with the owners of the property for
the purchase of the Homestead, and was soon rejoiced to find himself the
sole proprietor of a place endeared to him by so many associations.

The following letter to his parents will form a fitting conclusion to
this chapter:

102 Waverley Place,
New York, _May 1st, 1878_.

My Dear Father and Mother:

I am just in receipt of the papers which place me in possession of
the _Old Homestead_. This, I am sure, will be very pleasing news to
you, since it is my intention to make it the home of your declining
years: poor old grandmother, too, shall find it a welcome refuge
while she lives. I have never felt that I could see the home of my
birth pass to other hands; my heart still clings to it, and its
hallowed associations, with all the tenacity of former days. The
first of May will, in future, have special charms for me, for from
this day, 1878, dates my claim to that spot of earth which to me is
dearer than all others.

Imagination often takes me back to the Old House on the Hill, where
your children spent many of the happiest hours of their childhood
and youth. In fancy I again visit the scenes of my boyhood--again
chase the butterfly, and pick the dandelion with Elvira and
Marjorie in the shade of the wide-spreading elms.

* * * * *

I have been working for you, dear parents, in the face of great
obstacles since the close of the war. If you think I have neglected
you--have not been home in ten long years, then I reply, I did not
wish to see you again until I could place you beyond the reach of
want. _One of the objects of my life is to-day accomplished:_ and
now, with love to all, and the fervent hope that prosperity and
happiness may wait upon you for many, many years to come,

I remain, always,
Your most affectionate son,
Willard.

[Illustration: Headwaters Of The Mississippi.]

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

An interval of literary work.--Conception of another
expedition.--Reflections upon the Old Explorers.--Indian
rumors.--Determined to find the true source of the Great
Rive