270 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



not all Friends have yet ceased to make cur- 

 rant wine, nor do they manipulate it in such a 

 way that it is non-alcoholic. 



When the first ciderless mince-pie came upon 

 a certain farmer's table, the good man remarked, 

 " Martha, thee has certainly made some mis- 

 take. I will take a piece of the pumpkin." 

 As I view it, Martha had made a very big mis- 

 take, and so do some of my correspondents. 



But let us to a more cheerful subject Here 

 is a pile of begging letters that reached me 

 soon after the appearance of a little book. The 

 impression seems to be in every case that an 

 "author's copy" costs nothing. That happy 

 individual has but to direct the sending of the 

 volume to So-and-So, and there the matter ends. 

 One correspondent, an Indiana schoolmistress, 

 tells me as much, and her letter in particular is 

 worthy of a moment's consideration. She in- 

 forms me that she does not suppose my copy- 

 right interest is more than ten per cent, and 

 so the book was only worth fifteen cents to me, 

 and she did not think that too much to ask for. 

 Where under the sun, as thus viewed, does the 

 publisher come in? I asked her as much, 



