December 9 Saturday – In New York at 9 a.m. the final meeting of all the interests (without Paige)in the typesetter took place. The group broke for lunch and met again at 3 p.m. Sam wrote to Livy relating the prior day’s meeting and this day’s:

So we met at 9 this morning, & everything came out as Mr. Rogers said it would. He pays 20 when they only hoped for 12 or at the very most 15 — therefore there is rejoicing in their camp, now. Then we broke up, to meet again in four hours, & I went with him away down in the Elevated because he wanted to talk & laugh. He said, “Once when you were out of the room I said ‘Pleas hurry this matter, gentlemen; you understand I am not going into this thing for any rational reason, but I don’t see any other way of getting rid of Clemens. I feel sure I ought not to pay 20, but when a person is harried as I am he loses a good share of his judgment.’”

Sam went with Rogers as far as Rector Street and then he directed Sam to “go right back & catch Ward & nail him in writing to give” Sam stock he was to receive in case he “bunco-steered Mr. Rogers into the scheme.” Sam wrote that Ward wasn’t found and that he couldn’t wait longer as he had another preliminary meeting with Rogers at 2:45 [LLMT 282-3].

Livy wrote to Sam. He received the letter (not extant) on Dec. 25 with three others from her (Dec. 10, 11, 12), after his return from Chicago [Dec.25 to Livy].

In the evening Sam crossed over to New Jersey for a two day visit with the Henry Cuyler Bunner family. Increasingly, whatever Mark Twain did was news. The New York Times reported Sam’s visit on page 1:

“Mark Twain” Visits Editor Bunner.

NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 10. — “Mark Twain” Clemens visited Nutley, N.J., last night [Dec. 9]. He drove in a cab to the house of Editor H.C. Bunner of Puck. The humorists were together only a few hours before rumors were afloat to see the Popashon pig [named “June”] which was described recently [Nov.27] in The New-York Times.