I can only excuse my not having formally acknowledged receipt of the beautiful flowers which you sent me and which cheered my sick room so much by saying that I have been confined at home and practically in bed ever since they came. They were very beautiful and fragrant, and a fine index of the characters of their donors. I think they must have been of some value to me, for I am practically over my illness and am writing this at my office, which I am visiting today for the first time in five weeks.

I certainly had a hectic summer; nine weeks of a delightful vacation, and then after a day or two of relaxation, nearly six weeks of illness. I had a doctor for a week or two to treat me for the stomachache. He gave me everything he could think of, and then suggested an examination at the Clinic, which I underwent -- and it was a very difficult and troublesomtroublesome thing -- only to be advised by the surgeons there that there was nothing seriously the matter with me, nothing that was n't easily accounted for by my age. Of course, with this reassurance I immediately began to get better, and in two or three days I was over my illness. However, my strength did not return at once, and after experimenting with one or two tonics, my doctor has finally given me one which seems to have hit the spot. I took two doses and then I jumped into a cab and went to my office, where I have been practically all day. Whether I will be as smart tomorrow, or whether my wife will let me come, I don't know.

Speaking of my wife, she has been extremely faithful and devoted to me, has watched over me and taken care of me as if I were a baby or a small child, and I have assured her how much I appreciate her devotion.

Our old friend John P. has been at the house since I was ill. He is beginning to look his age, and that fall he had didn't do him any good. I guess it broke his Sunday School record, but I hope he will be able to resume it very soon.