've known him to ask me right out what I wuz
steppin' on his toe for, and I wuz worse off than as if I hadn't
tried to curb him in. But then he has a host of good qualities, and
pardners are dretful handy lots of times. But life is a kind of a
warfare to the best and happiest on us.

Well we all went to see the statute to Goethe; it stands in a pleasant
spot in the Thiergarten surrounded by shrubs and trees. The face of
the great poet is full of the sadness and glory of them that see
visions and dream dreams. Grouped about him are the sculptured forms
of Tragedy, Lyrical Poetry, and Research. It wuz a impressive monument
and rousted up more emotions in me than any that I see in Berlin.

Well, we didn't stay long in Prussia, for the cords that wuz drawin'
us home tightened from day to day, the children and Philury drawin'
them cords closter ever and anon with long and loving letters, and we
hastened on to Hamburg. It wuz a lovely day when we sot out on our
journey and we wuz all feelin' well, specially Josiah and I, for every
revolution of the wheels brought us nigher to our beloved Jonesville
and every toot of the engine seemed to shout afresh the joyful tidin's
to us that we had sot our faces towards the bright hearth stun of
home.

We had no eventful experiences on the journey to relate, unless it wuz
a interview we had with a young man, a Freshman I believe he wuz from
some college, travellin' with his tutor, and he seemed real fresh, he
seemed to have plenty of money but a scarcity of brains, or mebby he
had enough brains, but they seemed to be in a sort of a soft state,
and I guess they'll harden up some when he gits older if he has good
luck with them.

I wuz most a good mind to advise him to set in the sun bareheaded all
he could, thinkin' mebby it might harden 'em some, but didn't know how
it would be took.

He thought he knew a sight, but the shadder he really cast on worldly
affairs wuz exceedingly small, he could step over it the hull time,
but he felt that it reached the horizon. Robert talked quite a good
deal with him, to pass away the time I spoze, but there wuz a queer
smile in his eyes and kinder patient and long sufferin' as if to say:

"You'll know more in the future than you do now and I'll bear with
you."

The young man thought he wuz patronizin' Robert, I knew from his
liniment. He wuz a infidel, and seemed to think it made him very
smart. You know some folks do think it is real genteel to