Page:Famous Single Poems (1924).djvu/272

 It must be admitted that Mr. Howells twisted the letters a little to suit his argument, but he was entirely right in concluding that they “do not establish a great deal”—even though the names of their authors were afterwards made public.

At a later date the Hon. George W. Wright, of Washington, D. C., who shared Mr. Ball’s cabin on the voyage to California in 1857, testified that he had seen that gentleman working on his poem, that they had discussed some parts of it together, and that he had become very familiar with it. He had asked for a copy, but unfortunately Mr. Ball had not given him one, asking him (as usual) to wait until the