Story of a Lie 100 pp. like the Donkey.
Providence and the Guitar 52
Will o' the Mill 45
A Lodging for the Night 40 (about)
Sieur de Maletroit's Door 42
---
say 280 pp. in all.
Here is my scheme. Henley already proposed that Caldecott should
illustrate _Will o' the Mill_. The _Guitar_ is still more suited to him;
he should make delicious things for that. And though the _Lie_ is not
much in the way for pictures, I should like to see my dear Admiral in
the flesh. I love the Admiral; I give my head, that man's alive. As for
the other two they need not be illustrated at all unless he likes.
Is this a dream altogether? I would if necessary ask nothing down for
the stories, and only a small royalty but to begin _from the first copy
sold_.
I hate myself for being always on business. But I cannot help my fears
and anxieties about money; even if all came well, it would be many a
long day before we could afford to leave this coast. Is it true that the
_Donkey_ is in a second edition? That should bring some money, too, ere
long, though not much I dare say. You will see the _Guitar_ is made for
Caldecott; moreover it's a little thing I like. I am no lover of either
of the things in Temple Bar; but they will make up the volume, and
perhaps others may like them better than I do. They say republished
stories do not sell. Well, that is why I am in a hurry to get this out.
The public must be educated to buy mine or I shall never make a cent. I
have heaps of short stories in view. The next volume will probably be
called _Stories_ or A _Story-Book_, and contain quite a different lot:
_The Pavilion on the Links_: _Professor Rensselaer_: _The Dead Man's
Letter_: _The Wild Man of the Woods_: _The Devil on Cramond Sands_. They
would all be carpentry stories; pretty grim for the most part; but of
course that's all in the air as yet.--Yours ever,