SundayⒶemendation. Your delicious letter arrived exactly at the right time. It was laid by my plate as I was finishing breakfast at 12 noon. Livy & Clara arrived from church 5 minutes later; I took a pipe & spread myself out on the sofa, & Livy sat by & read, & I warmed to that butcher the moment he began to swear. There is more than one way of praying, & I like the butcher’s way because the petitioner is so apt to be in earnest. I was peculiarly alive to his performance just at this time, for another reason, to-witⒶemendation: Last night I awoke at 3 this morning, & after raging to myself for 2 interminableⒶemendation hours, I gave it up. I rose, assumed a catlikeⒶemendation stealthiness, to keep from waking Livy, & proceeded to dress in the pitch dark. Slowly but surely I got on garment after garment—all down to one sock; I had one slipper on & the other in my hand. Well, on my hands & kneesⒶemendation I creptⒶemendation softly around, pawing & feeling & scooping along the carpetⒶemendation & among chair-legs for that missing sock; I kept that up;—& still kept it up & kept it up. At first I only said to myself, “Blame that sock,” but that soon ceased to answer; my expletives grew steadily strongerⒶemendation & stronger,—& at last, when I found I was lost, I had to sit flat down on the floor & take hold of something to keep from lifting the roof off with the profane explosion that was trying to get out of me. I could see the dim blur of the window, but of course it was in the wrong place & could give me no information as to where I was. But I had one comfort—I had not waked Livy; I believed I could find that sock in silence if the night lasted long enough. So I started again & softly pawed all over the place, —& sure enough at the end of half an hour I laid my hand on the missing article. I rose joyfully up & butted the wash-bowl & pitcher off the stand & simply raised —— so to speak. Livy screamed, then said, “Who is it? what is the matter!Ⓐemendation” I said “There ain’tⒶemendation anythingⒶemendation the matter—I’m hunting for my sock.” She said, “Are you hunting for it with a club?”

I went in the parlor & lit the lamp, & gradually the fury subsided & the ridiculousⒶemendation features of the thing began to suggest themselves. So I lay on the sofa, with note-book & pencil, & transferredⒶemendation the adventure to our big room in the hotel at Heilbronn, & got it on paper a goodⒶemendation deal to my satisfaction.

I’veⒶemendation found the Swiss note-book some time ago. When it was first lost I was glad of it, for I was getting an idea that I hadⒶemendation lost my faculty of writingⒶemendation sketches of travel; therefore asⒶemendation the loss of that note-bookⒶemendation would render the writing of this one simply impossible & let me gracefully out,Ⓐemendation I was about to write toⒶemendation Bliss & propose some other book, when the confounded thing turned up, & down went my heart into my boots. But there was now no excuse, soⒶemendation I went solidly to work—tore upⒶemendation great part of the MSⒶemendation written in Heidelberg,—wrote & tore up,—continued to write & tear up,—Ⓐemendation& at last, reward of patient & noble persistenceⒶemendation, my pen got the old swing again!

SinceⒶemendation then I’m glad Providence knew better what to do with the Swiss note-book than I did, for I like my work, now, exceedingly, & often turnⒶemendation out over 30 MSⒶemendation pages a day & then quit sorry that Heaven makes the days so short.

OneⒶemendation of my discouragements had been the belief that my interest in this tour had been so slender thatⒶemendation I couldn’t gouge matter enough out of it to make a book. What a mistake. I’ve got 900 pages written (not a word in it about the sea voyage,) yet I stepped my foot out of HeidelbergⒶemendation for the first time yesterday,—& then only to take our party of four on our first pedestrian tour—to Heilbronn. I’ve gotⒶemendation them dressed elaborately in walking costume—knapsacks, canteens, field-glasses, leather leggings, patent walking shoes, muslin folds around their hats, with long tails hanging down behind, sun umbrellas, and—Alpenstocks. They go all the way to Wimpfen by rail—thence to Heilbronn in a chance vegetable cart drawn by a donkey & a cow; I shall fetch them home on a raft: & if other people shall perceive that that was no pedestrian excursion, they themselves shall not be conscious of it. ThisⒶemendation trip will take 100 MSⒶemendation pages or more,—oh, goodness knows how many! for the mood is everything, not the material, & I already seem to see 300 pages rising before me on that trip. Then,Ⓐemendation I propose to leave Heidelberg for good. Don’t you see, the book (1800 MSⒶemendation pages,) may really be finished before I ever get to Switzerland?Ⓐemendation

