lee.se he had Btartcd. The firm ' of (lil Iridge Hollis, Limited, was now .i i ousehold word all ofer the c<junm and from the big publishing ofiti i in Fleet street almost a score of !!rwspapcrs, magazines, and journals went forth to be read by the i;i»- <\ British public. lie great man rang his electric he!* The door opened, and a messi i! er stood in the entry, waiting, ell Mr SaTiile I wish to speak lo l:im."

' Yrs, sir." Tie messenger departed, and, a f:■■'. minutes liter, (filbert Saville. lift- great publishers right-hand-man, en i. red !he sanctum. ' Ah, Saville !" said Gilbridge Hoilis. absently looking-up from his papers. "Let me see. Ah, yes, I M'h 1 for you '. Kr—l'm going away for a month or six weeks. You will oi . nurse, take my place during my at.s. nee. There is not much here.'' He laid his hand on the pile of cor-' resjinndence. ' oh, by-the-way. I'm arranging for a scries of detective stories to apla.ii in the 'Piccadilly.' You'll see .<■ that, won't you ? r hope I shan't he gone longer than five or six w,,ks,but I can't tell yet. I shall go :o Alexandria first, then to Cairo.'

■ I fancy there's a hit of trouble hi, wing in the Land of the Pharoahs and there's nothing like bring on ilu spot. Carter or Shoreham would 'I" as well, of course, but I'm gctrun down and sadly in need of a change. So to Kgypt I go bv the Noi thumbria, which sails tomorrow."

lie took up l«ts pen and began to write. Gilbert Saville smiled l.ihimM'li as ne left the office. •lildrlilge Ilo:!is had always been rcgar-ied asan iTtenlric-individual, but a rich ma can afford to be eccentric. Piesently be laid tlown bis p"» anil ("■" of up. Hi.<t eye fell on a letvr l>i! .r at the top of the pile of .01rese.mdrnce. He took it up, ami tureed to his typist. The ejrl, al»'a; •* watchful, got her machine it. ri.eNness. !>ear Sir,'* he dictated, while the M-y of the instrument began rapidly to 1 lick. "We are- in receipt of your fav-sir of the 9th inst., ami in rrplv . Iheieto, we regret that we lanno'. at iresenf avail ourselves 01 youi oiTc We will, howcTer, keep your Ijf 1 1 r by as for future reference." Ie typjs„ look ihe letler from Ilu--lu.ll line and placrd it on the lahle f"i litu lo sign. " oil had better write another,' he aid, and the girl complied. ear Sir," he began again, and •me more the keys click.-* "j am in . red of a siirring series nf short del. etive stories for the 'Piccadilly ai.i i/.inc,' and should be extremely gl.e if you woold undertake to supply -lie with them. I should like a .seii s of twelve stories of not more 1 ha: 5000 words, and would be Willie to pay you the sum or fiftv gun as each for British and Ameri can righls." I'e typist ran the letter out oi the machine and laid it beside Ihe el"; on the great man's wrilingl.'!■•■■: Hut Gildridgc Hollis was > hu .\ writing. I'lescntly, however, he looked up, s.iv. Ihe letters, and altacliwl their it 'i-ftivr sipiaturjps, ( To the first In ,ipendcd,ilic na'mVof Ihe firm-to 1 In- ecomi his own. I !'ii he took -,wo envelo|ics from ihe tack and directed them, the one t>> Allan Mostyn, Ksq., the Press t hi!, Pall Mall," the olher to "Phil li. 1 Ksq., the Press Club, Pall M..b " Then he enclosed the two ln:r S an d sealed fhc envelopes. I' was late when he had /lnfslu-,1 In- work. Looking a t his watch, l„ '•"■■ haslily. put „„ iljs na , allrf pa ■ d out of the office. He nodded I" Saville as he went oui, an.l tot Hit", his private hansom. any private letters on t., Al .mdna," he shouted. "I'll write }ou in a day or two." T. • driver touched his fiorsr and 1 ie- hansom dashed awav. Ami Ihe l " 1 ' ««"« morning liil.lridgt Rolli< ■-I'Tiled on board the Northumbria

l>"-r Asimicad Was sitting al th.> watching the pa.sscr.s-by in. '•'• Mrerl Mow. Tlie room was "■■'Hi and cosy, and the runlrasl ji p'f.-ntrd to Hie snow-carpeled street i "'■"•■ it appear all the , no i# cosj ami ' omfortahlc.

ii-scntly a hansom turned the ">n. r. The horse dipped 01l tju . ir.'-n snow, recovered itself, and i :cv up with a jerk outsit her U"iii s house. She K ave a little start us .he saw who it was Ida, had in .' * nd * ,(>w minutes later, Allan MoStyn was aaaounccd. Ms

(ace *as (lushed with excitement, atal hi- came towatds her, waving a letter above hus head. "Had to conic in a cab," he said excitidly. •'Couldn't stop to walk. Read tills" He held the letter out towards her. Rose took it, and, going over to the window again, read it over to herself.

"Fifty guineas !" she gasped ! Six hundred and thirty pounds ! Oh, surely it's some mistake! It sounds like a fairly tale." Allan Mostyn laughed.

"By Jove," he said, "I thought so myself, till I went round to the office and found out about it. But it's true enough. Hqllis went to Kgypt yesterday, so I only saw his right-tiami-man, Kaville. He seemed a bit knocked back himself, hu\ there was the letter, addressed to me, and a glance through Hollis' crrrespondence revealed the letter I seht some days ago. So what could he say ? He atlmitted, too, that Hollis had mentioned his intention of arranging for the series. So there was really nothing more to be said. 1 shall [start work to-morrow."

He took the girl in his arms and kissed her joyfully. (To bo Continued).