t seemed to me as if he
knew the pain and humiliation of defeat, just as well as if he had been
human; I am sure he did. Still, sisters, I stand by Harry Bassett.

Oh, mercy, how hot it was coming home those three dusty miles! How tired
and thankful I was when we got safely into the Ocean Hotel, with plenty
of lemonade and ice-water, with a cool wind blowing up from the water.

Sisters, I sometimes think you do not quite appreciate all the
sacrifices that I make for you. The great want of our society, has been
a thorough knowledge of what is going on in the wide world outside of
Vermont and the Hub. That deficiency I am determined to make up by extra
mission duties in the direction of general human nature. In order to
prove or condemn a thing, one must see it in all its features. If
ignorance were goodness, the universe would be crowded with pious
people. But it isn't any such thing; and your pioneers and missionaries
who mean to teach, musn't be afraid to learn. Now, there is a good deal
to be said about races, and if 'twere not for the betting--which is
gambling, under another name--I should rather like it. A noble horse in
full training is a brave sight; and, next to a noble man or woman, I,
for one, am glad to see him put forward. There isn't a bit of harm in
swift running; but then twenty-five thousand dollars lost and won
between two horses, is a snare and a delusion that the noble beasts have
nothing to do with. I do not like that, and am quite sure that you will
make it a subject of particular denunciation. I hope you will. Not that
such things have ever found a mite of countenance in Vermont; but horses
are raised there, and that may lead to something dreadful. If a patch of
ground level enough for a race-course can be found in the State, some of
these New Yorkers will be for fencing it in; and the way they are
progressing here, some ambitious fellow may be wanting to charter the
Green Mountains for a hurdle, for horses all but fly in these parts.

Understand me--I am not blaming the animals--they are just splendid; but
betting, especially among women, is my abomination. It is an open gate
through which feminines slide into a habit of gambling. I don't like it,
and the sooner our American feminine women know my opinion, the sooner
they will be ready to turn back and consider what they are about.

LXXXI.

CLIMBING SEA CLIFF.

Dear sisters:--You are right. My mind has been too much in the world. I
h