Your affectionate friend, Rose Webb. P. S. I am very glad that you are going to be married. (The Enclosure) Deep the world with snow was covered, Cold and barren was the earth, Low the Christmas angels hovered As a little babe had birth. Just a tender little flower, Dropped upon the world below Out of God's eternal bower-- Pink as sunrise, white as snow. But the little blossom stranger, As its earthly life it starts, Need fear neither cold nor danger, For 'tis planted _in our hearts_. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VII "Thayerhurst" Manchester-by-the-sea. August 15, 1913. My dear little Smiles: This is going to be a very short letter, and can you guess why? Early next month I am going to run away from my work and everything here, and hurry down to your mountain for two whole weeks of wonderful vacation. So the next time you hear from me the words will come from my lips instead of my pen. I have been very glad indeed to hear that Big Jerry has been so well this summer, and I am sure that he has many more years of virile health ahead of him. I am keenly looking forward to seeing him cut a string with the new rifle. The weather has been terribly hot in Boston this month and caused much suffering, but it is quite cool and very pleasant here by the ocean. Every night that it is possible, I spend here with my sister's family, partly because I love to see my little namesake, even for a moment, partly to escape the city's heat and obtain some really refreshing rest. It makes me almost ashamed sometimes, when I think how comfortable I am, and how uncomfortable are the little children in the crowded city, most of whom have no woods, fields and streams like yours to play in, and many of whom never see anything out of doors except dirty, paved streets which get so hot that they burn the feet, even though the fire engine men frequently send rushing streams of water through them. But I know that a fighter must always keep in the best possible condition, and we doctors _and nurses_ have declared war on an enemy who has killed millions and millions, and never takes a day off. I wonder how you will like the ocean when you see it. Very much, I am sure, it is so immensely big--like the sky--so beautiful, and more full of ever-changing colors than even your mountains. They tell me that little Muriel plays beside it all day long on the fine white sand and over the rocks, while baby brother lies near by on a blanket, kicking and gurgling, and holding long, wordless conversations with the white clouds and sea birds high overhead.