A. Archemis Edger Por was an author, not by nature, but by contract. Alley and Street, the publishers, had just written him a letter informing him that unless his stuff assumed more originality and came in more promptly, they would have to cancel his contract, which called for one story a week. So Archemis was up against it for an idea. With a mumbled oath, he went to a secret panel in the wall and took out his “idea machine,” an affair with a crank which, when turned, would cause words to appear in the four slots. These words “sometimes” would give him an idea for a story. After two disastrous and humorous turns Archemis got a combination he liked so he sat at his typewriter and commenced churning out “The House on Hokum Hill.” And as he wrote his mind visualized the action for the mechanics of the story. The House on Hokum Hill was a mysterious affair. A weary traveler caught in the storm requested shelter from the wild-eyed individual who lived there. He was granted entrance. An old man, seemingly under a spell, sat huddled in the corner. Two mean looking individuals stood in the background. Suddenly to the side there was a slight movement. A door opened and the weary traveler caught a glimpse of a beautiful girl, but the wild eyed individual quickly thrust her back and suggested that the weary traveler go to his room. The two mean looking individuals escorted him there, and then locked him in. The weary traveler wondered, and tried to fathom the meaning of the mean old man, the beautiful girl and the wild-eyed villain. Soon he heard sobbing and crying and put his ear to the floor. He heard the girl plead with the villain and beg him to desist. Then the traveler realized the purport of it all. The feeble old man was Dorgan, the millionaire; the girl was his daughter; and the villain was Gracco, the crook hypnotist. So the traveler decided to rescue the girl and her father. He went quickly to the window, crawled out upon the drain pipe, and braving the storm slid to the window below. He assured the girl of his friendliness, so she left him in. But while they were bundling the old man up for escape, they were heard by the villain, who sprung a trap letting the girl and the traveler into a dungeon. The villain takes care of the old man and laughs as he sets a motor in motion. Slowly the ceiling of the dungeon draws down upon the unfortunate ones. It seems nothing can save them, but - Here Archemis is stuck for an ending. He cannot devise a means to save his heroine and hero. He rushes to his idea-machine, but it fails him. Archemis goes out of his mind and raves. Soon he has the solution. He resolves that he shall save them. So with sword and tomahawk he rushes out to find the House on Hokum Hill. He is taken in charge by two guardians of the law who realize that the poor thing is out of its mind and they lead him away. So we learn how A. Archemis Edger Por went out to extricate his heroine and hero from a predicament into which he had written them, but from which he could not “write” them out.