ld under the table, I was met by the staid but
amused gaze of a reverend gentleman. Frequently afterwards
did I see and hear "Lewis Carroll" entertaining the
youngsters in his inimitable way.

We became friends, and greatly did I enjoy intercourse with
him over various minor Oxford matters. In later years, at one
time I saw much of him, in quite another _role_--namely
that of ardent sympathy with the, as he thought, ill-treated
and deserted islanders of Tristan d'Acunha. His brother, it
will be remembered, had voluntarily been left at that island
with a view to ministering to the spiritual and educational
needs of the few settlers, and sent home such graphic
accounts and urgent demands for aid, that "Lewis Carroll"
spared no pains to organise assistance and relief. At his
instance I brought the matter before Government and the
House of Commons, and from that day to this frequent
communication has been held with the islanders, and material
assistance has been rendered them--thanks to the warm heart
of "Lewis Carroll."

On December 23, 1897, as the note in his Diary states, he went down,
in accordance with his usual custom, to Guildford, to spend Christmas
with his sisters at the Chestnuts. He seemed to be in his ordinary
health, and in the best of spirits, and there was nothing to show that
the end was so near.

[Illustration: The Chestnuts, Guildford. _From a
photograph._]

At Guildford he was hard at work upon the second part of his "Symbolic
Logic," spending most of the day over this task. This book, alas! he
was not destined to finish, which is the more to be regretted as it
will be exceedingly difficult for any one else to take up the thread
of the argument, even if any one could be found willing to give the
great amount of time and trouble which would be needed.

On January 5th my father, the Rev. C.S. Collingwood, Rector of
Southwick, near Sunderland, died after a very short illness. The
telegram which brought Mr. Dodgson the news of this contained the
request that he would come at once. He determined to travel north the
next day--but it was not to be so. An attack of influenza, which began
only with slight hoarseness, yet enough to prevent him from following
his usual habit of reading family prayers, was pronounced next morning
to be sufficiently serious to forbid his undertaking a journey. At
first his illness seemed a trifle, but be