eel concerned about the pain in Daddy's big toe.

"All jesting aside, so many unforseen events have crowded
into the months of my absense that I feel prepared for almost
any change. It is well that I know that you will be a mother
to Fanny in the event of any change in Daddy's family.
According to Tom's account, he is to be her husband. I will
draw a picture of their courtship for him.

"A slender, fair haired girl and a gallant youth seated--let
me think--_three feet apart_ in the grape arbor at the old
brown house. Their eyes meet and speak a language quite
familiar to gallant youths and fair haired girls in general,
and to those two in particular. How prettily the white throat
of the beautiful blonde swells, and how the frill of lace
around it trembles, as if fanned by the passing breeze.

"They do not see the white haired old man who is silently
gathering grapes without the arbor, occasionally peering
cautiously through the vines and lattice work at them.

"He is a loquacious old fellow, (that Daddy) and he will
doubtless complete the picture for us by and by.

"Mr. Marsden's fever has left him broken in health and
spirits. His lungs have never been strong, having been
subject to occasional hemorrhages. He complains of constant
pain in his chest, and I fear it will be a long time before
he recovers. His physician thinks it will not be safe for him
to return home this fall, and we shall probably spend the
winter in this mild climate.

"We have formed quite a pleasant circle of acquaintances,
and our evenings are musical, conversational or _gamical_, as
best suits the invalid, who lies upon the sofa and dictates
the programme. Last evening we did nothing but talk. An
editor of one of our city journals was present, having just
returned from an extensive tour through the wine growing
districts of the State. He says that wine making is fraught
with dire evils to the producer and to the country. That it
has become almost as cheap as milk, and as freely drank, till
many once sober men are now habitually intoxicated. He was
told that in one neighborhood, young girls seventeen years of
age, reeled in the streets under the intoxication of pure
California wine. Men whom he once knew to be of worth he
found lost to society, and becoming a fear and disgrace to
th