PREPARING FOR HIS RETURN. 137 



artist who makes all my drawings. If there 

 is no room for him in the house he can be 

 lodged elsewhere ; but I wish you could give 

 me the use of a well - lighted room, where I 

 could work and he could draw at my side 

 through the day. Do not be frightened; he 

 is not at my charge ; but it would be a great 

 advantage to me if I could have him in the 

 house. As I do not want to lose time in the 

 mechanical part of my work, I would beg 

 papa to engage for me some handy boy, fif- 

 teen years old or so, whom I could employ 

 in cleaning skeletons and the like. Finally, 

 you will receive several boxes for me ; leave 

 them unopened till I come, without even pay- 

 ing the freight upon them, the most unsat- 

 isfactory of all expenses ; and I do not wish 

 you to have an unpleasant association with my 

 collections. 



My affairs are all in order with Cotta, and 

 I have even concluded the arrangement more 

 advantageously than I had dared to hope, 

 a thousand louis, six hundred payable on the 

 publication of the first number, and four hun- 

 dred in installments, as the publication goes 

 on. If I had not been in haste to close the 

 matter in order to secure myself against all 

 doubt, I might have done even better. But I 



