poem at the beginning of
"Sylvie and Bruno" is an acrostic on her name--

Is all our Life, then, but a dream,
Seen faintly in the golden gleam
Athwart Times's dark, resistless stream?

Bowed to the earth with bitter woe,
Or laughing at some raree-show,
We flutter idly to and fro.

Man's little Day in haste we spend,
And, from the merry noontide, send
No glance to meet the silent end.

Every one has heard of Lewis Carroll's hatred of interviewers; the
following letter to Miss Manners makes one feel that in some cases, at
least, his feeling was justifiable:--

If your Manchester relatives ever go to the play, tell them
they ought to see Isa as "Cinderella"--she is evidently a
success. And she has actually been "interviewed" by one of
those dreadful newspapers reporters, and the "interview" is
published with her picture! And such rubbish he makes her
talk! She tells him that something or other was "tacitly
conceded": and that "I love to see a great actress give
expression to the wonderful ideas of the immortal master!"

(N.B.--I never let her talk like that when she is with _me_!)

Emsie recovered in time to go to America, with her mother
and Isa and Nellie: and they all enjoyed the trip much; and
Emsie has a London engagement.

Only once was an interviewer bold enough to enter Lewis Carroll's
_sanctum_. The story has been told in _The Guardian_ (January 19,
1898), but will bear repetition:--

Not long ago Mr. Dodgson happened to get into correspondence
with a man whom he had never seen, on some question of
religious difficulty, and he invited him to come to his
rooms and have a talk on the subject. When, therefore, a Mr.
X-- was announced to him one morning, he advanced to meet
him with outstretched hand and smiles of welcome. "Come in
Mr. X--, I have been expecting you." The delighted visitor
thought this a promising beginning, and immediately pulled
out a note-book and pencil, and proceeded to ask "the usual
questions." Great was Mr. Dodgson's disgust! Instead of his
expected friend, here was another man of the same name, and
one of the much-dreaded interviewers, actually sitting in
his chair! The mistake was soon explained, and the
representative of the Press was bowed out as quickly as he
had come in.

It was while Isa and