MY DEAR FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR,--Your most unexpected gift, which is not
a mere token of remembrance, but a permanently valuable present, is
making me happier every moment I look at it. It is so pleasant to be
thought of by our friends when they have so much to draw their
thoughts away from us; it is so pleasant, too, to find that they have
cared enough about us to study our special tastes,--that you can see
why your beautiful gift has a growing charm for me. Only Mrs. Holmes
thinks it ought to be in the parlor among the things for show, and I
think it ought to be in the study, where I can look at it at least
once an hour every day of my life.
I have observed some extraordinary movements of the index of the
barometer during the discussions that ensued, which you may be
interested enough to see my notes of.