of Mlle. de la Ramee (Ouida). The
suggestions given assume that the story is before my readers.

The story as it stands is two thousand four hundred words long, obviously
too long to tell. What can be left out? Let us see what must be kept in.

The dramatic climax toward which we are working is the outcome of August's
strange exploit,--his discovery by the king and the opportunity for him to
become an artist. The joy of this climax is twofold: August may stay with
his beloved Hirschvogel, and he may learn to make beautiful things like
it. To arrive at the twofold conclusion we must start from a double
premise,--the love of the stove and the yearning to be an artist. It will,
then, be necessary to include in the beginning of the story enough details
of the family life to show plainly how precious and necessary Hirschvogel
was to the children; and to state definitely how August had learned to
admire and wish to emulate Hirschvogel's maker. We need no detail beyond
what is necessary to make this clear.

The beginning and the end of a story decided upon, its body becomes the
bridge from one to the other; in this case it is August's strange journey,
beginning with the catastrophe and his grief-dazed decision to follow the
stove. The journey is long, and each stage of it is told in full. As this
is impossible in oral reproduction, it becomes necessary to choose typical
incidents, which will give the same general effect as the whole. The
incidents which answer this purpose are: the beginning of the journey, the
experience on the luggage train, the jolting while being carried on men's
shoulders, the final fright and suspense before the king opens the door.

The episode of the night in the bric-a-brac shop introduces a wholly new
and confusing train of thought; therefore, charming as it is, it must be
omitted. And the secondary thread of narrative interest, that of the
prices for which the stove was sold, and the retribution visited on the
cheating dealers, is also "another story," and must be ignored. Each of
these destroys the clear sequence and the simplicity of plot which must be
kept for telling.

We are reduced, then, for the whole, to this: a brief preliminary
statement of the place Hirschvogel held in the household affections, and
the ambition aroused in August; the catastrophe of the sale; August's
decision; his experiences on the train, on the shoulders of men, and just
before the discovery; his discovery, and the