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Mr. Meeson’s Will - ebook
Mr. Meeson’s Will - ebook
Haggard’s story about greed and selfishness. This is the story of the dastardly Mr. Meeson, the rich owner of the publishing house. The only brave human who wants to stop his atrocities is Augusta. However, he leaves a mark on her spine before death, which leads further to battle.
| Kategoria: | Classic Literature |
| Język: | Angielski |
| Zabezpieczenie: |
Watermark
|
| ISBN: | 978-83-8162-413-8 |
| Rozmiar pliku: | 2,4 MB |
FRAGMENT KSIĄŻKI
Contents
Chapter I. Augusta And Her Publisher
Chapter II. How Eustace Was Disinherited
Chapter III. Augusta’s Little Sister
Chapter IV. Augusta’s Decision
Chapter V. The R.M.S. Kangaroo
Chapter VI. Mr. Tombey Goes Forward
Chapter VII. The Catastrophe
Chapter VIII. Kerguelen Land
Chapter IX. Augusta To The Rescue
Chapter X. The Last Of Mr. Meeson
Chapter XI. Rescued
Chapter XII. Southampton Quay
Chapter XIII. Eustace Buys A Paper
Chapter XIV. At Hanover Square
Chapter XV. Eustace Consults A Lawyer
Chapter XVI. Short On Legal Etiquette
Chapter XVII. How Augusta Was Filed
Chapter XVIII. Augusta Flies
Chapter XIX. Meeson v. Addison And Another
Chapter XX. James Breaks Down
Chapter XXI. Grant As Prayed
Chapter XXII. St. George’s, Hanover Square
Chapter XXIII. Meeson’s Once AgainCHAPTER II
HOW EUSTACE WAS DISINHERITED
There was a pause–a dreadful pause. The flash had left the cloud, but the answering thunder had not burst upon the ear. Mr. Meeson gasped. Then he took up the cheque which Augusta had thrown upon the table and slowly crumpled it.
“What did you say, young man?” he said at last, in a cold, hard voice.
“I said that you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” answered his nephew, standing his ground bravely; “and, what is more, I meant it!”
“Oh! Now will you be so kind as to explain exactly why you said that, and why you meant it?”
“I meant it,” answered his nephew, speaking in a full, strong voice, “because that girl was right when she said that you had cheated her, and you know that she was right. I have seen the accounts of ‘Jemima’s Vow’–I saw them this morning–and you have already made more than a thousand pounds clear profit on the book. And then, when she comes to ask you for something over the beggarly fifty pounds which you doled out to her, you refuse, and offer her three pounds as her share of the translation rights –three pounds as against your eleven!”
“Go on,” interrupted his uncle; “pray go on.”
“All right; I am going. That is not all: you actually avail yourself of a disgraceful trick to entrap this unfortunate girl into an agreement, whereby she becomes a literary bondslave for five years! As soon as you see that she has genius, you tell her that the expense of bringing out her book, and of advertising up her name, &c., &c., &c., will be very great– so great, indeed, that you cannot undertake it, unless, indeed, she agrees to let you have the first offer of everything she writes for five years to come, at somewhere about a fourth of the usual rate of a successful author’s pay –though, of course, you don’t tell her that. You take advantage of her inexperience to bind her by this iniquitous contract, knowing that the end of it will be that you will advance her a little money and get her into your power, and then will send her down there to the Hutches, where all the spirit and originality and genius will be crushed out of her work, and she will become a hat-writer like the rest of them–for Meeson’s is a strictly commercial undertaking, you know, and Meeson’s public don’t like genius, they like their literature dull and holy!–and it’s an infernal shame! that’s what it is, uncle!” and the young man, whose blue eyes were by this time flashing fire, for he had worked himself up as he went along, brought his fist down with a bang upon the writing table by way of emphasising his words.
“Have you done?” said his uncle.
This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.
Chapter I. Augusta And Her Publisher
Chapter II. How Eustace Was Disinherited
Chapter III. Augusta’s Little Sister
Chapter IV. Augusta’s Decision
Chapter V. The R.M.S. Kangaroo
Chapter VI. Mr. Tombey Goes Forward
Chapter VII. The Catastrophe
Chapter VIII. Kerguelen Land
Chapter IX. Augusta To The Rescue
Chapter X. The Last Of Mr. Meeson
Chapter XI. Rescued
Chapter XII. Southampton Quay
Chapter XIII. Eustace Buys A Paper
Chapter XIV. At Hanover Square
Chapter XV. Eustace Consults A Lawyer
Chapter XVI. Short On Legal Etiquette
Chapter XVII. How Augusta Was Filed
Chapter XVIII. Augusta Flies
Chapter XIX. Meeson v. Addison And Another
Chapter XX. James Breaks Down
Chapter XXI. Grant As Prayed
Chapter XXII. St. George’s, Hanover Square
Chapter XXIII. Meeson’s Once AgainCHAPTER II
HOW EUSTACE WAS DISINHERITED
There was a pause–a dreadful pause. The flash had left the cloud, but the answering thunder had not burst upon the ear. Mr. Meeson gasped. Then he took up the cheque which Augusta had thrown upon the table and slowly crumpled it.
“What did you say, young man?” he said at last, in a cold, hard voice.
“I said that you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” answered his nephew, standing his ground bravely; “and, what is more, I meant it!”
“Oh! Now will you be so kind as to explain exactly why you said that, and why you meant it?”
“I meant it,” answered his nephew, speaking in a full, strong voice, “because that girl was right when she said that you had cheated her, and you know that she was right. I have seen the accounts of ‘Jemima’s Vow’–I saw them this morning–and you have already made more than a thousand pounds clear profit on the book. And then, when she comes to ask you for something over the beggarly fifty pounds which you doled out to her, you refuse, and offer her three pounds as her share of the translation rights –three pounds as against your eleven!”
“Go on,” interrupted his uncle; “pray go on.”
“All right; I am going. That is not all: you actually avail yourself of a disgraceful trick to entrap this unfortunate girl into an agreement, whereby she becomes a literary bondslave for five years! As soon as you see that she has genius, you tell her that the expense of bringing out her book, and of advertising up her name, &c., &c., &c., will be very great– so great, indeed, that you cannot undertake it, unless, indeed, she agrees to let you have the first offer of everything she writes for five years to come, at somewhere about a fourth of the usual rate of a successful author’s pay –though, of course, you don’t tell her that. You take advantage of her inexperience to bind her by this iniquitous contract, knowing that the end of it will be that you will advance her a little money and get her into your power, and then will send her down there to the Hutches, where all the spirit and originality and genius will be crushed out of her work, and she will become a hat-writer like the rest of them–for Meeson’s is a strictly commercial undertaking, you know, and Meeson’s public don’t like genius, they like their literature dull and holy!–and it’s an infernal shame! that’s what it is, uncle!” and the young man, whose blue eyes were by this time flashing fire, for he had worked himself up as he went along, brought his fist down with a bang upon the writing table by way of emphasising his words.
“Have you done?” said his uncle.
This is a free sample. Please purchase full version of the book to continue.
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