s for women. Fewer persons were interested in books, they
declared; besides, the publishing houses were not so liberal
advertisers as the department stores. The whole question rested on a
commercial basis.

Edward believed he could convince editors of the public interest in a
newsy, readable New York literary letter, and he prevailed upon the
editor of the _New York Star_ to allow him to supplement the book
reviews of George Parsons Lathrop in that paper by a column of literary
chat called "Literary Leaves." For a number of weeks he continued to
write this department, and confine it to the New York paper, feeling
that he needed the experience for the acquirement of a readable style,
and he wanted to be sure that he had opened a sufficient number of
productive news channels to ensure a continuous flow of readable
literary information.

Occasionally he sent to an editor here and there what he thought was a
particularly newsy letter just "for his information, not for sale."
The editor of the _Philadelphia Times_ was the first to discover that
his paper wanted the letter, and the _Boston Journal_ followed suit.
Then the editor of the _Cincinnati Times-Star_ discovered the letter in
the _New York Star_, and asked that it be supplied weekly with the
letter. These newspapers renamed the letter "Bok's Literary Leaves,"
and the feature started on its successful career.

CHAPTER X

THE CHANCES FOR SUCCESS

Edward Bok does not now remember whether the mental picture had been
given him, or whether he had conjured it up for himself; but he
certainly was possessed of the idea, as are so many young men entering
business, that the path which led to success was very difficult: that
it was overfilled with a jostling, bustling, panting crowd, each eager
to reach the goal; and all ready to dispute every step that a young man
should take; and that favoritism only could bring one to the top.

After Bok had been in the world of affairs, he wondered where were
these choked avenues, these struggling masses, these competitors for
every inch of vantage. Then he gradually discovered that they did not
exist.

In the first place, he found every avenue leading to success wide open
and certainly not overpeopled. He was surprised how few there were who
really stood in a young man's way. He found that favoritism was not
the factor that he had been led to suppose. He realized it existed in
a few isolated cases, but to these every o