November 28 Wednesday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers. He was out of bed finally, not sure how long he’d been there:

…the fog is thick, the daylight is black, & I feel defeated & in a state of surrender to fate.

He noted the last report on the typesetter was that it was “getting into shape at last,” but in hindsight he should have insisted on Scott starting the test only after “a perfect machine” could be put on exhibition. Sam felt he was missing out on helping in Chicago:

If I could be of any use to you I wish I were there. But Providence has arranged these last two months, & not to my satisfaction. Susy tied me in Rouen a month. We hardly got away from there before I fell into the doctor’s hands & am there yet. I might be able to go to work by day after tomorrow, possibly, but it will be best for the work that I wait till I get your next letter, for I shall not be sleeping well meantime.

By the time this reaches you I ought to be in my usual health; & then if I can be of any service, cable me & I will take the next steamer.

This house is very comfortable, & the expense really promises to be noticeably lighter than the hotel, notwithstanding we could buy some things cheaper than the manservant if the custom would allow us the privilege of trying [MTHHR 98-9].

Sam also wrote a short two-paragraphs to his niece, Annie Moffett Webster that he’d “signed the document,” not specified further. His three-week bout of gout had delayed him taking care of this detail. The family found the house “very comfortable,” and they would stay the winter [MTP].

The earliest copies of The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson and the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins were published by the American Publishing Co. [Hirst, “A Note on the Text” Afterword materials p.28, Oxford ed. 1996].