She’s all right, now.  She reads in two hours and 20 minutes and will play not longer than 2 3/4 hours.  Nineteen characters; 3 acts; (I bunched 2 into 1.)

Tomorrow I will draw up an exhaustive synopsis to insert in the printed title-page for copyrighting, and then on Friday or Saturday I go to New York to remain a week or ten days and lay for an actor.  Wish you could run down there and have a holiday.  ’Twould be fun.

My wife won’t have “Balaam’s Ass”; therefore I call the piece “Cap’n
Simon Wheeler, The Amateur Detective.” 
                                   Yrs
          
                              mark.

To W. D. Howells, in Boston: 

Elmira, Aug. 29, 1877.  My dear Howells,—­Just got your letter last night.  No, dern that article,—­[One of the Bermuda chapters.]—­it made me cry when I read it in proof, it was so oppressively and ostentatiously poor.  Skim your eye over it again and you will think as I do.  If Isaac and the prophets of Baal can be doctored gently and made permissible, it will redeem the thing:  but if it can’t, let’s burn all of the articles except the tail-end of it and use that as an introduction to the next article—­as I suggested in my letter to you of day before yesterday. (I had this proof from Cambridge before yours came.)

Boucicault says my new play is ever so much better than “Ah Sin;” says the Amateur detective is a bully character, too.  An actor is chawing over the play in New York, to see if the old Detective is suited to his abilities.  Haven’t heard from him yet.

If you’ve got that paragraph by you yet, and if in your judgment it would be good to publish it, and if you absolutely would not mind doing it, then I think I’d like to have you do it—­or else put some other words in my mouth that will be properer, and publish them.  But mind, don’t think of it for a moment if it is distasteful—­and doubtless it is.  I value your judgment more than my own, as to the wisdom of saying anything at all in this matter.  To say nothing leaves me in an injurious position —­and yet maybe I might do better to speak to the men themselves when I go to New York.  This was my latest idea, and it looked wise.

We expect to leave here for home Sept. 4, reaching there the 8th—­but we may be delayed a week.

Curious thing.  I read passages from my play, and a full synopsis, to Boucicault, who was re-writing a play, which he wrote and laid aside 3 or 4 years ago. (My detective is about that age, you know.) Then he read a passage from his play, where a real detective does some things that are as idiotic as some of my old Wheeler’s performances.  Showed me the passages, and behold, his man’s name is Wheeler!  However, his Wheeler is not a prominent character, so we’ll not alter the names.  My Wheeler’s name is taken from the old jumping Frog sketch.