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June 19,1901. R. W. GILDER, EDITOR, R. U. JOHNSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR. C. C. BUEL, ASSISTANT EDITOR. My dear Muir:
I fear it will take you a long time to read those twelve copies of Arrows of the Almighty through, and I really cannot insist.
That would be stretching friendship to too great a point; but when you get up into the Yosemite valley you need not conceal
the fact that this is the only novel that was ever written, and that it is worth reading. As the time draws nigh, I do wish
I were with you. What a fine time you will have, sacrificing yourself to the ladies who go in skirts that reach only a littlebelow
the knees, as I see they are to be worn, according to the circular. Seriously, I hope that this excursion will stir everybody
up to insisting that the government patrol of the Sierra Reserve should be more rigid. I was about to telegraph you to see
President McKinley in San Francisco on this subject and, if possible, take him up into the Yosemite, when the news came of
Mrs. McKinley1s illness. I hope you will have the best weather for the trip. After a dismally rainy spring, we are having
a beautiful June. 02864