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Elisha Cuthbert Photos Books: Martin Eden The Pickwick Papers The Sea Wolf |
which no man had ever
penetrated. He knew full well, from his Spencer, that man can never
attain ultimate knowledge of anything, and that the mystery of beauty was
no less than that of life--nay, more that the fibres of beauty and life
were intertwisted, and that he himself was but a bit of the same
nonunderstandable fabric, twisted of sunshine and star-dust and wonder.
In fact, it was when filled with these thoughts that he wrote his essay
entitled "Star-dust," in which he had his fling, not at the principles of
criticism, but at the principal critics. It was brilliant, deep,
philosophical, and deliciously touched with laughter. Also it was
promptly rejected by the magazines as often as it was submitted. But
having cleared his mind of it, he went serenely on his way. It was a
habit he developed, of incubating and maturing his thought upon a
subject, and of then rushing into the type-writer with it. That it did
not see print was a matter a small moment with him. The writing of it
was the culminating act of a long mental process, the drawing together of
scattered threads of thought and the final generalizing upon all the data
with which his mind was burdened. To write such an article was the
conscious effort by which he freed his mind and made it ready for fresh
material and problems. It was in a way akin to that common habit of men
and women troubled by real or fancied grievances, who periodically and
volubly break their long-suffering silence and "have their say" till the
last word is said.
CHAPTER XXIV The weeks passed. Martin ran out of money, and publishers checks were far away as ever. All his important manuscripts had come back and been started out again, and his hack-work fared no better. His little kitchen was no longer graced with a variety of foods. Caught in the pinch with a part sack of rice and a few pounds of dried apricots, rice and apricots was his menu three times a day for five days hand-running. Then he startled to realize on his credit. The Portuguese grocer, to whom he had hitherto paid cash, called a halt when Martins bill reached the magnificent total of three dollars and eighty-five cents. "For you see," said the grocer, "you no catcha da work, I losa da mon." And Martin could reply nothing. There was no way of explaining. It was not true business principle to allow credit to a strong-bodied young fellow of the working-class who was too lazy to work. "You catcha da job, I let you have mora da grub," the grocer assured Martin. "No job, no grub. Thata da business." And then, to show that it was purely business foresight and not prejudice, "Hava da drink on da house--good friends justa da same." So Martin drank, in his easy way, to show that he was good friends with the house, and then went supperless to bed. The fruit store, where Martin had bought his vegetables, was run by an American whose business principles were so weak that he let Martin run a bill of five dollars before stopping his credit. The baker stopped at two dollars, and the butcher at four dollars. Martin added his debts and found that he was possessed of a total credit in all the world of fourteen dollars and eighty-five cents. He was up with his type-writer rent, but he estimated that he could get two months credit on that, which would be eight dollars. When that occurred, he would have exhausted all possible credit. The last purchase from the fruit store had been a sack of potatoes, and for a week he had potatoes, and nothing but potatoes, three times a day. An occasional dinner at Ruths helped to keep strength in his body, though he found it tantalizing enough to refuse further helping when his appetite was raging at sight of so much food spread before it. Now and again, though afflicted with secret shame, he dropped in at his sisters at meal-time and ate as much as he dared--more than he dared at the Morse table. Day by day he worked on, and day by day the postman delivered to him rejected manuscripts. He had no money for stamps, so the manuscripts accumulated in a heap under the table. Martin Eden page 92 Martin Eden page 94 |