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Bob Haas studied this epistle six or seven ways. It was that thing about having a book about fish that got him. He forked over the ten bucks very reluctantly and said, “You lucky bastard, you just guessed at it. You didn't know anything about the lake in Australia.” I said, “I didn't say I knew where they were. I just said that there are white salmon.” He said, “This is pure luck. You didn't have the faintest idea. You were faking all the time,” which, of course, I was.

Well, for several days I boasted about winning the $10 from him. But I had some other sheets of this stationery, you see, so I couldn't resist sending a few secondary letters. After the second letter, Haas got suspicious. It was a joke. With the third joke, he suddenly realized that it was a hoax. He swore revenge. Of course, he told the story himself. He said, “I'm going to get him for this.”

Well, along came Beloved Friend and Bob decided we ought to have little chapter headings, little pictures at the head of each chapter, and we all thought that this was a good idea. Three or four artists sent sketches up but none of them were satisfactory. Together we all rejected them. One day I came back to the office and found on my desk six little sketches with a note from Bob saying, “Have come across an artist that I think might be good for Beloved Friend. What do you think of these sketches?" I looked through them hastily and made the mistake of writing “They stink,” signed my name thereto, and put the note back on his