o do so。
Your story disposes me to think you have that ambition。 It also causes me to hope that I may make the author’s acquaintance。 If you call on me when you are in town I shall be delighted to ask your pardon for writing to you with such unmannerly frankness and self…sufficiency。
Believe me to be； my dear sir；
Yours very sincerely；
John Cordy Jeaffreson。
What an extraordinarily kind heart must have been that of Mr。 Jeaffreson！ He was a very busy man； producing as he did works of fiction and of biography； in addition to his antiquarian labours that involved the deciphering of thousands of old documents； by means of all which toil he earned a moderate ine。 Yet he found time on behalf of an individual totally unknown to him； or to anybody else in this country； to labour through several hundred not too legible sheets of manuscript； and to write a masterly criticism of their contents。 Moreover； for all this trouble he refused to accept any reward。 Certainly it has been my fortune to make acquaintance with much malice in the world； but on the other hand I have met with signal kindness at the hands of those engaged in literary pursuits； and of such kindnesses I can recall no more striking example than this act of Mr。 Jeaffreson； of whom I shall always entertain the most affectionate memory。
Well； I took his advice。 From a tiny note on the first page of the manuscript it would seem that I began to rewrite “Dawn” or “Angela；” as it was then called； on May 15； 1883； and finished the last of the four hundred and niy…three foolscap sheets on September 5th of the same year。 That is； in just under four months； in addition to my legal studies and other occupations and the time taken in attending in London to eat my dinners at Lincoln’s