but you may be sure, sir, I would
give up most other things to be as good a man as Thoreau. Even my
knowledge of him leads me thus far.

"Should you find yourself able to push on so far--it may even lie on
your way--believe me your visit will be very welcome. The weather is
cruel, but the place is, as I daresay you know, the very _wale_ of
Scotland--bar Tummelside.--Yours very sincerely,

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON."

{Manuscript letter by R.L.S.: p6.jpg}

Some delay took place in my leaving London for Scotland, and hence what
seemed a hitch. I wrote mentioning the reason of my delay, and
expressing the fear that I might have to forego the prospect of seeing
him in Braemar, as his circumstances might have altered in the meantime.
In answer came this note, like so many, if not most of his, indeed,
without date:--

THE COTTAGE, CASTLETON OF BRAEMAR.
(_No date_.)

"MY DEAR SIR,--I am here as yet a fixture, and beg you to come our
way. Would Tuesday or Wednesday suit you by any chance? We shall
then, I believe, be empty: a thing favourable to talks. You get here
in time for dinner. I stay till near the end of September, unless, as
may very well be, the weather drive me forth.--Yours very sincerely,
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON."

I accordingly went to Braemar, where he and his wife and her son were
staying with his father and mother.

These were red-letter days in my calendar alike on account of pleasant
intercourse with his honoured father and himself. Here is my pen-and-ink
portrait of R. L. Stevenson, thrown down at the time:

Mr Stevenson's is, indeed, a very picturesque and striking figure. Not
so tall probably as he seems at first sight from his extreme thinness,
but the pose and air could not be otherwise described than as
distinguished. Head of fine type, carried well on the shoulders and in
walking with the impression of being a little thrown back; long brown
hair, falling from under a broadish-brimmed Spanish form of soft felt
hat, Rembrandtesque; loose kind of Inverness cape when walking, and
invariable velvet jacket inside the house. You would say at first sight,
wherever you saw him, that he was a man of intellect, artistic and
individual, wholly out of the common. His face is sensitive, full of
expression, though it could not be called strictly beautiful. It is
longish, especially seen in profile, and features a little irregular; the
brow at once high