is judicial
hand to that burden, "I have thought of speaking to you about it. In
my leisure moments on the Bench I have, from time to time, polished and
perfected a certain college poem begun years ago, but which may now be
said to have been finished in California, and thus embraced in the scope
of your proposed selection. If a few extracts, selected by myself, to
save you all trouble and responsibility, be of any benefit to you, my
dear young friend, consider them at your service."

In this fashion the contributions had increased to three times the
bulk of the original collection, and the difficulties of selection
were augmented in proportion. The editor and publisher eyed each other
aghast. "Never thought there were so many of the blamed things alive,"
said the latter with great simplicity, "had you?" The editor had not.
"Couldn't you sorter shake 'em up and condense 'em, you know? keep their
ideas--and their names--separate, so that they'd have proper credit.
See?" The editor pointed out that this would infringe the rule he had
laid down. "I see," said the publisher thoughtfully; "well, couldn't
you pare 'em down; give the first verse entire and sorter sample the
others?" The editor thought not. There was clearly nothing to do but to
make a more rigid selection--a difficult performance when the material
was uniformly on a certain dead level, which it is not necessary to
define here. Among the rejections were, of course, the usual plagiarisms
from well-known authors imposed upon an inexperienced country press;
several admirable pieces detected as acrostics of patent medicines,
and certain veiled libels and indecencies such as mark the "first"
publications on blank walls and fences of the average youth. Still the
bulk remained too large, and the youthful editor set to work reducing
it still more with a sympathizing concern which the good-natured, but
unliterary, publisher failed to understand, and which, alas! proved to
be equally unappreciated by the rejected contributors.

The book appeared--a pretty little volume typographically, and
externally a credit to pioneer book-making. Copies were liberally
supplied to the press, and authors and publishers self-complacently
awaited the result. To the latter this should have been satisfactory;
the book sold readily from his well-known counters to purchasers who
seemed to be drawn by a singular curiosity, unaccompanied, however, by
any critical comment. People would lounge in