Almost the last message from The Dear Man before He Passed was to Raggety. I give it to you as it stands to-day, and on the reverse of the card is a colored picture of the blooming orchards of Montana.
Master Raggety:
I’m thinking of a far-away dog, a companion even as he seeks companionship, who has a mind of his own, interests of his own, an independence of his own, but who gives his little heart away to those whom it elects, and who look upon him to love him.
He who writes this begs that he will stand before the two friends who are with him and thus be the messenger to them of this friend’s love.
1 July, 1911.
Me and Jeems
(Raggety speaks)
Jeems is bigger than Me, but much, much younger and not half so clever; but that is partly due to his bringing-up, which of course he can not help, poor Pup!
Jeems belongs to The Lovely Lady and as Hers I thoroughly love and respect him. Of course I too belong in a kind of way to The Lovely Lady, for I love Her and she loves Me. Jeems came to take the place of dear gentle Balribbie who died. I never saw pretty Balribbie; perhaps if she had not died before I came to live here, our Mistresses might have let us marry and there would have been little Raggeties and tiny Balribbies. But pshaw! These are the Dream Puppies of an old bachelor dog!
(Don’t be surprised that I know about dear Charles Lamb, for I live in a literary atmosphere and there is much writing going on all about Me!)