THE NOVELIST'S WIFE'S EFFORT

New Zealand Tablet, Issue 3, 6 August 1908, Page 7

THE NOVELIST'S WIFE'S EFFORT

Jack was busy on his novel in his study. Elizabeth, was inspecting the larder. The result was not encouraging. She took up her ..pocketbook, "looked into that, then sighed. Tlien she wept and tapped at Jack's door. " - < '-- \ .'Oh, come in,' he called, rather impatiently. ' Well, dear," what do you want?' , " '•Jack, dear, funds arc low; can't you write a pot-boiler"'?' ' 'No, I can't; it's out of the question. _ I'm just a£ -fever heat in my book, and I can't stop for such trifles.' _ Elizabeth left and shut the door, emphatically, I.m afraid. Well, she could write a pot-boiler, and would. . She wrote before she was married r little stories that always sold, but since her jna'rriage to the .rising young . author she had kept 4very annoyance from him so he could make the most of his talents. ' ..She must not call- it a pot-boiler, and must _n6t let anyone' suspect it-as so sordid a thing. . ; ' Snatching little" stray minutes through the day, her little story grew.

-She called it ' Threads and Patches.' It was a story of a ,poor seamstress," who at night depicted her' Woes and pleasures, her little longings and "sorrows in : a little diary — told where' she had worked and what she had- seen and* heard. * -Many glimpses into the. home life of many families the liftle book contained. Elizabeth put some of\her b.wn thoughts into it I dare say. Frequently she thrust her pad and pencil into a- drawer _to run at Jack's bidding ; still the story^grew. ' '■ ' Jack, dear,- do. leave .your desk,, she 'said' one -afternoon, 'arid "take a walk; your ideas will come "faster and" your blood flow quicker for a good walk.' "'-*","" - ~- ' " ' ' 'You are right, Elizabeth; I will.'" " -Jack safely out of the way, the "conspirator took,; possession 'and typewriter. T Another night she drove him Jo a play and.-finished Tier typewriting.' The manuscript was sent off under an assumed name. A night or two after the popular young author and his wife ■ were dining out. Editors do not often talk shop, but this- one, a guest at the. dinner also, "was- an old' college chum of- Jack, .so he asked if he had ever heard of a ..writer < named Kalhryn Bancroft. : ' , „ • -.---, Jack" answered, -' No-^— why ? ' --. -* '" • s _.'- \ ' - ''- Well,- we have a little gem^sent in by her. -A* pablel called "Threads and Patches." It is a diary of a poor seamstress, and for. outpourings of her. soul .in her- little book , she has. outdone Marie Bashkirtseff . ' " - - ""' Soon' after this conversation *a" cheque : for more/than she ever .dreamed could come from a short story came to Elizabeth. Still she did not take 7ack info,- her confidence. :~ Trie money .made him very comfortable, and as. his . dinners .were good,; he forgot all about the lack of_7 funds!' Elizabeth ...did not" care' as long as he loved her." ' " ,~, :_ ~ -" , " "'"*" : " -At last the magazine containing her story came out. Jack bought it to read 'Threads and Patches' to his wife. He went into raptures-over it, and "tears trembled on Elizabeth's lashes ; the story was pathetic, read in Jack's pleasipg "manner. " . ~ - _. „ . j : ' .-"""' ~ ".' ' Gracious, what a woman' that' must" be,' he- said:- 'A : woman with a soul wrote that ! ' emphatically. He read on and on, carried away; with the. bits_ .of longing expressed by the little seamstress. . ' I never read a thing that moved me more,' he sighed, s as he closed the magazine.' I wish .I^knew the woman who T wrolte : it.' '' ' * -' - ; 'Jack, dear, you -do ; you have lived ~\vifh. her a j'ear.' ' Elizabeth, you?' - - ~ i ' Yes, dear, I. I just wrote- a little pot-boiler, because you hadn't time.' ""*",-. .- . , - ' Hadn't time ! Why, if I could write like that it would- be worth while. ' ~ ' '.'..He went over to her chair. ' Elizabeth, dear, '..he urged, "'let me boil the pots, and you take my place in the study. You "''can write.' — Exchange. ■ "_