" Of course I could. Such a novel, Munro,
that when they'd read the first chapter the folk
would just sit groaning until the second came
out. They'd wait in rows outside my door in
the hope of hearing what was coming next.
By Crums, I'll go and begin it now ! " And,
with another somersault over the end of the
bed, he rushed from the room, with the tassels
of his dressing gown flying behind him.
I daresay you've quite come to the conclu-
sion by this time that Cullingworth is simply
an interesting pathological study — a man in
the first stage of lunacy or general paralysis.
You might not be so sure about it if you were
in close contact with him. He justifies his
wildest flights by what he does. It sounds
grotesque when put down in black and white ;
but then it would have sounded equally
grotesque a year ago if he had said that he
would build up a huge practice in a twelve-
month. Now we see that he has done it. His
possibilities are immense. He has such huge



THE STARK MUNRO LETTERS. 133

energy at the back of his fertility of invention.
