the article was prepared,
and at night it was tucked under the printing-office door, where James
found it in the morning. As usual, several of his writers came in
about their usual time, and Benjamin had the happiness of hearing the
following discussion:--

"Here is a good article, that I found under the door this morning,"
said James, at the same time holding it up.

"Who is the author of it?" inquired one.

"It is anonymous," replied James, "and I have not the least idea who
wrote it."

"What is the subject?" asked another; and the subject was announced.

"Let us hear it read," proposed a third. "You read it aloud to us,
James." So James proceeded to read the article aloud, while all
listened with deep interest. All the while Benjamin was busily
employed at his work, though his ears were never more willing to hear.
You may be sure that he felt rather queerly while his composition was
undergoing this test, and a close observer might have observed a sly,
comical twinkle of his eye. The reading went on without one of the
company dreaming that the author stood at their elbow.

"Capital!" exclaimed one, as the last line was read. "Who can the
author be?"

"As a general thing," said James, "I shall not insert articles from
persons unknown to me, but this is so good that I shall publish it."

"By all means," said one of the company. "We shall soon find out the
author; it is a difficult matter to keep such things secret for a long
time."

"The author is evidently a person of ability," added another; "every
sentence in that article is charged with thought. I should judge that
he wanted only culture to make him a writer of the first class."

"Publishing the article will be as likely as anything to bring out the
author," said James.

It was decided to print the article, all having approved of the same,
much to the satisfaction of Benjamin, who awaited the decision with
some anxiety. Now he scarcely knew how to act in regard to the piece,
whether to father it at once, or still conceal its parentage. On the
whole, however, he decided to withhold its authorship for the present,
and try his hand again in the same way. Much encouraged by the success
of his first effort, Benjamin was prepared to produce even a better
article on the second trial, which was discussed and approved in the
same way as the first. Thus he wrote, and put under the door at night,
a number of articles, all of which were pronounced good by James a