I like your poetry very much, young man. Ill give youlet me see; how much shall I give you for it?
As much as ever you can, said Noel. You see I want a good deal of money to restore the fallen fortunes of the house of Bastable.
The gentleman put on some eye-glasses and looked hard at us. Then he sat down.
Thats a good idea, said he. Tell me how you came to think of it. And, I say, have you had any tea? Theyve just sent out for mine.
He rang a tingly bell, and the boy brought in a tray with a teapot and a thick cup and saucer and things, and he had to fetch another tray for us, when he was told to; and we had tea with the Editor of the Daily Recorder. I suppose it was a very proud moment for Noel, though I did not think of that till afterwards. The Editor asked us a lot of questions, and we told him a good deal, though of course I did not tell a stranger all our reasons for thinking that the family fortunes wanted restoring. We stayed about half an hour, and when we were going away he said again
I shall print all your poems, my poet; and now what do you think theyre worth?
I dont know, Noel said. You see I didnt write them to sell.
Why did you write them then? he asked.
Noel said he didnt know; he supposed because he wanted to.
Art for Arts sake, eh? said the Editor, and he seemed quite delighted, as though Noel had said something clever.
Well, would a guinea meet your views? he asked.
I have read of people being at a loss for words, and dumb with emotion, and Ive read of people being turned to stone with astonishment, or joy, or something, but I never knew how silly it looked till I saw Noel standing staring at the Editor with his mouth open. He went red and he went white, and then he got crimson, as if you were rubbing more and more crimson lake on a palette. But he didnt say a word, so Oswald had to say
I should jolly well think so.
So the Editor gave Noel a sovereign and a shilling, and he shook hands with us both, but he thumped Noel on the back and said
Buck up, old man! Its your first guinea, but it wont be your last. Now go along home, and in about ten years you can bring me some more poetry. Not beforesee? Im just taking this poetry of yours because I like it very much; but we dont put poetry in this paper at all. I shall have to put it in another paper I know of.
What do you put in your paper? I asked, for Father always takes the Daily Chronicle, and I didnt know what the Recorder was like. We chose it because it has such a glorious office, and a clock outside lighted up.
Oh, news, said he, and dull articles, and things about Celebrities. If you know any Celebrities, now?
Noel asked him what Celebrities were.
Oh, the Queen and the Princes, and people with titles, and people who write, or sing, or actor do something clever or wicked.
I dont know anybody wicked, said Oswald, wishing he had known Dick Turpin, or Claude Duval, so as to be able to tell the Editor things about them. But I know some one with a titleLord Tottenham.
The mad old Protectionist, eh? How did you come to know him?
We dont know him to speak to. But he goes over the Heath every day at three, and he strides along like a giantwith a black cloak like Lord Tennysons flying behind him, and he talks to himself like one oclock.
What does he say? The Editor had sat down again, and he was fiddling with a blue pencil.
We only heard him once, close enough to understand, and then he said, The curse of the country, sirruin and desolation! And then he went striding along again, hitting at the furze-bushes as if they were the heads of his enemies.
Excellent descriptive touch, said the Editor. Well, go on.
Thats all I know about him, except that he stops in the middle of the Heath every day, and he looks all round to see if theres any one about, and if there isnt, he takes his collar off.
The Editor interruptedwhich is considered rudeand said
Youre not romancing?
I beg your pardon? said Oswald. Drawing the long bow, I mean, said the Editor.
Oswald drew himself up, and said he wasnt a liar.
The Editor only laughed, and said romancing and lying were not at all the same; only it was important to know what you were playing at. So Oswald accepted his apology, and went on.
We were hiding among the furze-bushes one day, and we saw him do it. He took off his collar, and he put on a clean one, and he threw the other among the furze-bushes. We picked it up afterwards, and it was a beastly paper one!
Thank you, said the Editor, and he got up and put his hand in his pocket. Thats well worth five shillings, and there they are. Would you like to see round the printing offices before you go home?
I pocketed my five bob, and thanked him, and I said we should like it very much. He called another gentleman and said something we couldnt hear. Then he said good-bye again; and all this time Noel hadnt said a word. But now he said, Ive made a poem about you. It is called Lines to a Noble Editor. Shall I write it down?
The Editor gave him the blue pencil, and he sat down at the Editors table and wrote. It was this, he told me afterwards as well as he could remember
May Lifes choicest blessings be your lot
I think you ought to be very blest
For you are going to print my poems
And you may have this one as well as the rest.
Thank you, said the Editor. I dont think I ever had a poem addressed to me before. I shall treasure it, I assure you.
Then the other gentleman said something about Maecenas, and we went off to see the printing office with at least one pound seven in our pockets.
It was good hunting, and no mistake!
But he never put Noels poetry in the Daily Recorder. It was quite a long time afterwards we saw a sort of story thing in a magazine, on the station bookstall, and that kind, sleepy-looking Editor had written it, I suppose. It was not at all amusing. It said a lot about Noel and me, describing us all wrong, and saying how we had tea with the Editor; and all Noels poems were in the story thing. I think myself the Editor seemed to make game of them, but Noel was quite pleased to see them printedso thats all right. It wasnt my poetry anyhow, I am glad to say.