experiments of an analytical character. He asked me if I had a doll,
and I suppose he referred to the old lay-figure that I was wont to
sketch before I took to studying from the nude. And now you will ask,
why I am writing to you, when both you and I are so busy--when we are
both preparing for matriculation? When we have so little spare time at
our disposal?

I will tell you. The fact is, he accuses me of ignorance in the
biographical section of my studies. He gave me the history of a
gentleman who used a blue dye for his moustache and murdered his wives
with impunity. Then he related the adventures of a lady who slept for
a hundred years from the wound of a spinning needle. I had to confess
(although a constant reader of the _Lancet_) I had never heard of the
case before. Then he recounted the adventures of a traveller who seems
to have had a life of considerable interest. This person obtained
quite a number of diamonds, with the assistance of a huge bird called
a Roc. Then he had much to say about a dwarf who defeated (in really
gallant style) several men of abnormally large stature. He laughed
when I had to confess that I had never heard of these people before.
He gave me their names. The wife-slaughterer was called _Bluebeard_;
the lady who slumbered for a hundred years, _The Sleeping Beauty_ (I
suppose she preferred to keep her anonymity); the traveller's name was
_Sindbad_, and the dwarf was _Jack the Giant-Killer_. Have you heard
of any of these people?

Your affectionate Cousin, MARY.

LETTER II.

(_Reply to Same, from Miss Rosa Blackbord._)