s been set up. Just as the mantle of Stevenson fell upon Cummy[26]
and Simoneau, so now it has fallen upon this most amiable and
delightful old couple, the Bakers, making them in a way celebrities;
and to the patients his memory is like that of a dear departed elder
brother, to whom they are linked by the strong bond of a common
suffering and a common hope.

[Footnote 26: Alison Cunningham, Stevenson's old nurse.]

As soon as they could make ready the family set out, and by June 7
their train was rolling down the western slope of the Sierras into
California. At Sacramento they were met by their "advance agent," who,
as her mother-in-law remarks, "was looking so pretty in a new hat that
we were grieved to hear that it belonged to her daughter."

Immediately on reaching San Francisco they were plunged into a bustle
of preparation for the long cruise. While he rested from the fatigue
of the long overland trip Mrs. Stevenson went on with the work,
including, among other things, vaccination for all hands except the
sick man. Lymph was taken with them so that his wife could vaccinate
him if it should become necessary. The burden of these preparations,
including the winning over of Doctor Merritt, who was not inclined to
rent his yacht at first, fell upon the shoulders of Mrs. Stevenson.
Sending the others here and there on errands, getting the burgee to
fly at the masthead, purchasing all the multitudinous list of supplies
necessary for the long voyage, making sure that nothing that might be
needed by the invalid should be forgotten, with flying runs between
times to report to him at the hotel--these were busy days for her.

While they were in San Francisco Mrs. Stevenson had a strange and
dramatic meeting with Samuel Osbourne's second wife, a quiet, gentle
little woman whom he married soon after his divorce from Fanny Van de
Grift. Within a year or two after the marriage Osbourne mysteriously
disappeared, never to be heard of again, and his wife dragged out a
pitiful existence at their vineyard at Glen Ellen, in Sonoma County,
hoping against hope for his return. Finally her faith failed, and when
she met Mrs. Stevenson in San Francisco she fell on her knees before
her and burst into bitter weeping, saying: "You were right about that
man and I was wrong!" She was then taken in to see Louis, and the two
women sat hand in hand by his bedside and talked of the trouble that
had darkened both their lives. Both Mr.