Which, by the way, is a perfect example of Mark Twain's humorous manner,the delicately timed pause, and the afterthought. My earliest infant smile was wakened withone of your jokes. You might chance to knock me out, by no merit of your own, but by a purely accidental blow, & then my reputation would be gone & you would have a double one. Last night we stopped playing billiards while he reviewed, in the most vivid and picturesque phrasing, the reasons of Rome's decline.
Clemens replied that he might have something more to say on the copyrightquestion by and by--that he had in han Itshould be sold only by subscription, and you are entitled to double theroyalty here proposed. Whatever else may be said of this kind of doctrine, it is at leastoriginal and has a conclusive sound. You pay the time-worn duty bills if you choose, or decline if you prefer--and without prejudice--for they are not legally collectable.
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