Page 83 - Fairbrass

a critic had thought fit to tear his poor

work to shreds, to lay its faults bare, to
pass over its merits, and generally to hold

it up to ridicule. All the joy went straight
ouL of that young writer's life. He fancied

that everyone in the church had a copy of
that wicked newspaper in his pocket, and

knew what he now considered to be his
shame. As a matter of fact no one there

had seen the newspaper ; but he was sore,
he wished that his poor little book could be

drowned as deep as Prospero’s— Prospero,
you know, was a magical person in a play

—and as he looked up at me tears of mortifi­
cation came into his eyes/

‘ I hate that critic I 1 said Fairbrass.
1 Don’t say that,’ said the Kneeling

Knight. * No doubt he did his duty, and
possibly his whip will have the effect of a

spur to the poet, and in course of time, and
when the smart has worn off, will cause him

to attempt better things. That critic was
no doubt a very knowing man, and the first

things in the little volume to catch his keen