out poetry. Poems written in trochaic metre with the
good old rhymes, "trees and breeze," "light and night," soldered on at
the end of the lines, are continually brought to me for revision and
improvement.

Once, for the benefit of the literary aspirant, I brought out my
rhyming dictionary, but I shall never do it again. He looked it over
carefully, while I explained the advantage for the writer in having
before him all the available rhymes, so that the least common might
be quickly chosen and the verse made to run smoothly.

"Humph!" he said; "it's just the book. Anybody can write poetry with
one of these books!"

My invaluable thesaurus is chained to my desk in order that it may not
escape, and I frequently have to justify its existence when aliens
penetrate my den. "It's no wonder you can write," was said to me once.
"Here's all the English language right on your desk, and all you've
got to do is to put it together."

"Yes," I answered wickedly, "but it's all in the dictionary too."

Last week I had a rare treat. I met a woman who had "never seen a
literary person before," and who said "it was quite a novelty!" I
beamed upon her, for it is very nice to be a "novelty," and after a
while we became quite confidential.

"I want you to tell me just how you write," she said, "so's I can tell
the folks at home. I'm going to buy some of your books to give away."

Mindful of "royalty to author," I immediately became willing to tell
anything I could.

"Well, I want to know how you write. Do you just sit down and do it?"

"Yes, I just sit down and do it."

"Do you write any special time?"

"No, mornings, usually; but any time will do."

"What do you write with--a pen or a pencil?"

"Neither, I always use a typewriter."

"Why, can you write on a typewriter?"

"Yes, it's much easier than a pen, and it keeps the ink off your
hands. You can write with both hands at once, you know."

"You have to write it all out with a pencil, first, don't you?"

"No, I just think into the keys."

"Wouldn't it be easier to write it with a pencil first and then copy
it?"

"No, or I'd do it that way."

"Do you dress any special way when you write?"

"No, only I must be neat and also comfortable. I usually wear a
shirt-waist and take off my collar. Can't write with a collar on, but
I must be well groomed otherwise."

There was a long silence. The little lady was digesting the
information which she had just received.

"It