poor play fared ill. But I gladly added and altered, and felt quite satisfied in spite of the delay; for a free pass was given me, and I went forty times to the theatre that winter. Rich treat to a stage-struck girl; though the play never came out, and was wisely given to the flames at last, to the great relief of all parties."
"Other stories followed this fortunate one; and, after a first timid call at the office, I was emboldened by my kind reception to go often, and soon went peddling my wares in other places, but never with equal success in the courteous treatment and prompt payment which is so welcome to the soul of the bashful yet ambitious beginner.
"One of the memorable moments of my life is that in which, as I trudged to my little school on a wintry day, my eyes fell upon a large yellow poster with these delicious words: 'Bertha,' a new tale, by the author of 'The Rival Prima Donnas,' will appear in the Saturday Evening Gazette. I was late; it was bitter cold; people jostled me; I was mortally afraid I should be recognized; but there I stood, feasting my eyes on the fascinating pester, and saying proudly to myself, in the words of the great Vincent Crummles, 'This, this is fame!' That day my pupils had an indulgent teacher; for, while they struggled with their pot-hooks, I was writing immortal works; and, when they droned out the multiplication table, I was counting up the noble fortune my pen was to earn for me in the dim, delightful future. That afternoon my sisters made a pilgrimage to behold this famous placard, and, finding it torn by the wind, boldly stole it, and came home to wave it like a triumphal banner in the bosom of the excited family. The tattered paper still exists, folded away with other relics of those early days, so hard and yet so sweet, when the first small victories were won, and the enthusiasm of youth lent romance to life's drudgery.
