Eugene Field, A Study In Heredity And Contradictions by Slason Thompson Eugene Field, A Study In Heredity And Contradictions by Slason Thompson Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team [Illustration: ORIGINAL TEXT OF "LITTLE BOY BLUE" _With drawings in colors by Eugene Field._ The little toy dog is covered with dust But sturdy and stanch he stands, And the little toy soldier is red with rust And his musket moulds in his hands. Time was when the little toy dog was new And the soldier was passing fair, And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue Kissed them and put them there. "Now, don't you go till I come," he said, "And don't you make any noise!" So, toddling off to his trundle-bed, He dreamt of the pretty toys. page 1 / 360 And, as he was dreaming, an angel song Awakened our Little Boy Blue-- Oh! the years are many--the years are long-- But the little toy friends are true! Aye, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand-- Each in the same old place, Awaiting the touch of a little hand, The smile of a little face. And they wonder--as waiting the long years through In the dust of that little chair-- What has become of our Little Boy Blue Since he kissed them and put them there.] EUGENE FIELD A STUDY IN HEREDITY AND CONTRADICTIONS By SLASON THOMPSON With Portraits, Views and Fac-Simile Illustrations VOLUME II page 2 / 360 Published, December, 1901 Charles Scribner's Sons New York 1901 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. OUR PERSONAL RELATIONS 1 II. INTRODUCTION TO COLORED INKS 15 III. SOME LETTERS 44 IV. MORE LETTERS 71 V. PUBLICATION OF HIS FIRST BOOKS 107 VI. HIS SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE 138 VII. IN THE SAINTS' AND SINNERS' CORNER 169 VIII. POLITICAL RELATIONS 198 IX. HIS "AUTO-ANALYSIS" 234 X. LAST YEARS 261 XI. LAST DAYS 297 APPENDIX 321 INDEX 341 page 3 / 360 ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWINGS IN COLORS AND IN FAC-SIMILE PAGE ORIGINAL TEXT OF "LITTLE BOY BLUE" _Frontispiece_ _With drawings in colors by Eugene Field._ THE LITTLE DRESS-MAKER 23 _From a drawing by Eugene Field._ A PROPER SONET 26 _From a drawing in colors by Eugene Field._ FIELD AND BALLANTYNE AWAITING THE ARRIVAL OF A BISCUIT FROM NEW BRUNSWICK 27 _From a drawing by Eugene Field._ THE GOOD KNIGHT SLOSSON'S CASTLE 29 _From a drawing by Eugene Field._ A TRAGEDY IN FIVE ACTS 30, 31 _From drawings by Eugene Field._ page 4 / 360 HOW MARY MATILDA WON A PRINCE: _From drawings by Eugene Field._ THE PRINCE ASKING EDDIE MARTIN ABOUT THE FAIR MARY MATILDA 38 THE PRINCE'S COAT-OF-ARMS--FLIGHT OF THE FAIR MARY MATILDA--THE AGGRAVATING MIRAGE 40 BROTHER SLOSSON AND HIS OTHER FRIEND EN ROUTE TO THE WEDDING 42 A STAMP ACCOUNT 57 AN ECHO FROM MACKINAC ISLAND 58 _With drawings by Eugene Field._ A BOWLING CHALLENGE FROM EUGENE FIELD 75 A LETTER FROM EUGENE FIELD CONTAINING THREE DRAWINGS 78 FIELD'S PORTRAIT OF HIMSELF 88 page 5 / 360 _"As I would have looked but for the refining influence of Old Nompy."_ A SCENE IN THE DAILY NEWS OFFICE 99 _From a drawing by Eugene Field._ PAGE OF ADVERTISEMENTS FROM "CULTURE'S GARDEN" 111 "THE ALLIAUNCE" 124 SKETCH AND EPITAPH 168 _From a drawing by Eugene Field._ OFF TO SPRINGFIELD 201 _From a drawing by Eugene Field._ HALF-TONE PLATES FACING PAGE ROSWELL FIELD 142 FIELD THE COMEDIAN 254 EUGENE FIELD WITH HIS DUTCH RING 302 page 6 / 360 EUGENE FIELD CHAPTER I OUR PERSONAL RELATIONS In the loving "Memory" which his brother Roswell contributed to the "Sabine Edition" of Eugene Field's "Little Book of Western Verse," he says: "Comradeship was the indispensable factor in my brother's life. It was strong in his youth: it grew to be an imperative necessity in later life. In the theory that it is sometimes good to be alone he had little or no faith." From the time of Eugene's coming to Chicago until my marriage, in 1887, I was his closest comrade and almost constant companion. At the Daily News office, for a time, we shared the same room and then the adjoining rooms of which I have spoken. Field was known about the office as my "habit," a relationship which gave point to the touching appeal which served as introduction to the dearly cherished manuscript copy, in two volumes, of nearly one hundred of his poems, which was his wedding gift to Mrs. Thompson. It was entitled, in red ink, "Ye Piteous Complaynt of a Forsooken Habbit; a Proper Sonet," and reads: _Ye boone y aske is smalle indeede Compared with what y once did seeke-- page 7 / 360 Soe, ladye, from yr. bounteous meede Y pray you kyndly heere mee speke. Still is yr. Slosson my supporte, As once y was his soul's delite-- Holde hym not ever in yr. courte-- O lette me have hym pay-daye nite! One nite per weeke is soothly not Too oft to leese hym from yr. chaynes; Thinke of my lorne impoverisht lotte And eke my jelous panges and paynes; Thinke of ye chekes y stille do owe-- Thinke of my quenchlesse appetite-- Thinke of my griffes and, thinking so, Oh, lette me have hym pay-daye nite!