FICTION, EARLY AND LATE. 155 



" The scenery is a description of that found 

 in this county, with every portion of which 

 I have been familiar for many years. The 

 characters are drawn from life, though so far 

 disguised as to render too easy identification 

 impossible. I have worked in many of the 

 traditions of Wilts, endeavouring, in fact, in a 

 humble manner to do for that county what 

 Whyte Melville has done for Northampton 

 and Miss Braddon for Yorkshire." 



As nothing more is written on the subject 

 of " Only a Girl," I suppose she was sup- 

 pressed altogether, or worked up into another 

 book. 



In 1874 he attacks the same publishers with 

 a new MS. This time it is " The Scarlet 

 Shawl." It will be easily understood, from 

 what has gone before, that he was asked to 

 pay a sum of money in advance in order to 

 cover the risk in this case, to pay before- 

 hand the certain loss. He objected to the 

 amount proposed, and says with charming 

 simplicity : 



" I mean to become a name sooner or later. 

 I shall stick to the first publisher who takes 



