_To C. T. W._

St. Moritz: February 1898.

Two new toboggan runs have been opened: one is a Canadian run on soft
snow without turns, short and sweet; the other is part of the Crista
run, an ice run, which I suppose is quite the finest in the world, with
splendid corners. When it is all made it will be about a mile in
length. . . . In a noisy salon it is difficult to collect my scattered
thoughts. Music and other atrocities are in full swing; and as I
seldom use my brain now, the works are rusty. I wish you could see
this country in winter. . . . A male rival of The Brook has appeared.
He is impressed with the dust and dampness of the atmosphere--takes out
trays to toboggan on into Italy--sprinkles water on his bedroom floor,
because he considers a damp atmosphere conducive to sleep. So far we
have not fallen out altogether with one another; some of us are on
speaking terms. We only confidentially discuss whether so-and-so has
come here for his mind. We have an archdeacon, a canon, a curate, two
captains; one Plymouth-brother-like, who takes most gloomy views about
the future of us, or most of us, including the parsons; the other very
noisy, who attempted the Canadian toboggan run which is supposed to be
safe for ladies and {108} children, and swears that he almost broke his
neck. He had an upset and went head foremost into the snow, and,
according to his own account, had to be dug out. If he had been a
heavier man, I understand that he would have broken his neck. As two
accidents have occurred there, it is not absolutely safe. . . . This
place is a splendid pick-me-up. I am a reformed character--go to bed
between 6 and 10.30 P.M. I was detected last night cheating at cards.
But reformation to be effective requires time. Give up, I say, one bad
habit at a time, and then tackle the next. I have given up early
rising as being the most patent of my evil practices.

_To J. K._

Christ's College, Cambridge: August 19, 1898.

. . . . I am sure that we have need to learn not only in the school of
health but also in the school of sickness. These breaks in life, and
the sense of helplessness and weakness which attend them, are not
simply periods to be 'got over'--to be made the best of till we can
'start again'--but they have a meaning which we can find, if we only
look with the eye of faith. It is strange how, although God sees the
whole way in which we ought to go, He leaves us in comparative