But now you see my book of the thickness, since the drawings count two pages, of 180 pages; and since the paper will perhaps be thicker, of near two hundred by bulk. It is bound in a quiet green with the words in thin gilt. Its shape is a slender, tall octavo. And it sells for the publisher’s fancy, and it will be a darling to look at; in short, it would be like one of the original Heine books in type and spacing. Now for the pictures. I take another sheet and begin to jot notes for them when my imagination serves: I will run through the book, writing when I have an idea. There, I have jotted enough to give the artist a notion. Of course, I don’t do more than contribute ideas, but I will be happy to help in any and every way. I may as well add another idea; when the artist finds nothing much to illustrate, a good drawing of any _object_ mentioned in the text, were it only a loaf of bread or a candlestick, is a most delightful thing to a young child. I remember this keenly. Of course, if the artist insists on a larger form, I must I suppose, bow my head. But my idea I am convinced is the best, and would make the book truly, not fashionably pretty. I forgot to mention that I shall have a dedication; I am going to dedicate ’em to Cummy; it will please her, and lighten a little my burthen of ingratitude. A low affair is the Muse business. I will add no more to this lest you should want to communicate with the artist; try another sheet. I wonder how many I’ll keep wandering to. O I forgot. As for the title, I think ‘Nursery Verses’ the best. Poetry is not the strong point of the text, and I shrink from any title that might seem to claim that quality; otherwise we might have ‘Nursery Muses’ or ‘New Songs of Innocence’ (but that were a blasphemy), or ‘Rimes of Innocence’: the last not bad, or—an idea—‘The Jews’ Harp,’ or—now I have it—‘The Penny Whistle.’ THE PENNY WHISTLE: NURSERY VERSES BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. ILLUSTRATED BY — — — And here we have an excellent frontispiece, of a party playing on a P. W. to a little ring of dancing children. THE PENNY WHISTLE is the name for me. Fool! this is all wrong, here is the true name:— PENNY WHISTLES FOR SMALL WHISTLERS. The second title is queried, it is perhaps better, as simply PENNY WHISTLES. Nor you, O Penny Whistler, grudge That I your instrument debase: By worse performers still we judge, And give that fife a second place! Crossed penny whistles on the cover, or else a sheaf of ’em. SUGGESTIONS. IV. The procession—the child running behind it. The procession tailing off through the gates of a cloudy city.