_608 Bush Street, San Francisco, Jan. 26, '80._
MY DEAR CHARLES,--I have to drop from a 50 cent to a 25 cent dinner;
to-day begins my fall. That brings down my outlay in food and drink to
45 cents or 1s. 10-1/2d. per day. How are the mighty fallen! Luckily,
this is such a cheap place for food; I used to pay as much as that for
my first breakfast in the Savile in the grand old palmy days of yore. I
regret nothing, and do not even dislike these straits, though the flesh
will rebel on occasion. It is to-day bitter cold, after weeks of lovely
warm weather, and I am all in a chitter. I am about to issue for my
little shilling and halfpenny meal, taken in the middle of the day, the
poor man's hour; and I shall eat and drink to your prosperity.--Ever
yours,