The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-01-06
"Shins lint ras, in the Night"

| gathered much OF the material out
of which the book was bullI al feItrS-
hof. a mountain health resort, pronaDIy
Identified by many people. was 'luIS
myself for six or seven months, anu
during mat time was too Ill 10 have any
thoughts of writing a book or 10 take
mental notes of the sufferers GROUND me.
1t was more than year liter LEAVING
Petershof. when | was supposed 10 nave
gained a certain amount OF strength, that
/ was strongly urged by thOse VINO
loved me TO take up my WriilnS Once
more; and moreover, my hand, winch 10y
some time had been entirely useless, was
still a very troublesome member, often
tickle and uncomfortable. But this did
not fret me so much as the berettness; IL
was that which made me feel that IL
was folly TO waste the time ana energy
on attempts which were foregone fall-
ures. / should never have gone on WIN
nv task but for the tender sollcltude OF
the friends 10 whom the little book was
dedicated. II was written enemy III tneH
home and 1 count il my greatest pleas
ure In remembering how deep an IN
terest they took IN every sentence, ana
how gratified they were when l seemed
to be less dissatisfied than usual WIN
my mornings efforts.
And here perhaps il would not he out
of place to say that, before falling III. /
had attained to certain amount OF
quiet success, having, of course, passed
through the usual round Of disappOlnt-
ments all Of them well merited. and use
full as stepping stones i'm the apprentice
ship which every workman must nave.
But ! confined myself almost entirely 10
the short story for | ielt, and had been
told. too. that this was the best way OF
preparing for longer and more sustained
attempt and / had no wish 10 rush head
long into a novel and then have cause
to regret my haStineSs. But after wait
ing some time ! cid begin a novel, and
had written about twelve chapters OF If,
when ] was Obliged to give up work, and
the twelve chapters were laid on one side
ard afterwards burnt, circumstance
which has ever since caused me unmlHed
satisfaction. But TO return TO the book
which was not burnt.
The suggestion that / should 60 back
to my old occupation weighed heavily
on me, for was quite out OF practice and
out Of touch.
When / began my work again. I had
no idea of inventing a story about Peters
hOf. but as | bent lazily over the blank
sheet of paper. memories Of the kurhaus
came crOWdlne over me, and much 10 my
own establishment the first chapter con-
trived itself. But that did not help me
greatly. for ] could not think what To
make out Of the characters which ] had
thus casually introduced on the scene;
but | went on in a dull kind of way not
knowing from one sentence TO another
what j was going to say next. And, IN
deed. II was not until ! arrived at the
thirteenth chapter that / felt | was be-
TO form some vague idea of what might
possibly be done with them. But for all
that. IL was very vague idea and, in
deed. the dimness of purpose pursued me
to the last word of the book. The great
drawback was that | could not use my
hand for more than a quarter Of an
hour on so at time; and i'm consequence
of this hinderancc. my work seemed to
me hopelessly disconnected done in such
snatches. and without the advantage Of
continuous application. But. with the
exception OF word here and there.
made no alterations. and the pages stand
just as / originally wrote them. The sec
ond chapter in the first part, containing
a few details about my herQine's life pre-
Vious to her departure for Petershof was
written last Of all, and gave me some
touble. l knew, of course, that | should
have to account for Bernardine's eXis-
tence. and refer. however briefly to her
sure findings; but ! nut this off TO the
end. Sinking the difficulty until ] was
obliged 10 turn and face it. In reading
novels | have always felt irritated when
the author gives a long and detailed ac-
count Of the back history Of his charac-
ters, and | determined 20 try and avoid
"A tediousness from which 7 myself had
so often suffered. just at a point. too
where my interest had been aroused in
the present, and where the past seemed
an unwelcome intrusion. SO ] made my
second chapter as short rs possible. and
felt more than thankful that Bernardine
had only one relation.-Beatrice Harra-
den, In McClure's Magazine for January