按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
d and joyous singing of ballads。
〃The singing over； silence reigned。 But if you had listened at his door you must have heard a pen going； swiftly and boldly。 He was hard at work； doing unto others what others had done unto him。 You were a stranger to him； some magazine had accepted a story that you had written and published it。 R。 H。 D。 had found something to like and admire in that story （very little perhaps）； and it was his duty and pleasure to tell you so。 If he had liked the story very much he would send you instead of a note a telegram。 Or it might be that you had drawn a picture； or； as a cub reporter； had shown golden promise in a half column of unsigned print； R。 H。 D。 would find you out； and find time to praise you and help you。 So it was that when he emerged from his room at sharp eight o'clock； he was wide…awake and happy and hungry； and whistled and double…shuffled with his feet； out of excessive energy； and carried in his hands a whole sheaf of notes and letters and telegrams。
〃Breakfast with him was not the usual American breakfast； a sullen； dyspeptic gathering of persons who only the night before had rejoiced in each other's society。 With him it was the time when the mind is； or ought to be； at its best； the body at its freshest and hungriest。 Discussions of the latest plays and novels； the doings and undoings of statesmen； laughter and sentimentto him； at breakfast； these things were as important as sausages and thick cream。
〃Breakfast over； there was no dawdling and putting off of the day's work （else how； at eleven sharp； could tennis be played with a free conscience？）。 Loving； as he did； everything connected with a newspaper； he would now pass by those on the hall…table with never so much as a wistful glance； and hurry to his workroom。
〃He wrote sitting down。 He wrote standing up。 And； almost you may say； he wrote walking up and down。 Some people； accustomed to the delicious ease and clarity of his style； imagine that he wrote very easily。 He did and he didn't。 Letters； easy； clear； to the point； and gorgeously human； flowed from him without let or hindrance。 That masterpiece of corresponding； the German March through Brussels； was probably written almost as fast as he could talk （next to Phillips Brooks； he was the fastest talker I ever heard）； but when it came to fiction he had no facility at all。 Perhaps I should say that he held in contempt any facility that he may have had。 It was owing to his incomparable energy and Joblike patience that he ever gave us any fiction at all。 Every phrase in his fiction was； of all the myriad phrases he could think of； the fittest in his relentless judgment to survive。 Phrases； paragraphs； pages； whole stories even； were written over and over again。 He worked upon a principle of elimination。 If he wished to describe an automobile turning in at a gate； he made first a long and elaborate description from which there was omitted no detail； which the most observant pair of eyes in Christendom had ever noted with reference to just such a turning。 Thereupon he would begin a process of omitting one by one those details which he had been at such pains to recall； and after each omission he would ask himself； ‘Does the picture remain？' If it did not； he restored the detail which he had just omitted； and experimented with the sacrifice of some other； and so on； and so on； until after Herculean labor there remained for the reader one of those swiftly flashed ice…clear pictures （complete in every detail） with which his tales and romances are so delightfully and continuously adorned。
〃But it is quarter to eleven； and this being a time of holiday； R。 H。 D。 emerges from his workroom happy to think that he has placed one hundred and seven words between himself and the wolf who hangs about every writer's door。 He isn't satisfied with those hundred and seven words。 He never was in the least satisfied with anything that he wrote； but he has searched his mind and his conscience and he believes that under the circumstances they are the very best that he can do。 Anyway； they can stand in their present order untilafter lunch。
〃A sign of his youth was the fact that to the day of his death he had denied himself the luxury and slothfulness of habits。 I have never seen him smoke automatically as most men do。 He had too much respect for his own powers of enjoyment and for the sensibilities； perhaps； of the best Havana tobacco。 At a time of his own deliberate choosing； often after many hours of hankering and renunciation； he smoked his cigar。 He smoked it with delight； with a sense of being rewarded； and he used all the smoke there was in it。
〃He dearly loved the best food； the best champagne； and the best Scotch whiskey。 But these things were friends to him； and not enemies。 He had toward food and drink the continental attitude； namely； that quality is far more important than quantity； and he got his exhilaration from the fact that he was drinking champagne and not from the champagne。 Perhaps I shall do well to say that on questions of right and wrong he had a will of iron。 All his life he moved resolutely in whichever direction his conscience pointed； and although that ever present and never obtrusive conscience of his made mistakes of judgment now and then； as must all consciences； I think it can never once have tricked him into any action that was impure or unclean。 Some critics maintain that the heroes and heroines of his books are impossibly pure and innocent young people。 R。 H。 D。 never called upon his characters for any trait of virtue； or renunciation； or self…mastery of which his own life could not furnish examples。〃
In June of 1912 Richard reported the Republican convention at Chicago。 Shortly after this； on July 8； he married at Greenwich； Connecticut； Miss Elizabeth Genevieve McEvoy； known on the stage as Bessie McCoy； with whom he had first become acquainted in 1908 after the estrangement from his wife。
Richard and his wife made their home at Crossroads； where he devoted most of his working hours to the writing of short stories。 In August of that year my brother； accompanied by his wife； returned to Chicago to report the Progressive convention。 During the year 1913 he wrote and produced the farce 〃Who's Who；〃 of which William Collier was the star； and in the fall of the same year spent a month in Cuba； with Augustus Thomas； where they produced a film version of 〃Soldiers of Fortune。〃 In referring to this trip； Thomas wrote at the time of Richard's death：
〃In 1914 a motion…picture company arranged to make a feature film of the play； and Dick and I went with their outfit to Santiago de Cuba； where； twenty years earlier； he had found the inspiration for his story and out of which city and its environs he had fashioned his supposititious republic of Olancho。 On that trip he was the idol of the company。 With the men in the smoking…room of the steamer there were the numberless playful stories； in the rough； of the experiences on all five continents and seven seas that were the backgrounds of his published tales。
〃At Santiago； if an official was to be persuaded to consent to some unprecedented seizure of the streets； or