It is possible that my imaginary heroes are vaguely reminiscent of beings who actually exist. Subconscious ness is the novelist's principal instrument, and this sub consciousness frequently mocks us, leading us to mistake for our own creation the things which we have unwit tingly observed in Nature. But despite this, it is unfair, as well as risky, for the reader to assign the names of real persons to the characters of fiction, saying, This is So and-so.