there Sunday, and it was most
beautiful, especially through the Ramble. In his later years my
father was fond of walking there with me. That is one reason I go
there; he seems to be very near me when I stand under the familiar
trees or move along the flowering walks he loved so well. I wish
you had known him. It is curious how often this wish recurs to me;
and so persistent was it in the Park that lovely Sunday that, at
moments, it seemed as though we three were walking there
together--he and you and I--quite happy in the silence of
companionship which seemed not of yesterday but of years.

"It is rather a comforting faculty I have--this unconscious
companionship with the absent. Once I told you that you had been
with me while you supposed yourself to be at Silverside. Do you
remember? Now, here in the city, I walk with you constantly; and we
often keep pace together through crowded streets and avenues; and
in the quiet hours you are very often, seated not far from where I
sit. . . . If I turned around now--so real has been your presence
in my room to-night--that it seems as though I could not help but
surprise you here--just yonder on the edges of the lamp glow--

"But I know you had rather remain at Silverside, so I won't turn
around and surprise you here in Manhattan town.

"And now your next question: Yes, Boots is well, and I will give
him Drina's love, and I will try my best to bring him to Silverside
when I come. Boots is still crazed with admiration for his house.
He has two cats, a housekeeper, and a jungle of shrubs and vines in
the back yard, which he plays the hose on; and he has also acquired
some really beautiful old rugs--a Herez which has all the tints of
a living sapphire, and a charming antique Shiraz, rose, gold, and
that rare old Persian blue. To mention symbols for a moment,
apropos of our archaeological readings together, Boots has an
antique Asia Minor rug in which I discovered not only the Swastika,
but also a fire-altar, a Rhodian lily border, and a Mongolian motif
which appears to resemble the cloud-band. It was quite an Anatshair
jumble in fact, very characteristic. We must capture Nina some day
and she and you and I will pay a visit to Boots's rugs and study
these old dyes and mystic symbols of the East. Shall we?