S. L. C.

"Helen" of this letter was Mr. and Mrs. Allen's young daughter,
a favorite companion of his walks and drives. "Loomis" and "Lark,"
mentioned in the letters which follow, were Edward E. Loomis--his
nephew by marriage--named by Mark Twain as one of the trustees of
his estate, and Charles T. Lark, Mark Twain's attorney.

*****

To A. B. Paine, in Redding:

HAMILTON, Jan. 21, '10.

DEAR PAINE,--Thanks for your letter, and for its contenting news of the
situation in that foreign and far-off and vaguely-remembered country
where you and Loomis and Lark and other beloved friends are.

I have a letter from Clara this morning. She is solicitous, and wants
me well and watchfully taken care of. My, she ought to see Helen and her
parents and Claude administer that trust!

Also she says: "I hope to hear from you or Mr. Paine very soon."

I am writing her, and I know you will respond to your part of her
prayer. She is pretty desolate now, after Jean's emancipation--the only
kindness God ever did that poor unoffending child in all her hard life.

Ys ever
S. L. C.

Send Clara a copy of Howells's gorgeous letter. I want a copy of my
article that he is speaking of.

The "gorgeous letter" was concerning Mark Twain's article, "The
Turning-point in My Life" which had just appeared in one of the
Harper publications. Howells wrote of it, "While your wonderful
words are warm in my mind yet, I want to tell you what you know
already: that you never wrote anything greater, finer, than that
turning-point paper of yours."

From the early Bermuda letters we may gather that Mark Twain's days
were enjoyable enough, and that his malady was not giving him
serious trouble, thus far. Near the end of January he wrote: "Life
continues here the same as usual. There isn't a flaw in it. Good
times, good home, tranquil contentment all day and every day,
without a break. I shouldn't know how to go about bettering my
situation." He did little in the way of literary work, probably
finding neither time nor inclination for it. When he wrote at all
it was merely to set down some fanciful drolleries with no thought
of publication.

*****

To Prof. William Lyon Phelps, Yale College: