Her majesty, the queen, was not at home. We were shown one room in particular, which has been thrown open to the public since my visit there in 1881; that was, the one containing the "jubilee gifts of 1897," when hearts and hands must have been emptied in making these royal presents. The treasures of India were there, those of Afric's sunny shores, and from every nation and every tribe that acknowledged Victoria. Queen and empress, each and all, poured forth their trophies at her feet. Her stables were shown us, well stocked with thoroughbred steeds from far off Arabia and the Shetland Isles.
"Time and tide waits for no man," and we are booked for the "Augusta Victoria," that sails April——, 1896. Some love to roam, but I like it better when I am nearer home. Our trip across the Atlantic is not what we hoped for, and a choppy sea with an occasional swell made us feel uncomfortable. I had the pleasure in Paris of making the acquaintance of a gentleman, wife and young lady daughter, who invited me to return to America in their company, and seldom, if ever, has it been my lot to have my lines cast among more delightful people than they and, although our homes are far apart, my heart often goes out to them.
When our own home port is sighted and the sensation the appearance of a custom-house officer always creates is over, and the welcome "O. K." is visible on our luggage, we feel like taking off our chapeau to "Liberty Enlightening the World."
It is midnight when we land on the Jersey shore, and the gallant captain, no less courteous on land than on sea, bids us return to our cabins and rest, when we have obeyed our country's mandate, the custom house officer.
A hasty breakfast and a few good-byes are spoken, and my heart swells within me, as I spring from the gang-plank to the shore, and the lines
"My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above,"
seem to express all and more than all that I could say.
A short stay of a few hours in New York, and an uneventful trip on the New York Central Railroad brought me into Chicago, where those nearest and dearest to me were in waiting to bid me welcome home. And now in closing, my dear children, I will say: "That if the work I have done in leaving you these impressions and footprints, gives the pleasure hoped for, I will feel compensated, notwithstanding I have labored when the flesh was weak and my vision clouded. When you have reached my age (sixty-three), when youth and vigor are not in their fulness, this work of love may then be appreciated."
Your Grandmother,
ELEONORA HUNT.
Nov. 20, 1897.