Would the reader care something story which I pulled out ? He told many time how the born- and-trained novelist works; won't he let me round and complete his knowledge by telling him how the jackleg does it ?

Originally the story was called THOSE EXTRAORDINARY TWINS I meant it very short I had seen picture of youthful Italian "freak"--or "freaks"-- --or which were-- on exhibition cities--a combination consisting of two heads and four arms joined to single body and single pair of legs-- and write an extravagantly fantastic little story freak of nature for hero--or heroes-- silly young miss for heroine, and two old ladies and two boys minor parts I lavishly elaborated these people and their doings, But the take kept spreading along and spreading along, and other people got to intruding themselves and taking up more and more room with their talk and their affairs Among them came stranger named Pudd'nhead Wilson, and woman named Roxana; and presently the doings two pushed up into prominence young fellow named Tom Driscoll, whose proper place was away obscure background book was half finished those three were taking things almost entirely into their own hands and working the whole tale as private venture own--a tale which they had nothing at all with, by rights

book was finished and to look around what had become team I had originally started out with-- Aunt Patsy Cooper, Aunt Betsy Hale, and two boys, and Rowena the lightweight heroine--they were nowhere seen; they had disappeared story or other I hunted about and found them--found them stranded, idle, forgotten, and permanently useless very awkward awkward all around, but more particularly case of Rowena, because love match on, between her and twins that constituted the freak, and I had worked it blistering heat and thrown in quite dramatic love quarrel, wherein Rowena scathingly denounced her betrothed for getting drunk, and scoffed at his explanation of how it had happened, and wouldn't listen , and had driven him from her usual "forever" way; and now here she sat crying and brokenhearted; for she had found that he had spoken only the truth; was not he, but the other freak that had drunk the liquor that made him drunk; that her half was prohibitionist and had never drunk drop life, and altogether tight as brick three days week, was wholly innocent of blame; and indeed, when sober, was constantly doing all to reform his brother, the other half, who never got any satisfaction out of drinking, anyway, because liquor never affected him Yes, here she was, stranded deep injustice of hers torturing her poor torn heart

I didn't know what with her as sorry for her as anybody , but the campaign was over, the book was finished, she was sidetracked, and no possible way of crowding her in, anywhere leave her there, ; it do After spreading her out so, and making such to-do over her affairs, it absolutely necessary to account reader for her and thought and studied and studied; but I arrived at nothing I finally saw plainly that really no way but one-- simply give her the grand bounce It grieved me , for after associating with her I had come to kind of like her after fashion, notwithstanding things and was so nauseatingly sentimental Still it had So top of Chapter XVII I put "Calendar" remark concerning July the Fourth, and began the chapter statistic:

"Rowena went out backyard after supper the fireworks and fell down the well and got drowned "

It seemed abrupt, but maybe the reader wouldn't notice it, because I changed the subject right away to something else Anyway it loosened up Rowena from where she was stuck and got her way, main thing It seemed prompt good way of weeding out people that had got stalled, and plenty good enough way others; so I hunted up the two boys and said, "They went out back one night to stone the cat and fell down the well and got drowned " Next I searched around and found old Aunt Patsy and Aunt Betsy Hale where they were around, and said, "They went out back one night to visit the sick and fell down the well and got drowned " going to drown some others, but up the idea, partly because I believed that if I kept that up it would arose attention, and perhaps sympathy with those people, and partly because not large well and hold any more anyway

Still the story was unsatisfactory Here was set of new characters who were become inordinately prominent and who persisted in remaining so end; and back yonder was an older set large noise and great to-do for little while and then suddenly played out utterly and fell down the well radical defect somewhere, and search it out and cure it

The defect turned out the one already spoken of-- two stories in one, farce and tragedy So I pulled out the farce and left the tragedy This left the original team in, but only as mere names, not as characters Their prominence was wholly gone; they even worth drowning; so I removed that detail Also the twins apart and made two separate men They had no occasion foreign names now, but trouble to remove them all through, so I left them christened were and made no explanation