"Therefore, I have been sitting up till two
o'clock in the mornings, studying the files of the _Post_, to see
exactly how you did it."
The Colonel's gaze gradually softened. "You might have been worse
employed; I compliment and congratulate you," said he; and then added:
"Whether you have really caught the idea and mastered the technique or
not, it is too soon to say. But I'll say frankly that this article is
worth more to me than everything else that you've written for the
_Post_ put together."
"I am--ahem--gratified that you are pleased with it."
The Colonel, whose glance had gone out of the window, swung around in
his chair and smote the table a testy blow.
"For the Lord's sake," he exploded, "get some heat in you! Squirt some
color into your way of looking at things! Be kind and good-natured in
your heart--just as I am at this moment--but for heaven's sake learn to
write as if you were mad, and only kept from yelling by phenomenal
will-power."
This was in early May. Many other talks upon the art of editorial
writing did the two have, as the days went. The Colonel, mystified but
pleased by revelations of actuality and life in his heretofore
too-embalmed assistant, found an increasing interest in developing him.
Pages:
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320