September 24 Thursday – On the Rhone River below Vienne, Sam began a letter to Livy, which he finished on Sept. 25.

I salute you, my darling. Your telegram saying you had had a letter from the original Prachtel himself, reached me in Lyons last night & was very pleasant news indeed, for it meant a great let-up of your worry.

I was up & shaved before 8 this morning, but we got delayed & didn’t sail from Lyons till 10.30 — an hour & a half lost. And we’ve lost another hour — two of them, I guess — since, by an error. We came in sight of Vienne at 2 o’clock, several miles ahead, on a hill, & I proposed to walk down there & let the boat go down there ahead of us. So Joseph & I got out there & struck through a willow swamp there along a dim path, & by & by came out on the steep bank of a slough or inlet or something, & we followed that bank forever & ever trying to get around the head of that slough. Finally I noticed a twig standing up in the water, & by George it had a distinct & even vigorous quiver to it! I don’t know when I have felt so much like a donkey. On an island! I wanted to drown somebody, but I hadn’t anybody I could spare. However, after another long tramp we found a lonely native, & he had a scow & soon we were on the main land — yes, & a blamed sight further from Vienne than we were when we started.

Notes — I make millions of them; & so I get no time to write to you. If you’ve got a pad there, please send it poste-restante to Avignon. I may not need it but I fear I shall.

I’m straining to reach St. Pierre de Boef, but it’s going to be a close fit, I reckon [MTLP 2: 552; MTP].

Note: They did reach the town late and took rooms in an inn, as Sam’s PS shows the next day. Mr. Prächtel was the rental agent of the Körnerstrasse apartment the family wished to lease for their winter stay in Berlin.