August 27 Monday – Sarah T. Crowell and Emma Gayle, Cape Cod neighbors, wrote to Clemens:

Dear Sir / We are two sin twisters (we meant to write twin sisters) of Cape Cod, have lived here all our lives with a few interruptions; we never went to a big city, never saw a publisher, are afraid of big cities and publishers. But something happened in this locality a while ago that we have written into a book and want dreadfully to publish. So we want to know if you will let us send you the M.S.S. and read it and approve it and send it to that unknown animal the publisher and tell him to put it in print. We should not know what to say to one, we should feel as scared as you did the night of your first lecture as described in “Roughing it.” Now we haven’t any one to laugh for us unless you will laugh, and we haven’t anyone to pound our genius into the publisher’s brain, unless you will pound. Will you laugh? Will you pound? (Tears of entreaty fall at this point) and will you answer this brassy epistle? (We acknowledge it is brassy “should not have written in this style to Mark Twain one of the Authors of Ah Sin—and lots of other sins” I hear you say.[)] however we humbly implore your pardon and on bended knees and awful big tears beseech you to answer by return mail.

      We read “Roughing it” all last Winter and wept each time we came to the end—if you had only kept on writing more of it, it would have been the best book in the World it beats Dickens works all “holler.”

      Will you have the kindheartedness and disinterestedness to ask Mr Bret Harte if you will send us his parody on the May Queen as we lent our copy to Aunty Carber and she’s lost it—it is so tremendously pathetic we cannot possibly live without it, and we should admire a copy of the “Gilded Age” but I dont know as the publishers give you an extra one? do they?

      Our Book is not very long but remarkable like your play Oh! that we could see that play. We cant write any more for we’ve both got the “Epic-zootic.” Don’t forget to answer.

      The ardent admirers of “Roughing it” — “Innocents Abroad” &c &c. / S.T. Crowell, / E. Gayle [MTP].