As soon as we landed at the door with the crowd the Governor came to me at once and was very cordial, and apparently as glad to see me as he said he was. So that incident is closed. And pleasantly and entirely satisfactorily. Everything is all right, now, and I am no longer in a clumsy and awkward situation.
I “met up” with that charming Colonel Chapman, and other officers of the regiment, and had a good time.
Commandant Peters of the “Carnegie” will dine here tonight and arrange a private visit for us to his ship, the crowd to be denied access.
Sincerely Yours,
S. L. C.
“Helen” of this letter was Mr. and Mrs. Allen's young daughter,
a favorite companion of his walks and drives. “Loomis” and “Lark,”
mentioned in the letters which follow, were Edward E. Loomis—his
nephew by marriage—named by Mark Twain as one of the trustees of
his estate, and Charles T. Lark, Mark Twain's attorney.
To A. B. Paine, in Redding:
HAMILTON, Jan. 21, '10.
DEAR PAINE,—Thanks for your letter, and for its contenting news of the situation in that foreign and far-off and vaguely-remembered country where you and Loomis and Lark and other beloved friends are.
I have a letter from Clara this morning. She is solicitous, and wants me well and watchfully taken care of. My, she ought to see Helen and her parents and Claude administer that trust!