“Nothing else,” he said. “Your interview is over. That will have to satisfy you. I have work to do, and you must go now.”
SHORTLY before five o’clock, Stevens humbly submitted his story to the city editor. The result was a storm of sarcastic disapproval.
“Is this all you got!” exclaimed the city editor. “I wanted a column. You bring me a couple of sticks!”
“That’s all he told me, sir,” said Stevens.
“Didn’t you ask him any questions?”
“No, sir. I told him what I wanted to know; and that’s what he gave me.”
The city editor glared at the copy.
“Stevens,” he said, angrily, “you’re the dumbest man I’ve ever had on the staff. Your work hasn’t been worth a plugged nickel.
“I thought I’d give you a chance to-day. You flopped. This story is so punk that it can’t even be rewritten.”
He started to toss the copy into the wastebasket; then, changing his mind, he thrust it in a desk drawer.