Page 107 (1/1)

His next proceeding indicated a commendable amount of shrewdness, and proved that his roseate visions resulted norance and inexperience than from innate foolishness He carefully read the periodicals he had bought, in the hope of obtaining hints and suggestions fro acceptable manuscripts Some of the sketches and stories appeared very si as sh the meadows He did not see why he could not write in a sily In his partial and neglected course of study he had not given much attention to belles-lettres, and was not aware that the sies so easily read were produced by the best trained and ular contributors

He spent the evening and the greater part of a sleepless night in constructing a crude plot of a story, and, having procured writingerness to enter on what now see path to fame

He sat down and dipped his pen in ink The blank, white page was before hihts; but for some reason they did not and would not come This puzzled him He could dash off a letter, and write with ease a plain business stateo on with his story?

"How do those other fellows coain carefully read and exaraphs of two or three tales that had pleased hio forward very easily and naturally Why could not he do the saht as well have sat down and hoped to have deftly and skilfully constructed a watch as to have imitated the style of the stories that most interested him, for he had never formed even the power, much less the habit, of composition

After a few labored and inconsequential sentences, which see racefuldespondently for a tie, which now promised to remain as blank as the future then seeenius often spurred its flagging or dor eht to avail hiination, which would then kindle with his theme