my fortune, as my wife asserted it would, it certainly would
help me very much in my literary career.

In less than a month from the writing of this story, something very
unusual and unexpected happened to me. A manuscript was returned by
the editor of the periodical in which "His Wife's Deceased Sister" had
appeared.

"It is a good story," he wrote, "but not equal to what you have just
done. You have made a great hit, and it would not do to interfere with
the reputation you have gained by publishing anything inferior to `His
Wife's Deceased Sister,' which has had such a deserved success."

I was so unaccustomed to having my work thrown back on my hands that I
think I must have turned a little pale when I read the letter. I said
nothing of the matter to my wife, for it would be foolish to drop such
grains of sand as this into the smoothly oiled machinery of our
domestic felicity, but I immediately sent the story to another editor.
I am not able to express the astonishment I felt when, in the course of
a week, it was sent back to me. The tone of the note accompanying it
indicated a somewhat injured feeling on the part of the editor.

"I am reluctant," he said, "to decline a manuscript from you; but you
know very well that if you sent me anything like `His Wife's Deceased
Sister' it would be most promptly accepted."

I now felt obliged to speak of the affair to my wife, who was quite as
much surprised, though, perhaps, not quite as much shocked, as I had
been.

"Let us read the story again," she said, "and see what is the matter
with it." When we had finished its perusal, Hypatia remarked: "It is
quite as good as many of the stories you have had printed, and I think
it very interesting, although, of course, it is not equal to `His
Wife's Deceased Sister.'"

"Of course not," said I; "that was an inspiration that I cannot expect
every day. But there must be something wrong about this last story
which we do not perceive. Perhaps my recent success may have made me a
little careless in writing it."

"I don't believe that," said Hypatia.

"At any rate," I continued, "I will lay it aside, and will go to work
on a new one."

In due course of time I had another manuscript finished, and I sent it
to my favorite periodical. It was retained some weeks, and then came
back to me.

"It will never do," the editor wrote, quite warmly, "for you to go
backward. The demand for the number containing `His Wife's