January 10 Sunday – In Cambridge, Mass., Howells wrote Sam, sending proof number two of his pilot series and writing mostly about the hoped-for New Orleans trip, and the possibilities and improbabilities of taking the wives along. Howells included the line:

“Forgive my having led you on to fix a time; I never thought it would come to that, I supposed you would die, or something” [MTL 6: 349n1; MTHL 1: 57-8]. Note: It’s important to remember that both men were humorists. The two men never took the trip together.