list_. It disappointed him; nay, it desolated
him. He was shocked to discover that he had done nothing that a man must
do who wishes to be a successful novelist. He had not practised style;
he had not paraphrased choice pages from the classics; he had not kept
note-books; he had not begun with short stories; he had not even
performed the elementary, obvious task of studying human nature. He had
never thought of 'atmosphere' as 'atmosphere'; nor had he considered the
important question of the 'functions of dialogue.' As for the
'significance of scenery,' it had never occurred to him. In brief, he
was a lost man. And he could detect in the book no practical hint
towards salvation. 'Having decided upon your theme----' said the writer
in a chapter entitled 'The Composition of a Novel.' But what Henry
desired was a chapter entitled 'The Finding of a Theme.' He suffered the
aggravated distress of a starving man who has picked up a cookery-book.

There was a knock at the study door, and Henry hastily pushed _How to
become a Successful Novelist_ under the blotting-paper, and assumed a
meditative air. Not for worlds would he have been caught reading it.

'A letter, dear, by the last post,' said Aunt Annie, entering; and then
discreetly departed.

The letter was from Mark Snyder, and it enclosed a cheque for a hundred
pounds, saying that Mr. Onions Winter, though under no obligation to
furnish a statement until the end of the year, had sent this cheque on
account out of courtesy to Mr. Knight, and in the hope that Mr. Knight
would find it agreeable; also in the hope that Mr. Knight was proceeding
satisfactorily with book number two. The letter was typewritten, and
signed 'Mark Snyder, per G. F.,' and the 'G. F.' was very large and
distinct.

Henry instantly settled in his own mind that he would attempt no more
with book number two until the famous dinner with 'G. F.' had come to
pass. He cherished a sort of hopeful feeling that after he had seen her,
and spent that about-to-be-wonderful evening with her, he might be able
to invent a theme. The next day he cashed the cheque. The day after that
was Saturday, and he came home at two o'clock with a large flat box,
which he surreptitiously conveyed to his bedroom. Small parcels had been
arriving for him during the week. At half-past four Mrs. Knight and Aunt
Annie, invading the study, found him reading _Chambers' Encyclopaedia_.

'We're going now, dear,' said Aunt Annie.

'Sarah