October 8 Thursday – In Redding, Conn. Sam added to his Oct. 6, 7 to Margaret Blackmer. Here is the Oct. 8 segment:
Oct. 8. You’ve been gone so long, now, that I suppose I wouldn’t know you if I met you. But fortunately there’s the shell! By that I should know you in a minute; for there’s only the one shell.
Day before yesterday Ashcat & I found a new trail, & a long one. First it goes down the road to Mrs. Lyon’s; then takes the old road to the left (the one we drove over to the Branchfield station when you & your mother went away); by & by you turn sharply to the left again & prowl through deep woods over an old grass-grown road which curves gradually leftward & at last comes out on the road that goes down past the red barns & the gorge. You cross our bridge there & go up past the mound toward our hickory trees, & up the slope to the top, & there you are! with the kitchen-end of the house in sight—& in two minutes more you are at home. It is a splendid long oval tramp, you see, with quails whizzing up all about you & the deep woods rich with autumn colors. Next time you come, dear, we’ll try it, wicht wahr?
As soon as Helen is old enough to travel you must bring her here every little while & teach her to like the place, for your sake & mine. Will you, dear? And her brother, too. I know I shall love the children; in truth I love them already, & often think of them.
Noon, 8th. I got up at 9.30 & went down stairs. The woods were so beautiful from my bedroom window, all drenched with sunshine & purpled with shadows, that I had to go down & observe them from the loggia arches.
The servants came to bid me good-bye, at 11. They gave notice a week or ten days ago, still frightened to death about that burglary. All of them are gone, except the two outside men (Harry & the Italian general-utility-man.) Our two old-time Italian servants will arrive from New York at 5 this afternoon. The man is a good cook & his wife is expert in chamber-work. We shall get some natives from the farm-houses in a few days, & bother no more with city- servants. Meantime we are quite comfortable & perfectly satisfied. Tomorrow Ashpan will arrive with the captain of one of the great Cunard liners & his body-servant, for over Sunday; & also my daughter Clara will arrive with her aunt. Ashhopper & Miss Lyon & I will dress up in aprons & gorgeous Chinese jackets & east-Indian turbans & wait on the table & have lots of fun; & if we could only have you here, in your dainty blue costume to pass the cocktails around in the library the whole scheme would be just perfect! I wish we had you, you little witch! [MTP; MTAq 214-15]. Note: Sam finished this letter on Oct. 9; see entry. The captain of the Cunard liner was Commodore Daniel Dow [Oct. 12 to Nunnally]. See also June 17, 1908 entry on Dow. “Ashpan” and “Ashhopper” were Sam’s nicknames for Ashcroft.
Isabel Lyon’s journal: Today all the maids left. Katie Murray, Katherine, Mary—cook and the kitchen maid. They shirked their work, left no luncheon for me and on the whole I was glad to see them go. At 6 o’clock Goddam brought Teresa and Giuseppe. She was excited and important; he was excited and eager and shy. It was a pleasure to see those 2 good Italians [MTP: IVL TS 69]. Note: who Goddam is, not clear.
Jean Clemens, aboard the S.S. Postdampfers in route from NYC to Germany, wrote to Isabel Lyon [MTP ].
Dear Lioness; / In my bankbook, which I received the day before I sailed, there is no statement about the $200 you meant (or did) to telephone them to add to my account. I am writing them that it should have been there & doubtless now is & about sending me money. I meant to bring more of my own with me, so as to have plenty in time in which to make the necessary arrangements, but I didn’t succeed in completing all my plans, so that I came on board with very little. I may have to borrow from Father, if I find it necessary to buy any clothing—and I am afraid I may—before my own fortune reaches me. But of course it won’t be forgotten.
Anna’s behavior lasted three full days & then on the morning of the fourth she asked me if I was angry with her. I told her I had been very much annoyed but that I had felt badly, too, because I knew she had been unhappy & crying but that after I had started to speak about different things several times & had gotten either grunts or bare answers, I had decided she better work herself out of her frame of mind herself. I reminded her that before we left she had been told she must not act as she had, that that kind of conduct must stop. She said some idiotic & impudent things about Bébé which were caused by imagination, ignorance & perhaps a tinge of jealousy. I made no mention of her rudeness to me & actual insolence to Bébé, in public, nor did I give her the satisfaction of knowing that I had been so upset by her performance, my feelings of exasperation & pity combined, that I had lain awake until about two that morning. I didn’t immediately let her think it was all over & gone but I didn’t want her to be unkind, either. Among other things, she said I treated her so differently whenever Bébé was about that she felt she wasn’t wanted. That was due to our talking French the greater part of the time. Well, the first squall has passed—it took it eight days to develop & three to wear out.
After having heard so much about the horrors of fog from my sailing-captain last summer, I felt far worse every time we have been enveloped than ever before. In the channel, since yesterday morning we have had fog right along—part of the time so dense that we went at quarter-speed & even stopped for a short time. We have come very close to several quaint fishing boats—so close that it made me shudder.
To my amazement we passed Dover at about ten this morning—just a few minutes after our table steward told me we might not be able to land until Sunday. Of course, if the fog is dense at the Elbe light-ship we may not each Cuxhaven for a day or more, but the Captain’s dinner takes place tonight, so they are evidently hoping to land us tomorrow afternoon.
If you haven’t sent the $200 & my allowance of $100 please do so at once—at least one of the two sums. With ever so much love… [MTP]. Note: Anna Sterritt, Jean’s maid, hired by Clemens.
Hill writes of Jean in Germany:
After getting settled, Jean explained to Miss Lyon in detail the need for additional money to cover unanticipated expenses. Anna Sterritt angered Jean by saying “some idiotic and impudent things about Bébé [Marguerite Schmidt] which were caused by imagination, ignorance and perhaps a tinge of jealousy.” But she was pleased with her progress under Professor Hofrath von Reuvers and was convinced he could cure her. She enrolled in a lecture course on Faust, made many friends among the American colony, and began a round of teas and luncheons. She even delivered her father’s ghost story, “The Golden Arm,” successfully to a charity benefit [213-14].
Mary Helen Lathrop Nelson wrote from Cincinnati, Ohio to invite Sam to speak at their women’s club [MTP]. Note: IVL: “Answd Oct. 8”
Edith A. Pond wrote from NYC to Sam. “I presume you will remember me when I tell you I am Major Pond’s daughter.” She wanted him to do a reading for her to raise funds so she might raise her nearly blind son, and suggested she engage the New Amsterdam Theatre for an afternoon [MTP]. Note: MLH: “Ans. Oct 20”
October 8 after – In Redding, Conn. Sam wrote to Maud W. Littleton (Mrs. Martin W. Littleton):
You dear Mrs. Pinkerton!
You are really back & I am so glad. It was lovely of you to send me those beautiful handkerchiefs, & I shall prize them, not only for their own merit but for the sake of the giver.
You & your chief slave must come up here very soon, & render an account of what you have been doing abroad; & I want you to bring President Butler & Miss Sara. I would like very much to have Miss Sara in my Aquarium of Angel-fishes if she will consent & will follow the consent with her presence here. You see the Rules & Regulations are very strict in several particulars; among them the investiture has to take place in this house & not elsewhere, just as if he were an L.L.D, because there are many universities, but only one Aquarium. Miss Lyon will take the matter up with you & write the president & Miss Sara.
(Privately in your ear: Miss Lyon is pretty airy this morning because Germany is glorifying her as a Burglary-Heroine.) / With my love, … [MTP].
Note: Nicholas Murray Butler (1862-1947) American philosopher, diplomat and educator: President of Columbia University; President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (1931); Nazi sympathizer until war broke out.