March 20 Wednesday – Mary and Abel Fairbanks arrived at the Langdon home in Elmira and stayed several weeks [MTL 5: 60n1].

Sam drafted a seven-page letter to Bliss about their last meeting, but did not send it. He saved the draft and wrote another. The agreement he had with Bliss for a seven and one half percent royalty for Roughing It, a number based on Bliss’ assurance that it was half the profits. Orion’s claims, if true, meant that Bliss was making more than half of the profits. Sam took his case to Charles E. Perkins, his attorney, who told Sam that his case was weak, that the agreement about half the profits was verbal and not part of the written contract. He advised Sam not to press the case and charged Sam $250. In the long run, Sam felt aggrieved [MTL 5: 65].