_Saranac_ [_February_ 1888].
DEAR MR. BURLINGAME,—Will you send me (from the library) some of the
works of my dear old G. P. R. James. With the following especially I
desire to make or to renew acquaintance: _The Songster_, _The Gipsy_,
_The Convict_, _The Stepmother_, _The Gentleman of the Old School_, _The
Robber_.
_Excusez du peu_.
This sudden return to an ancient favourite hangs upon an accident. The
‘Franklin County Library’ contains two works of his, _The Cavalier_ and
_Morley Ernstein_. I read the first with indescribable amusement—it was
worse than I had feared, and yet somehow engaging; the second (to my
surprise) was better than I had dared to hope: a good honest, dull,
interesting tale, with a genuine old-fashioned talent in the invention
when not strained; and a genuine old-fashioned feeling for the English
language. This experience awoke appetite, and you see I have taken steps
to stay it.