He had in his arms a dear
little child. He had adopted her, he said, because his were all grown
up. She seemed like a soft little bird, so timid and clinging.

When we came to see our accommodations, we were delighted to find every
thing so clean and agreeable. We expressed our pleasure to him, and he
said, "Yes; a woman, I think, will go a mile or two farther for a clean
sheet; and even a man does not altogether like to be tucked into bed
with a stranger;" which suggests what the customs are there.

DECEMBER 20, 1873.

We were startled to learn, a few days since, that one of our neighbors
had been found dead,--a man about whom there had always been a good
deal of mystery in the village. He lived alone, and never spoke of any
relations or friends. He was a man of very courteous manners, but on
this point he would allow no questions. There was no one to notify of
his death, and nobody appeared to claim his property.

The first time we ever saw him, he was riding in the woods, on a
handsome horse, with a bright scarlet blanket. He looked so picturesque,
and there was so much grace and dignity about him, that I felt as if he
did not belong anywhere about here. It seemed as if he might have come
riding out of some foreign land, or some distant age,--like a knight
going to a tournament.

When we came to know him, we could not help wondering what could induce
him to live here. He was thought to be Southern, and it was generally
supposed that some difficulties arising at the time of the war had
brought him here. He seemed disposed to make the best of our dull life,
and always had something that interested him to show us,--a new flower,
or curious shell, or some pretty Indian child.

The last time we saw him was Saturday night. It must have been only a
few hours before his death, but he appeared in his usual fine health.
The next we knew of him was Monday morning, when some men who lived
near us said that nothing had been seen of him since his light
disappeared Saturday night. As he did not open his house, as usual, on
Sunday, they said to themselves, "He does not like to be disturbed," and
waited till Monday, when they went to the window; and the dog inside,
hearing the noise, came and tore down the curtain, and went back and sat
down beside his master, where he lay on the bed, and licked his face;
and they saw that he was dead. He was tenderly buried by the people of
the village, without religious ceremonies; but th