31 January 1884 • Hartford, Conn. (“George W. Cable,”Chicago Daily Tribune, 3 February 1884, p. 9; “General Notes,” New York Times, 4 February 1884, p. 1; and MS facsimile, Pook & Pook, sale of 11 October 2013, lot 613, UCCL 13080)
LastⒶemendation Saturday night Mr. Cable went to bed sick in our house of a bilious attack, with violent neuralgia pains in the head as an accompaniment. Next day anyⒶemendation idiot could have seen that it would be some little time before he could appear on the platform again; &Ⓐemendation so I hoped in my heart you would come & see for yourself.Ⓐemendation Why is it so difficult to believe that Cable is sick, or can become sick? No Southerner,Ⓐemendation in his first WinterⒶemendation season North,Ⓐemendation ever wears an overcoat. YaleⒶemendation & Harvard will tell you so. But he is always particular to wear one on his second WinterⒶemendation season—if he survive. YouⒶemendation will find Mr. Cable in one next year. Mr. Cable is sick in bed,Ⓐemendation & has been for five days. I make this statement in the earnest hope of being able to convince somebody, anybody;Ⓐemendation & I make it in the belief that it ought to be trustworthy, for surely I have nothing to gain by misrepresenting the matter.Ⓐemendation
remainder in pencil
Private
We (Mrs. Clemens & I) have thought it might help you out, a little, to have something like the forgoing to publish. I suppose the public are incredulous because they think this is a sickness manufactured by Cable’s agent, as they don’t know that he has no longer the agent who manufactured a sickness in Cable’s family some time ago. (Don’t overlook that innocent-looking drive at you, on the first page—& don’t you scratch it out, either. Everybody will think it’s a slip of the pen.)
But if you don’t like this thing, & yet do want something to publish, give me your idea & I will try again.
Cable mends all the time, but if he were mys my son, I’ll be damned if I would let him see a platform for 2 weeks. Now you run up here & look at him for yourself—that is the best way.
All variants between the source texts are reported here. The readings identified by the siglum ‘MTP’ are editorial emendations of the source readings made because none is deemed correct by itself.
see source texts.