Submitted by scott on

May 5 Saturday  Sam wrote a short note from Hartford to his brother Orion in Keokuk about his private secretary’s carelessness at forgetting to send “the usual checks” for Orion. Sam enclosed them. He had a “very bad cold in the head” and couldn’t send details. “…the time is needed for swearing” [MTLE 2: 64, 65].

Sam also wrote a short note to Howells, enclosing Orion’s letter of May 2, which asked for checks not sent and mentioned trying to take on a criminal case. There is weeping ridicule, irritated pathos in Sam’s references to his brother: “2 ½ years civil ‘practice’ has yielded him just one case. He will try criminal law, now, poor fellow” [MTLE 2: 64].

Day By Day Acknowledgment

Mark Twain Day By Day was originally a print reference, meticulously created by David Fears, who has generously made this work available, via the Center for Mark Twain Studies, as a digital edition.   

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