_ Along the border of this soulful appeal was engrossed, in a woful mixture of blue and purple inks: "Ye habbit maketh mone over hys sore griffe and mightylie beseacheth the ladye yt she graunt hym ye lone of her hoosband on a pay-daye nite." Through those years of comradeship we were practically inseparable from the time he arrived at the office, an hour after me, until I bade him good-night at the street-car or at his own door, when, according to our pact, we walked and talked at his expense, instead of supping late at mine. The nature of this pact is related in the following page 8 / 360 verse, to which Field prefixed this note: "While this poem is printed in all the 'Reliques of Ye Good Knights' Poetrie,' and while the incident it narrates is thoroughly characteristic of that Knightly Sage, the versification is so different from that of the other ballads that there is little doubt that this fragment is spurious. Prof. Max Beeswanger (Book III., page 18, old English Poetry) says that these verses were written by Friar Terence, a learned monk of the Good Knight's time." _THE GOOD KNIGHT TO SIR SLOSSON The night was warm as summer And the wold was wet with dew, And the moon rose fair, And the autumn air From the flowery prairies blew; You took my arm, ol' Nompy, And measured the lonely street, And you said, "Let's walk In the gloom and talk-- 'Tis too pleasant to-night to eat!" And you quoth: "Old Field supposin' Hereafter we two agree; If it's fair when we're through I'm to walk with you-- page 9 / 360 If it's foul you're to eat with me!" Then I clasped your hand, ol' Nompy, And I said: "Well, be it so." The night was so fine I didn't opine It could ever rain or snow! But the change came on next morning When the fickle mercury fell, And since, that night That was warm and bright It's snowed or it's rained like--well. Have you drawn your wages, Nompy? Have you reckoned your pounds and pence? Harsh blows the wind, And I feel inclined To banquet at your expense!_ The "Friar Terence" of Field's note was the Edward J. McPhelim to whom reference has already been made, who often joined us in our after-theatre symposiums, but could not be induced to walk one block if there was a street-car going his way. As bearing on the nature of these "banquets," and the unending source of enjoyment they were to both of us, the following may throw a passing light: page 10 / 360 _Discussing great and sumptuous cheer At Boyle's one midnight dark and drear Two gentle warriors sate; Out spake old Field: "In sooth I reck We bide too long this night on deck-- What, ho there, varlet, bring the check! Egad, it groweth late!" Then out spake Thompson flaming hot: "Now, by my faith, I fancy not, Old Field, this ribald jest; Though you are wondrous fair and free With riches that accrue to thee, The check to-night shall come to me-- You are my honored guest!" But with a dark forbidding frown Field slowly pulled his visor down And rose to go his way-- "Since this sweet favor is denied, I'll feast no more with thee," he cried-- Then strode he through the portal wide While Thompson paused to pay._ Speaking of "the riches that accrued" to Field it may be well to page 11 / 360 explain that when he came to Chicago from Denver he was burdened with debts, and although subsequently he was in receipt of a fair salary, it barely sufficed to meet his domestic expenses and left little to abate the importunity of the claims that followed him remorselessly. He lived very simply in a flat on the North Side--first on Chicago Avenue, something over a mile from the office, later on in another flat further north, on La Salle Avenue, and still later, and until he went to Europe, in a small rented house on Crilly Place, which is a few blocks west of the south end of Lincoln Park.