Sometimes, in the course of the revision, we have been interrupted by
the jerkily traced words, "Try this," or "We'll fix that better," or "I
told Emily to take out those repetitions." It has happened that he
used the same word four times in one paragraph, and in copying I have
substituted the obvious synonym. Occasionally he did not approve of my
correction and would rebuke me sharply. In the main he has expressed
himself as well pleased with the labor I have spared him. On the 10th
of January, 1916, Mrs. Hays came to my home for a last reading of the
finished manuscript. When she read it through, I asked her to sit at
the board with me. There was something about which I wanted to
question Mark, and I did not wish her mind to interfere in any way with
the answer. Mrs. Hays had had two curious psychic experiences in
connection with our work. The first came to her when we were still at
work on "A Daughter of Mars." It was in the form of a vivid dream in
which Mark Twain said to her, "Don't be discouraged, Lola. All that we
have done in the past is just forging the hammer for the larger strokes
we are going to make." The second was similar; but the man who
appeared to her was a stocky, bald-headed man in a frock coat. When
she asked him who he was and what he wanted, he replied, "Mark Twain
sent me to call on you."
At this time, "Jap Herron" was being revised, and she supposed that
this man, with the striking personality, would be introduced somewhere.
However, the story was ended, and no such character had appeared. I
wanted to know whether or not the dream was significant. I said:
"Mark, did you ever send anybody to call on Lola?" The planchette
replied:
"Yes, I sent him. We will do another story. We will wait until the
smoke of this one clears away. I want Emily to have a rest, and many
other things will be adjusted. I would like to have my old office
force. It is to be a bigger book than this one--more important. The
man I sent you was Brent Roberts."
We dropped our hands in amazement. Brent Roberts appears twice in the
Jap Herron story. He is not half so conspicuous as Holmes, the
saloon-keeper, or Hollins, the grocer. In truth, we had scarcely
noticed him. I asked:
"Mark, are you going to give a sequel to 'Jap Herron'?" He said:
"No. Brent Roberts had a story before he elected to spend his last
years in Bloomtown. Now, girls, don't speculate. I am taking care of
Brent Roberts."
He added that it was "up to Emily" to give his book to the world, and
that he intended to explore a little of the Uncharted Country while he
was waiting for his office force to resume work. Once I asked him,
while he was transmitting "A Daughter of Mars," whether he had ever
visited that planet. He replied:
"No, this is pure fiction. I elected to return to earth. I wanted to
take the taste of those memoirs out of my mouth."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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