“The German Chicago” was the last of the six McClure letters and was finished that winter in Berlin.  It is now included in the Uniform Edition of Mark Twain’s works, and is one of the best descriptive articles of the German capital ever written.  He made no use of the Rhone notes further than to put them together in literary form.  They did not seem to him to contain enough substance to warrant publication.  A letter to Hall, written toward the end of December, we find rather gloomy in tone, though he is still able to extract comfort and even cheerfulness from one of Mr. Hall’s reports.

Memorandum to Fred J. Hall, in New York: 

Among the MSS I left with you are a few that have a recent look and are written on rather stiff pale green paper.  If you will have those type-writered and keep the originals and send me the copies (one per mail, not two.) I’ll see if I can use them.

But tell Howells and other inquirers that my hopes of writing anything are very slender—­I seem to be disabled for life.

Drop McClure a line and tell him the same.  I can’t dare to make an engagement now for even a single letter.

I am glad Howells is on a magazine, but sorry he gave up the Study.  I shall have to go on a magazine myself if this L. A. L. continues to hold my nose down to the grind-stone much longer.

I’m going to hold my breath, now, for 30 days—­then the annual statement will arrive and I shall know how we feel!  Merry Xmas to you from us all.

                         Sincerely,
                                   S. L. C.

P. S. Just finished the above and finished raging at the eternal German tax-gatherer, and so all the jubilant things which I was going to say about the past year’s business got knocked out of me.  After writing this present letter I was feeling blue about Huck Finn, but I sat down and overhauled your reports from now back to last April and compared them with the splendid Oct.-Nov. business, and went to bed feeling refreshed and fine, for certainly it has been a handsome year.  Now rush me along the Annual Report and let’s see how we feel! 
                                                  S. L. C.

XXXII

Letters, 1892, chiefly to Mr. Hall and Mrs. Crane.  In Berlin, Mentone, bad-Nauheim, Florence

Mark Twain was the notable literary figure in Berlin that winter, the center of every great gathering.  He was entertained by the Kaiser, and shown many special attentions by Germans of every rank.  His books were as well known in Berlin as in New York, and at court assemblies and embassies he was always a chief center of interest.