l of the sad news, and there was a gloom cast over everything.
We all thought of the sorrow of his two daughters, who were so devoted to
him, and whom his sudden taking away would leave so desolate. In "The
Cornhill Magazine" of the February following, my father wrote: "I saw Mr.
Thackeray for the first time nearly twenty-eight years ago, when he
proposed to become the illustrator of my earliest book. I saw him last
shortly before Christmas, at the Athenaeum Club, when he told me he had
been in bed three days, and that he had it in his mind to try a new
remedy, which he laughingly described. He was cheerful, and looked very
bright. In the night of that day week he died. * * * * No one can be
surer than I of the greatness and goodness of his heart. In no place
should I take it upon myself at this time to discourse of his books, of
his refined knowledge of character, of his subtle acquaintance with the
weakness of human nature, of his delightful playfulness as an essayist,
of his quaint and touching ballads, of his mastery over the English
language. But before me lies all that he had written of his latest
story, and the pain I have felt in perusing it has not been deeper than
the conviction that he was in the healthiest region of his powers when he
worked on this last labor. The last words he corrected in print were
'and my heart throbbed with an exquisite bliss.' God grant that on that
Christmas Eve, when he laid his head back on his pillow and threw up his
arms as he had been wont to do when very weary, some consciousness of
duty done, and of Christian hope throughout life humbly cherished, may
have caused his own heart so to throb when he passed away to his rest."

CHAPTER IV.

Fondness for Athletic Sports.--His love of bathing.--His study of the
raven.--Calling the doctor in.--My father with our dogs.--The cats of
"Gad's Hill."--"Bumble" and "Mrs. Bouncer."--A strange friendship.

As a child my father was prevented from any active participation in the
sports and amusements of his boyish companions by his extreme delicacy
and frequent illnesses, so that until his manhood his knowledge of games
was gained merely from long hours of watching others while lying upon the
grass. With manhood, however, came the strength and activity which
enabled him to take part in all kinds of outdoor exercise and sports, and
it seemed that in his passionate enjoyment and participation in those
later years he w