Some of the habitual readers of Young Folks had written objecting to
the early instalments of _Treasure Island_, and the editor had come
forward in their defence.
_Davos Printing Office, managed by Samuel Lloyd Osbourne & Co., The
Chalet [Nov. 9, 1881]._
DEAR WEG,--If you are taking Young Folks, for God's Sake Twig the
editorial style; it is incredible; we are all left panting in the rear;
twig, O twig it. His name is Clinton; I should say the most melodious
prosewriter now alive; it's like buttermilk and blacking; it sings and
hums away in that last sheet, like a great old kettle full of bilge
water. You know: none of us could do it, boy. See No. 571, last page: an
article called "Sir Claude the Conqueror," and read it _aloud_ in your
best rhythmic tones; mon cher, c'est epatant.
Observe in the same number, how Will J. Shannon girds at your poor
friend; and how the rhythmic Clinton steps chivalrously forth in his
defence. First the Rev. Purcell; then Will J. Shannon: thick fall the
barbed arrows.[42]