, which, judging by its apparently
continuous growth of trees and bushes, I thought might afford a
practical way into the valley, and immediately began to make the
descent, late as it was, as if drawn irresistibly. But after a little,
common sense stopped me and explained that it would be long after dark
ere I could possibly reach the hotel, that the visitors would be asleep,
that nobody would know me, that I had no money in my pockets, and
moreover was without a coat. I therefore compelled myself to stop, and
finally succeeded in reasoning myself out of the notion of seeking my
friend in the dark, whose presence I only felt in a strange, telepathic
way. I succeeded in dragging myself back through the woods to camp,
never for a moment wavering, however, in my determination to go down to
him next morning. This I think is the most unexplainable notion that
ever struck me. Had some one whispered in my ear while I sat on the
Dome, where I had spent so many days, that Professor Butler was in the
valley, I could not have been more surprised and startled. When I was
leaving the university, he said, "Now, John, I want to hold you in sight
and watch your career. Promise to write me at least once a year." I
received a letter from him in July, at our first camp in the Hollow,
written in May, in which he said that he might possibly visit California
some time this summer, and therefore hoped to meet me. But inasmuch as
he named no meeting-place, and gave no directions as to the course he
would probably follow, and as I should be in the wilderness all summer,
I had not the slightest hope of seeing him, and all thought of the
matter had vanished from my mind until this afternoon, when he seemed to
be wafted bodily almost against my face. Well, to-morrow I shall see;
for, reasonable or unreasonable, I feel I must go.

_August 3._ Had a wonderful day. Found Professor Butler as the
compass-needle finds the pole. So last evening's telepathy,
transcendental revelation, or whatever else it may be called, was true;
for, strange to say, he had just entered the valley by way of the
Coulterville Trail and was coming up the valley past El Capitan when his
presence struck me. Had he then looked toward the North Dome with a good
glass when it first came in sight, he might have seen me jump up from my
work and run toward him. This seems the one well-defined marvel of my
life of the kind called supernatural; for, absorbed in glad Nature,
spirit-rapp