Walter Pollock - He

All right, see She (p. 145), Ayesha's elegant pun on Holly. It's always done – pun, I mean. – Ed.

Don't you think it would stand being cut a little? – Publisher.

We shall see. – Ed.

There is just one thing that puzzles me. Polly and Leonora have gone, no man knows where, and, taking everything into consideration, it may be a good two thousand years before they come back.

Ought I not, then, to invest, in my own name , the princely cheque of the Intelligent Publishers? – Ed.

I may as well say at once that I will not be responsible for Polly's style. Sometimes it is flat, they tell me, and sometimes it is flamboyant, whatever they may mean. It is never the least like what one would expect an elderly lady don (or Donna), to write. – Ed.

See The Mark of Cain [Arrowsmith], an excellent shillingsworth. – Ed.

Is this not 'log rolling'? – Publisher.

Don't you think this bit is a little dull? The public don't care about dead languages. – Publisher.

Story can't possibly get on without it, as you'll see. You must have something of this sort in a romance. Look at Poe's cypher in the Gold Beetle , and the chart in Treasure Island , and the Portuguee's scroll in King Solomon's Mines . – Ed.

Is not this a little steep? – Publisher.

No; it is in all the Irish histories. See Lady Wilde's Ancient Legends of Ireland , if you don't believe me. – Ed.

From the use of the word daric I conjecture that Leonora's ancestress lived under the Persian Empire. There or thereabout. – M. M.

Won't the critics say you are advertising the stores? And the tradesmen won't like it. – Publisher.

Where would the stern reality of the story be (see Spectator ), and the contrast with the later goings on, if you didn't give names? – Ed.

Messrs. Who? Printers in a hurry. – Publisher.

Suppressed the name. Messrs. – gave an impolite response to our suggestions as to mutual arrangements. – Ed.

Name suppressed. When eligible opportunity for advertisement as a substitute for a cheque was hinted at, Messrs. – brusquely replied, in the low Essex patois , 'Wadyermean?'

Do you mean the Dawn? – Publisher.

Every Oxford man knows what I mean. – Ed.