The authoress was so delighted with this announcement that she conquered the slight wound to her pride. It would be herself still who had drawn the picture, who had put the coloring into it; all that the other would have to do might be described as varnishing. She took up the first sheet of her writing, and turned up an oil lamp that stood upon the table at her elbow, the better to see the lines.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
"Quite ready," smiled Mr. Weil.
In a voice that trembled a little, and yet not unpleasantly to the listener, Miss Fern began to read her manuscript. The opening chapter introduced the heroine and two gentlemen, either one of whom might be the hero. As the book is now so well known it is needless to transfer its features to these pages.
Presently the authoress paused and seemed to wait for her guest's criticism.
"That is one chapter," she said.
"Yes. I remember. And the second one is where Algernon begins to disclose a very little of his true nature. Shall we not have that now?"
"As you like. I thought perhaps you would give me advice as we proceeded, some fault-finding here and there, a suggestion of alterations."
He shook his head affably.
"Not yet," he answered. "Up to this point I see nothing that requires condemnation."