sorry that I came; if for nothing else I am glad to have come
on the girls' account; they would hardly have ventured without me, and
it is a real treat to them.

"You will wonder what has become of poor little Flossy, and want to know
whether she is going to follow me to Saratoga as usual, but the little
sprite refuses to go! I fancy Marion has been teasing her; you know she
is very susceptible to ridicule, and it suits Marion's fancy to amuse
herself at the expense of those people who weary of Chautauqua. She has
attempted something of the kind on me, but, of course I am indifferent
to any such shafts, having been in the habit of leading, rather than
following, all my life. It seems natural, I suppose, to do so still. I
think well of Chautauqua. It is a good place for people to come who have
not much money to spend, and who like to be in a pleasant place among
pleasant people; and who enjoy fine music, and fine lectures, and all
that sort of thing, and are so trammelled by work and small means at
home that they cannot cultivate these tastes. But, of course, all these
things are no treat to _me_, and I do not hesitate to tell you that I am
bored. There is too much preaching to suit my fancy--not real preaching,
either, for we haven't had what you could call a sermon until to-day,
but _lectures_, which constantly bring the same theme before you.

"Now you are not to conclude from this that I do not believe in
preaching, and Sunday, and all that sort of thing; on the contrary, I
believe more fully in them all than I did before I came. In fact I have
this very afternoon come to a determination which may surprise you, and
which is partly the occasion of my writing this letter, in order that
you may know at once what to expect. Harold, as soon as the season is
over, and I get back home, I am going to unite with the church? Have I
astonished you! I am going to do this from a conviction of duty. You
need not imagine that I have been wrought up to such a pitch of
excitement that I don't know what I am about. I assure you there is
nothing of the kind. I have simply concluded that it is an eminently
proper thing to do. So long as I believe fully in the church and in
religion, and wish to sustain both by my money and my influence, why
should I not say so? That is a very simple and altogether proper way of
saying it, and saves a good deal of troublesome explanation. I wonder
that I haven't thought of it before.

"I do not mind te