No letters written between 10 and 20 May have been found. On 18 May Clemens took the train to New York City, where he stayed at the Astor House for only one night before returning to Elmira. The nature of his business has not been documented, but it could well have concerned his Gilded Age play. He may have hoped to meet with the prominent actor Lawrence Barrett (1838–91), who checked into the New York Hotel on 17 May; if so, he was disappointed. In a now lost letter written sometime in mid-May, Clemens offered Barrett the role of Colonel Mulberry Sellers. He also asked for Barrett’s opinion of Frank Mayo (popular for his portrayal of Davy Crockett) and John T. Raymond. Barrett’s reply makes clear that he had not seen Clemens in New York (CU-MARK):

When Clemens had met Barrett in San Francisco remains undetermined. No evidence has been found that Clemens met with Mayo, a personal friend, while in New York. He may have already seen Raymond there on the evening of 18 May (the New York Hotel was very near the Astor House), and discussed the possibility of his appearing in a new version of the Gilded Age play: Raymond recalled being in New York and contacting Clemens soon after Densmore closed his San Francisco production in early May (see 5 May 74 to Warner, n. 2click to open link, and 3 Nov 74 to the editor of the Hartford Evening Post, n. 2click to open link; “Prominent Arrivals,” New York Tribune, 18 May 74, 19 May 74, 8, 12; Wilson 1874, 47, 967; L5 , 61–62 n. 2).