Transcription:
July 9, 1897 R. W. GILDER, EDITOR. R. U. JOHNSON. ASSOCIATE EDITOR. C. C. BUEL, ASSISTANT EDITOR. My dear Muir:-
The dog story is at hand and we are correspondingly happy. I have just sent the copy to the printer, under the title An Adventure
with a Dog and a Glacier, and I have done the story a service by cutting out some of the preliminary material, which retarded
the narrative and to some extent gave away the point. Your digressions about dog life in general, and your elaborate descriptions
of Stickeen take from the surprise with which the reader discovers his fine qualities. When you told this storyyou simply
said that this was a dog to whom you had paid very little attention before; but when in the manuscript you describe him at
considerable length the reader is less prepared for the legitimate effect of his wonderful feat. On this principle I have
left out the references to the previous crossings of the ice slivers, and treated it as if it were the climax of the adventure.
The element of surprise is of the very essence of the success of the story. Remember that this is my story as well as yours.
I have heard it several times, and I know how it is most effective. Of course, I have not dared to add a line, but have only
left out what seems to me extraneous matter. For instance, though interesting and valuable in itself, the description in extenso
of what you saw on the glacier has nothing to do with the story, except Just 02314