448 1868 Madison May 25. Dear John - I feel your presence and sympathy in all the gladness of the opening season, but
I also feel very keenly the loss of you in my life. I meant to keep such even step with you through all the journey which
I prayed might be a blessed one. and before I knew I lost every track and trace of you. This is strange because I wrote exactly
as you directed both to Cedar Keys and to New Orleans. I am not a little heavy hearted about you, what have the tropic weeds
done to our dear pilgrim youth? To morrow I am going off into the woodiest of our woods with Th re Rumlein - to find