"WASHINGTON, D. C., _June 4, 1886_.
"DEAR GOVERNOR,--I send you herewith a printed slip
of correspondence that has recently occurred between two of
your acquaintances. You will learn from it that I want to leave
Washington and go home, and that the President is loath to have me
go. He prefers to give me leave of absence, and at the outset named
the 1st of August as the limit. To this I demurred, because the 1st
of August marks the middle of every sensible person's vacation, and
brings to us extreme hot weather. I could not bring myself to think
it would be right for me to return here at that early day, and in
the mean time my mind would be worried by thoughts of returning to
the old tread-mill, in the hottest part of Washington's hot season.
So the President changed it to the 1st of Oct., which certainly is a
more proper date.
"I trust that what I have done, or rather what I have let be done,
will have your approval.
"We are making arrangements for me to go to the Hot Springs of
West Virginia within the next two or three days. I think we shall
remain there about a month. After that, I hope I may be permitted
by my physician to go North, in which event I want to visit you at
Greystone, if only for an hour. That, I know, will do me great good.
"Your sincere friend,
"D. MANNING."