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gsggssas H Ma m ?. S3 We arc opportunii ST!? and will si S We ffj CALL n Sd We hi Li call on u v. hat you 5 6 H = i QEEHEHE II THE TOP ROUND i ef THE LADDER, j, ? * . i [Original.] Camilla Demlng was a country gir who went to the city to Join in the llv erary scramble. Ambitious and pos sessing some means, she Intended to eschew the drudgery of editorial work and strike at once into authorship. But one man in her native village was sufHelentlv lnt?11iw?hnil tn oiw>nro h?p friendship, Curtis Forster, a young physician who had Btudled bis profession in town and returned to practice It in the country. He was plodding and practical. He strongly advised her to choose a role offerinjg greater chances of success, that of wife and mother, with himself for the husband, and when she refused begged her if she were unsuccessful to consider the offer still open. She had met with ho<~ ? success by writing stories for the cc jntry papers and began in her new field with others more finished, it is true, but the same simple work that had so pleased her neighbors. Occasionally she would dispose of one of them to a magazine, but at the end of a year after figuring up her net proceeds she had gained but a twentieth of her expenditures. She had brought with her from the country a bit of editorial work, which had remained in the bottom or her trunk. Feeling that she should make gn effort to add something to her income for the next year even if It were not by her choaen creative work, she took out this manuscript, smoothed the rumpled pages and looked it over. It consisted of a series of selections from the most affecting scenes in the works of Washington Irving, to each of which she bad written a brief introduction, admirably imitating the author's style It was accepted, and the book made m uu. x lir auiuvrs iutuuic lur iiie year from this aource was equal to bei expenditures. Her publisher suggested the writing of another similar book made up of extracts from the bumor of a noted author. The publisher's suggestion was accompanied by so handsome an offer that she accepted. The second book was more popular than the first and the proceeds derived many times larger. Then commenced a scramble among publishers for the works of Camilla Defining. Success Is gratifying In any form, and the young author was very math delighted with hers She did not now consider her work Imply editorial. At any rate, she saw In It an ope nine for her own creations. She had loos had on hand a novel which from time to time abe had submitted to publishers, then revised and oabmltted again, always with the same result? 'Unavailable.'' Selecting one of a dosen publishers who were now bounding her for her work, she placed It la his hands, am] It was published jffr Immediately. StC^i, \ I ii .4^,.... 3S3S33BS ike A Menu he place to buy your SPR L. Moore more than pleased with the increase :y o: thankintr our friends and the pul how our appreciation by usinjr our rr 19 in oar dress go | M Q fl A fall line of i j 11U v 0 The latest styh ON US FOR ANYTHtt Don't forget ou -== MILLI ive the latest shapes and a be is for your hat, we promise to ever had. Fancy Qroce resh ileat Mark Give us your orders. Ev< E. L_. i About this time she received a note | from Dr. Forster congratulating her on her progress. She replied In a vein of exhilaration, giving with charming naivete the remark of her last publisher, "You will soon be a) the top of the ladder if you don't mar ry." Forster replied, 'Marry and turn the ladder upside down." The novel was a success. Though not as successful as the two prevlodF books, still it sold well. Camilla waited before entering upon any new work till this fact bad been established then went to her publisher for a conference. lie told her that there was a demand for n work like her previous ones and suggested that she take up Thackeray and extract scenes as she had done with Irving. Somehow the advice fell on Camilla like a wet blanket. She was ut a turning point In her career. What should she do? She felt the need of some one in whom she had confidence to assist her In seeing the problem in its true light. Packiug her belongings, she took a train for home. Arriving there, she j sent for Dr. Forster, stated her case ! and asked his advice. He took a copy ; of each of her three books and promised to see her when he had carefully read them. In a few days he called i upon her with his report, which she I well knew would be the plain, unvarI nlshed truth: "The sale of your first two books was based on the genius of another. Publishers, In order to secure that which they were sure of selling, so flattered