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on the floor with glee. I sit down before the first drawing and solemnly blow my nose, and then in the dead silence that has fallen on them all my voice sounds strangely even to myself, and way down in my fundamental regions I can hear the demon of laughter shaking with a kind of suppressed fury. Ah! Joseph, mon cher Joseph, c'est insensée. I feel that were I for a moment to relax, they would all become horribly familiar, and I have got so I can say things about their drawing which makes the whole room laugh, without changing a muscle in my face. I am going on the stage next year and I've no doubt that I will be in a very proper state to do Malvolio. I have commenced a picture but don't let's talk any more about it. I certainly hope you'll come to Boston. I may remark here that I've only one extremely small hard bed, but I've no doubt that we could manage it somehow. Come anyway I'm sure you'll enjoy having a look at the town, its very pretty