I would get my poor essays by heart, and recite them, but being what
I am I should do the thing so lifelessly that I had better recognise
their deadness frankly and read them."

From Vienna Clemens had contributed to the Cosmopolitan, then owned
by John Brisben Walker, his first article on Christian Science. It
was a delicious bit of humor and found such enthusiastic
appreciation that Walker was moved to send an additional $200 check
in payment for it. This brought prompt acknowledgment.

*****

To John Brisben Walker, in Irvington, N. Y.:

LONDON, Oct. 19, '99

DEAR MR. WALKER,--By gracious but you have a talent for making a man
feel proud and good! To say a compliment well is a high art--and few
possess it. You know how to do it, and when you confirm its sincerity
with a handsome cheque the limit is reached and compliment can no higher
go. I like to work for you: when you don't approve an article you say
so, recognizing that I am not a child and can stand it; and when you
approve an article I don't have to dicker with you as if I raised
peanuts and you kept a stand; I know I shall get every penny the article
is worth.

You have given me very great pleasure, and I thank you for it.

Sincerely Yours
S. L. CLEMENS.

On the same day he sent word to Howells of the good luck which now
seemed to be coming his way. The Joan of Arc introduction was the
same that today appears in his collected works under the title of
Saint Joan of Arc.

*****

To W. D. Howells, in New York:

LONDON, Oct. 19, '99.

DEAR HOWELLS,--My, it's a lucky day!--of the sort when it never rains
but it pours. I was to write an introduction to a nobler book--the
English translation of the Official Record (unabridged) of the Trials
and Rehabilitation of Joan of Arc, and make a lot of footnotes. I wrote
the introduction in Sweden, and here a few days ago I tore loose from
a tale I am writing, and took the MS book and went at the grind of
note-making--a fearful job for a man not used to it. This morning
brought a note from my excellent friend Murray, a rich Englishman who
edits the translation, saying, "Never mind the notes--we'll make the
translators do them." That was comfort and joy.

The same mail brought a note from Canon