had laid for him with the purpose of
drawing him into printing them, and then of pointing out by this fact
how little read he was, and how unfit to occupy the swivel-chair into
which he had so lately dropped. Or if this were not the case, the man
was in any event the enemy of all honest people, who look unkindly on
those who try to obtain money by false pretences.

The evasions of Edwin Aram were many, and his methods to avoid detection
not without skill. His second poem was written on a sheet of note-paper
bearing the legend "The Shakespeare Debating Club. Edwin Aram,
President."

This was intended to reassure us as to his literary taste and standard,
and to meet any suspicion we might feel had there been no address of any
sort accompanying the poem. No one we knew had ever heard of a
Shakespeare Debating Club in New York city. But we gave him the benefit
of the doubt until we found that this poem, like the first, was also
stolen. His third poem bore his name and an address, which on instant
inquiry turned out to be that of a vacant lot on Seventh Avenue near
Central Park.

Edwin Aram had by this time become an exasperating and picturesque
individual, and the editorial staff was divided in its opinion
concerning him. It was argued on one hand that as the man had never sent
us a real address, his object must be to gain a literary reputation at
the expense of certain poets, and not to make money at ours. Others
answered this by saying that fear of detection alone kept Edwin Aram
from sending his real address, but that as soon as his poem was printed,
and he ascertained by that fact that he had not been discovered, he
would put in an application for payment, and let us know quickly enough
to what portion of New York city his check should be forwarded.

This, however, presupposed the fact that he was writing to us over his
real name, which we did not believe he would dare to do. No one in our
little circle of journalists and literary men had ever heard of such a
man, and his name did not appear in the directory. This fact, however,
was not convincing in itself, as the residents of New York move from
flat to hotel, and from apartments to boarding-houses as frequently as
the Arab changes his camping-ground. We tried to draw him out at last by
publishing a personal paragraph which stated that several contributions
received from Edwin Aram would be returned to him if he would send
stamps and his present address. The editor