Livy darling, we are still booming along in the sociabilities, & find it a pretty energetic business & rather taxing to the strength. However, we keep good hours, & are able to stand it. We spent yesterday afternoon & last night at Mr. Cable’s house. Uncle Remus was there, but was too bashful to read; so the children of the neighborhood flocked in to look at him (& were grievously disappointed to find he was white & young,) & I read Remus’ stories es & my own stuff to them, & Cable read from the Grandissimes & sketches. In the evening we all went to Mr. Guthrie’s (brother to David Gray’s wife,) & had superb piano music by young ladies, & some excellent recitations by (myself) & others, & a song or two. Guthrie’s little boy (aged 6) & little girl (aged 4) performed the balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet in the quaintest most captivating way, with good emphasis, elocution, earnestness, & perfect simplicity & unconsciousness. I never have seen anything that moved me more. They required prompting only once. There was an audience of twenty-five ladies & gentlemen.

We are reduced to lying, at last. We pretend to have engagements which we have not, in order to escape others which we want to avoid.

A big, fast steam-tug was offered us, & this morning we steamed up & down the river an h a couple of hours at a tremendous rate. I did the steering myself. There was a fine breeze blowing, the sun was bright, & orange groves & other trees about the plantation dwellings in full & sumptuous leaf. Splendid trip. I took along a couple of old-time pilots as our guests.

Mr. Hatch called, to-day, & invited us over to his house to see his daughter, but we had the usual engagements on hand & enxcused ourselves.

We dine with the editors tonightⒶemendation, (& pretend to go down to the mouth of the river tomorrow, but shall lie abed & sleep, instead.)

I have telegraphed St Louis for Howells’s letter—I return his nice note to you.

We leave Saturday & shall be 5 days going up to St Louis. You can (& must) write to St Louis (Southern Hotel) as late as next Tuesday, but no later. With a whole world of love to you & them cubs,