December 19 Sunday — On board the Bermudian Sam wrote to Marion Schuyler Allen (Mrs. William H. Allen) in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Dear Mrs. Allen:
I don’t know how to thank you & Mr. Allen enough for the perfectly charming time you have given me. I have never had a lovelier time, & I can’t get over being sorry that it had to come to an end.
This is not a comfortable voyage. We plunged into heavy seas before the waving handkerchiefs & the flag were an hour out of sight, & nine-tenths of the passengers were abed before dinner time. Paine succumbed early, & got extravagantly seasick, & that other pain (the one in my breast) kept me entertained until 3 this morning. There is still enough sea to make writing difficult.
Jean has been having an adventure, & I send you her letter. You needn’t return it. Think of that excited & innocent Frenchman ordering that well-trained & obedient dog to lie down & keep still when he particularly wanted him to get up & ’tend to business! A very good dog. As soon as Jean said “Los!” (Go! fly! rush!) he reinstated his injured reputation.
I wish I was back in that hospitable Bay House. What a contrast its comfort is to the dismal ship! / With love to you all, / Affectionately yours / ... [MTP].
Sam also wrote to William H. Allen. Text not available [MTP].
The New York Times, p.8, ran a short squib, “Mark Twain Coming Home,” that he would return on Monday with Paine.