Buffalo, Aug. 31.
My Dr Sister:
I know I ought to be thrashed for not writing you, but I have kept putting it off. We get heaps of [ el ]letters every day, & it is a comfort to have somebody like you that will let us shirk & be patient over it.
We got the book1 & I did think I wrote a line thanking you for it—but I suppose I neglected it.
But I know I sent you a letter from Fred Quarles [ th ]a week or two ago—a second letter, I mean.2
We are getting along tolerably well. Mother is here, & Miss Emma Nye.3 Livy cannot sleep, since her father’s death—but I give her a narcotic every night & make her.
I am just as busy as I can be—am still writing for the Galaxy & also writing a book like the “Innocents” in size & [style. Otherwise ]I would have gone run down to see Margaret before she leaves for L St. Louis. I have got my work ciphered down to days, & I haven’t a single day to spare between this & the date which, by written contract I am to deliver the MSS. of the book to the publisher.4
In a hurry
Affectionately
Sam.
P. S. We all send love—Mother included, who says she is much obliged for your & Ma’s letters.
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L4, 185–186; MTL, 1:176, with omissions; MTBus, 117, brief excerpt; Hill, 43–44, brief excerpt.
Provenance:see McKinney Family Papers in Description of Provenance.
Emendations and textual notes:
el • [‘l’ partly formed]
th • [partly formed]
style. Otherwise • style.—|Otherwise