you that they partly convinced you that your success was largely due to your own effort. Your novel Is pleasing, but not a work of genius." Camilla drew a long sigh?the sigh of one bitterly disappointed. "Camilla," the doctor went on, "what Is this you lament?that you are not pre-eminent in creating imaginary beings who are intended to move before "us like real people, enact their triuinps and weep at their failures? Tt is a noble field, I admit, a field In which there have been but few real masters, but there Is a nobler one. In It the characters are real and come from the great Creator. It Is a field Into which I would myself gladly enter If you would consent to enter It with me. If you will abandon tha fictitious and take up the real, your characters will be a husband who adores you and Children whose being Is not the fanciful emanation of your brain, but a part of yourself. The scene of your romance will be a real borne; the hopes, fears, success, fall ares or your story those of an actual united family." Before he had finished the doctor had advanced and taken her in hi* arms. When he had concluded, Camilla pondered awhile, then, looking up with a smile and a twinkle, said: "You've turned' the ladder upside down, and I'm on the top round." JAQUBIilNB RA8TWOOD. i I ?????mmmmm 3CtlQd\jO\SO? il Note of Thi [NG and SUMMER goods is & Com in our sales since January 1st. aiul wc lake i blic generally tor making this iuervasc aossil to?t strenuous efforts in catorin^: to w r wai ods department just the things you wa Mens, Women *nd Children SHOE fs in Pumps JUST received. IG YOU WANT IN NOTION r iine of Hosiery. INERY ==autiful line of trimmings. Don't fail give you the most stylish and becomi Ties and et. erything delivered promptly. MOORE cSi Talked Too Much. In a certain village of New Ilamp hire there Is a quaint old character Bw. , known as Boss Mellin keenly alive to the truth of the old Baying, "Silence Is fri golden." Mellin's gift In this respect Igl approaches genius, though he was ful- HE ly aware of what he deemed his short- HE comings therein. Mellin used to make mattresses for ! a living. One day a native of the place H| entered his shop and asked, "Boss, what's the best kind of a mattress?" "Husks," was the laconic response of H Boss. B Twenty years later, so runs the trn- Bfl dltion. the same man again entered the BQ shop and again asked what, in the opinion of Mellin, was the best kind of a mattress. "Straw," said Boss. "Straw? You told me busks was the best!" gg Boss Mellin emitted a sigh. "I've al- Bp ways ruined myself by taJkln'." said lie Bi Maiden Insurance. fly The Maiden Insurance company Is a HQ singular Denmark Institution. It is Kg confined to the nobility, and the noble- Bra man, us soon as a female child is born Rj to him, enrolls her name on the com- EH pany's books and pays In a certain BE sum uud thereafter a fixed annual auiuuui 10 ilie treasury. wnen tlie |U young girl has reached the age of twenty-one she is entitled to a fixed Kj Income and to an elegant suit of apart- Hjj ments, and this income and this resi- BS lence, both almost princely, are hers until she either marries or dies. The jS society has existed for generations. It ias always prospered. Thanks to It, Hj poverty stricken old maids are un- H|| known among the Denmark nobility, BS but every maiden lady Is rich and HB happy. S Not Responsible. 9f "Hold on," said the learned chemist HR "Didn't I give you a bottle of my won- BH derful toriic that would make you look twenty years younger?" H "You did," replied the patient, "and B8 I took It all. I was then thirty-nine, and now I am only nineteen." 91 "Well, then, will you please settle H this bill you owe me for the treat- Hj ment?" "Oh, no! As 1 am only nineteen now, I am a minor, and minors are not held ^aanonoihln tr\r> fhn Hllla Kaw a. vr? iUV l/*UO bUVJ lUtUi. Good day, sir."?Illustrated Bits. ggg Wanted the Earth. 9 She had l>eeii on the ocean three ^3 days nnd suffered tlie throes of seasickness all that time. BR When nil hope of relief had fled, one ? of those well meaning nuisances came BS to her and asked her: HB "Is there auythitig I can do for yon? H[ What do you want?" B "You can <W> nothing for me. I wnn* I BL the earth." ad "he sincerely did.?Short Stories J '" ii irtli*tiiOHliM ^1 ht hi " i i rfr i T ' "|j ;3S36BS3S33^8SES32S5BSSS(3 a?l m 8 I s ill r jJcrjlfeUi 5p?ol 3JV to m?t?K ail tfw mm | JS& in in? ??<?? ?Uk? ? COMPANY gj SSBSBSESESESgSESEEBBta _ I . |H H Ladies Oxfords. I ^ 1 B I i For Dress and Street I 4 '^^1. n^ifirm 1 actc ? xiVA/cjL\/n ttju, n All Oxfords. Perfectly 11 Fitted. 1^ W W. H. DUNBAR I DILLON, S. C. I 9 ...... ,v> ^ x...aa'AP'.** -