May 9 Sunday – In Boston, Howells wrote to Sam, confused by the delay in telegraphs. Which day was Sam coming? He related the telegrams from West Point, his reply to Hartford, etc. At this point Howells wasn’t sure when Sam would arrive. Sam wouldn’t have seen this letter until he returned home. On the play, Howells was still pessimistic:

If it’s going forward, I want to go carefully over the MS and shed Seller’s lunacy all I can…As it stands I believe the thing will fail, and it would be a disgrace to have it succeed. We ought to go over the MS together, and then I ought to have at least a week to work on [MTHL 2: 557].

According to his May 10 to Livy, Sam probably arrived at the Vendome Hotel in Boston on the evening of May 9, then went to see Howells the next day.