took up work on
his book, which he hoped to have ready for early publication. But his
writing did not go as well as he had hoped, and it was long after they
had returned to Hartford that the book was finally in the printer's
hands.

Meantime he had renewed work on a story begun two years before at Quarry
Farm. Browsing among the books there one summer day, he happened to pick
up "The Prince and the Page," by Charlotte M. Yonge. It was a story of a
prince disguised as a blind beggar, and, as Mark Twain read, an idea came
to him for an altogether different story, or play, of his own. He would
have a prince and a pauper change places, and through a series of
adventures learn each the trials and burdens of the other life. He
presently gave up the play idea, and began it as a story. His first
intention had been to make the story quite modern, using the late King
Edward VII. (then Prince of Wales) as his prince, but it seemed to him
that it would not do to lose a prince among the slums of modern London
--he could not make it seem real; so he followed back through history until
he came to the little son of Henry VIII., Edward Tudor, and decided that
he would do.

It was the kind of a story that Mark Twain loved to read and to write.
By the end of that first summer he had finished a good portion of the
exciting adventures of "The Prince and the Pauper," and then, as was
likely to happen, the inspiration waned and the manuscript was laid
aside.

But with the completion of "A Tramp Abroad"--a task which had grown
wearisome--he turned to the luxury of romance with a glad heart. To
Howells he wrote that he was taking so much pleasure in the writing that
he wanted to make it last.

"Did I ever tell you the plot of it? It begins at 9 A.M., January
27, 1547 . . . . My idea is to afford a realizing sense of the
exceeding severity of the laws of that day by inflicting some of
their penalties upon the king himself, and allowing him a chance to
see the rest of them applied to others."

Susy and Clara Clemens were old enough now to understand the story, and
as he finished the chapters he read them aloud to his small home
audience--a most valuable audience, indeed, for he could judge from its
eager interest, or lack of attention, just the measure of his success.

These little creatures knew all about the writing of books. Susy's
earliest recollection was "Tom Sawyer" read aloud from the manuscript.
Also they knew abou