It was great! Did you ever write any fiction before?'
"My head whirled, but I had learned to keep my own counsels, so I
said as lightly as I could, while my heart beat until I feared he
could hear it: `No. Just a simple little thing! Have you any
spare copies? My sister might want one.'
"He supplied me, so I hurried home, and shutting myself in the
library, I sat down to look my first attempt at fiction in the
face. I quite agreed with the manager that it was `great.' Then I
wrote Mr. Maxwell a note telling him that I had seen my story in
his magazine, and saying that I was glad he liked it enough to
use it. I had not known a letter could reach New York and bring a
reply so quickly as his answer came. It was a letter that warmed
the deep of my heart. Mr. Maxwell wrote that he liked my story
very much, but the office boy had lost or destroyed my address
with the wrappings, so after waiting a reasonable length of time
to hear from me, he had illustrated it the best he could, and
printed it. He wrote that so many people had spoken to him of a
new, fresh note in it, that he wished me to consider doing him
another in a similar vein for a Christmas leader and he enclosed
my very first check for fiction.
"So I wrote: `How Laddie and the Princess Spelled Down at the
Christmas Bee.
Pages:
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45