The Commoner
VOL. 18, NO. 9
12
IS-
!
Down and Out at
Forty-five
(Continued from pago 10.)
paper, to carry mo along until I
could get Homething else.
In a few days I would have to loave
the boiling out institution, and had
no placo to go. Mr. White was In
Colorado, and my lottor had been for
warded to him, ho there was a delay
in getting a roply. Somehow, I had
counted on a favorable word from
him, and as day after day wont by,
and the mall brought nothing, my
hopcloBBuooB bocamo absolute. Then,
when I had coasod to oxpoct a roply,
thero came a long, goncroua lotter,
tolling mo to go to Emporia and make
rayaolf useful until ho returned home,
and thon we'd discuss ways and
moans togother.
I boliovo that was the gladdest
hour of my Hfo. You have to bo down
and out and well stricken in years,
and ashamed that you aro alive, x to
understand the joy of having one
moro chance.
And so, ono Octobor evening, as
tho sun was slowly sinking behind
the wostorn hills, a solitary horse
man might havo been soon pushing
his jaddod stood into Emporia. Tho
noxt morning I roportod for work at
Iho "Gnzotto" ofllco, and a small
corner was cleared for mo in Mr.
White's private ofllco.
I havo said that I had a imputation
as "n hog for work," and I lived up
to it now. Work had become a sort
of passion with mo. It onablod me
to forgot, for a while that I was forty
ilve, and doad broko, and starting in
again at the foot of the ladder, In
worse shapo than whon I first entered
a newspaper ofllco. r was a, super
fluity in tho "Gazette" offlce; there
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E. A. EDMONDSON.
Cashier.
was no real place for me; a placo
had been made, just to give mo a
chance, and of course tho wages wero
small.
But I wrote so much stuff the
printers were in panic; and I was at
my Job by sunrise, and worked at it
in tho evening by lamplight. After
two or three wdeks Mr. White came
homo, and I'll never forgot his hearty
greeting. I had never seen him be
fore, but he acted as though I were
the long-lost Charlie Ross.
"You'vo beon writing wonderful
stuff, Walt," ho cried. "Come up to
my house to-night. I wailt to have a
talk with you."
I went, and we had tho talk, and
my wages wero raised, and I was as
sured that there was a place for mo
on the "Gazette" as long as I wanted
it. This was balm in Gilead.
A heart-breaking time followed. In
my days of riotous living I had piled
up a mountain of dobts. They had
never troubled mo when I had been
stayed with flagons; but when my
creditors heard that I was working
and earning monoy, they came down
on me, not as single spies, but in bat
talions. There were lawyers and bai
liffs and collectors hot on my trail
all tho time, and I saw that it would
take mo ninofy-n'no years to- pay
them all, and tho weight of discour
agement oppressed me again.
Had it not been- for the cheery
sympathy of Mr. White in those
dreary days, I'd have given up try
ing. His sympathy wasn't the easy
stuff that exhausts itself in words.
In fact, ho never talked about my
worries; but I know he understood
them, and ho let me know ho Avas
roady to help me out in any way, at
any time. But ho prefered to see me
work out my own salvation. It was
by manifesting his confidence in me
that ho kept me to the mark. I ad
mired him so much, and was so
hungry for his approval, that I was
determined to make good if it were
in me to do it.
iA.nd alLUl tImo th0 "eshpots were
calling If i qnlt work for an
I co.iild hear the march of tho pro
digal sons, and yearned to bo with
them.
There was a day when the raanag
ng editor wanted a stickful of stuff
in a hurry, to fill a corner on the
front page. It was a Saturday, and I
sat down and wrote a little rhyme
in prose form, urging people to g0
to church next day. I had been writ
ing such little rhymes for years
3SS-T,rW?? for the AtcS
,? USed t0 writ0 the advertise
rs of rocers and coal dealers in
verse, and throughout my newspaper
crlruinatelyTT ahvays couM w?
verse as easily as prose. The rhymes
form themselves in my head? as fast
as I can write them down. I am
never stuck for a rhyme. I? there S
ZTl? Ty coruer of " language
hat will rhymo with another, it bobs
up In my mind without effort
The verso I wrote for. the Gn
zctto" was printed, with a border
around it, and caused some comlnt
So I wrote another on Monday S5 !i
a third on Thursday, and so on ' The
verses became a feature of the first
monoy-makers. miues as
time we bocan tn n,. " ' "s
you something tor ttae r vme3 "f
Uavo been waiting to see It yJTSL,
about ".? f, " bet "S
tioout n. You seem to be n ,
-S&-V ANOTHER ENEMl? 1VB MUST CONQUER
St. Louis Republic.
rhymes everywhere, and I am sure
they'd pay something for them. Now,
I am going to write to a friend of
mine who syndicates things, and I
feel sure he will sell these verses so
you'll have quite an income from
them."
Then he wrote to Mr. George Mat
thew Adams, with the result that the
latter agreed to syndicate the poems.
He hadn't much faith in the proposi
tion, for poetry has always been re
garded, by publishers and syndicate
men, as something to be touched
with a ten-foot pole. At the begin
ning of the experiment Mr. Adams
paid me oighteon dolars a week for
six rhymes, and th's, added to my
wages from the "Gazette," seemed
opulence and restored some of my
natural optimism. I began to think
that perhaps God was in his heaven,
nrmr nil f
The rhymes caught on, and every
month or two Mr. Adams added
fl10 W ly. That was more
have never asked him to add a dollar
m pay;t He has kept on increas
ing the stipend with untiring gen
erosity and at the present time ho
probably pays me more than any
alone. maU reCeiVMl from rh
i)oiIiVSwHhyear Siuce camc to Em
poiia, with my extra shirt and my
11.35. Emporia has been a. tender
nurse to me, and I expect, and hope
h ? six"cvHnfifi.Umnl Calls for me with
"ib six-cyiinuer motor hpiron oi
Peach, or somebody else who knew
me when I had only one extra shirt,
and I know I can't get by with any
pose. I feel that this chastening of
the spirit is good for me, so I remain
in Emporia.
I have a sumptuous automobile
with all modern improvements, and
sometimes when I am jaunting along
the road I begin to feel that the sun
rises and sets somewhere in my
neighborhood. Then I see a landmark
that my weary eyes behold ten years
agowhen I had only one extra shirt,
and I quit trying to look like Wash
ington crossing the Delaware. Such
things are good for me, for I don't
want success to give me the idea that
I am not a false alarm; so I remain
in Emporia.
Now, there would be no sense in
writing or printing such a story as
this unless it has a moral. The Editor
of The American Magazine believed
my story might have value as show
ing that a has-been can come daw
and that is the moral.
WflafaJ Ten bright, capable ladles to travel, dag;
catabtobed dealers. to fB per week; raiww
fnre-pall; weekly advance for traveling "PS,, v,
Addre at onco-OOOimiCll ! C0
I'ANir, limit. a, oarAHA. nisbic
3Sk,
DON'T
WASTE
runs, Moy
ajtdllegM
H&H toby
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AUTOMATIC SELF-FEEDERS
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