December 7 Friday – At 169 rue de l’Université in Paris, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers, confessing his mood prevented him from working on JA:

I haven’t any news to write, except that the days are wasting away and leaving me behind. Behind and hard aground. Not with gout, for that seems to be gone; but there isn’t any life in me because I am not allowed to go out and get air and exercise except in heavenly weather, and that is a slim show for me, for they import all their weather from the other place, to avoid the duties. I do not wish to put any of my present spirit into my book, therefore I leave the book strictly alone.

Sam still expected a final word on the Paige typesetter, which suggests Rogers’ last letter was not a final conclusion, but a probable one. He asked Rogers to cable him with the verdict. Sam ended with a request about Rogers’ daughter Miss May, who was evidently studying in France. “Does she like the French?” he asked [MTHHR 102].