much so as I could expect, but
it involves the possibility, not to say the probability, of my remaining
in Paris during the winter.

"If I should be delayed till December it would be prudent to remain until
April. If it be possible, without detriment to my affairs, to make such
arrangements that I may return this autumn, I shall certainly do it; but,
if I should not, you must console yourselves that it is in consequence of
meeting with success that I am detained, and that I shall be more likely
to return with advantage to you all on account of the delay.

"I ought to say that the directors of the Saint-Germain Railroad have
seen my Telegraph, and that there is some talk (as yet vague) of
establishing a line of my Telegraph upon that road. I mention these, my
dear child, to show you that I cannot at this moment leave Paris without
detriment to my principal object."

"_Paris, October 10, 1838._ You are at an age when a parent's care, and
particularly a mother's care, is most needed. You cannot know the depth
of the wound that was inflicted when I was deprived of your dear mother,
nor in how many ways that wound was kept open. Yet I know it is all well;
I look to God to take care of you; it is his will that you should be
almost truly an orphan, for, with all my efforts to have a home for you
and to be near you, I have met hitherto only with disappointment. But
there are now indications of a change, and, while I prepare for
disappointment and wish you to prepare for disappointment, we ought to
acknowledge the kind hand of our Heavenly Father in so far prospering me
as to put me in the honorable light before the world which is now my lot.
With the eminence is connected the prospect of pecuniary prosperity, yet
this is not consummated, but only in prospect; it may be a long time
before anything is realized. Study, therefore, prudence and economy in
all things; make your wants as few as possible, for the habit thus
acquired will be of advantage to you whether you have much or little."

Thus did hope alternate with despondency as the days and weeks wore away
and nothing tangible was accomplished. All who saw the working of the
telegraph were loud in their expressions of wonder and admiration, but,
for reasons which shall presently be explained, nothing else was gained
by the inventor at that time.

An old friend of Morse's, the Reverend Dr. Kirk, was then living in
Paris, and the two friends not only roomed together but Dr