ButⒶemendation there’s one thing I want youⒶemendation to tell Frank Bliss & his father to be charitable toward me in,—that is, let me tear up all the MSⒶemendation I want to, & give me time to write more. I shan’t waste the time—I haven’t the slightest desire to loaf, but a consuming desire to work, ever since I got back my swingⒶemendation. And you see this book is either going to be compared with the Innocents Abroad,Ⓐemendation or contrasted with it,Ⓐemendation to my disadvantage. I think I can make a book that will be no dead corpse of a thing & I mean to do my level best to accomplish that.

MyⒶemendation crude plans are crystalizing.Ⓐemendation As the thing stands now, I went to Europe for three purposes. The first you know, & must keep secret, even from the Blisses; the second is to study Art; & the third to acquire a critical knowledge of the German language. My MSⒶemendation already shows that the two latter objects are already accomplished. It shows that I am now moving about as an Artist & a Philologist, & unaware that there is any immodesty in assuming these titles. Having three definite objects has had the effect of seeming to enlargeⒶemendation my domain & give me the freedom of a loose costume. It is three strings to my bow, too.

Well, your butcher is magnificent. He won’t stay out of my mind. IⒶemendation keep trying to think of some way of getting your account of him into my book without his being offended—& yet confound him there isn’t anything you have said which he would see any offense inⒶemendation,—I’m only thinking of his friends— they Ⓐemendation are the parties who busy themselves with seeing things for people. But I’m bound Ⓐemendation to have him in. I’m putting in the yarn about the LimburgerⒶemendation cheese & the box of guns, too—mighty glad Howells declined it. It seems to gather richness & flavor with age. I have very nearly killed several companies with that narrative,—the American Artists’ Club, here, for instance,Ⓐemendation &Ⓐemendation Smith & wife & Miss Griffith (they were here in this house a week or two.) I’ve got 3 other chapters that pretty nearly destroyed the same parties, too.Ⓐemendation

O, Switzerland! the further it recedes into theⒶemendation enriching haze of time,Ⓐemendation the more intolerably delicious the charm of it & the cheer of it & the glory & majesty & solemnity & pathos of it grow. Those mountains had a soul; they thought; they spoke,—one couldn’t hear it with the ears of the body, but what a voice it was!—& how real. Deep down in my memory it is sounding yet. Alp calleth unto Alp!—that stately old Scriptural wording is the right one for God’s Alps & God’s ocean. How puny we were in that awful presence—& how painlessⒶemendation it was to be so; how fitting & right it seemed, & how stingless was the sense of our unspeakable insignificance. And Lord how pervading were the repose & peace & blessedness that poured out of the heart of the invisible Great Spirit of the Mountains.

Now what is it? There are mountains and mountains & mountains in this world—but only these Ⓐemendation take you by the heart-strings. I wonder what the secret of it is. Well, time & time again it has seemed to me that I must drop everything & flee to Switzerland once more. It is a longing—a deep, strong, tugging longing,—that is the word. We must go again, Joe.Ⓐemendation October days, let us get up at dawn & breakfast at the tower. I should like that first rate.Ⓐemendation

Livy & all of us send deluges of love to you & Harmony & the children. I dreamed last night that I woke up in the libraryⒶemendation atⒶemendation home & your children were frolicking around me & my JuliaⒶemendation was sitting in my lap; you & Harmony & both families of Warners had finished their welcomes & were filing out through the conservatory door wrecking Patrick’sⒶemendation flower pots with their dress skirts as they went. Peace & plenty abide with you all!