I am just in receipt of the papers which place me in possession of the _Old Homestead_. This, I am sure, will be very pleasing news to you, since it is my intention to make it the home of your declining years: poor old grandmother, too, shall find it a welcome refuge while she lives. I have never felt that I could see the home of my birth pass to other hands; my heart still clings to it, and its hallowed associations, with all the tenacity of former days. The first of May will, in future, have special charms for me, for from this day, 1878, dates my claim to that spot of earth which to me is dearer than all others. Imagination often takes me back to the Old House on the Hill, where your children spent many of the happiest hours of their childhood and youth. In fancy I again visit the scenes of my boyhood--again chase the butterfly, and pick the dandelion with Elvira and Marjorie in the shade of the wide-spreading elms. * * * * * I have been working for you, dear parents, in the face of great obstacles since the close of the war. If you think I have neglected you--have not been home in ten long years, then I reply, I did not wish to see you again until I could place you beyond the reach of want. _One of the objects of my life is to-day accomplished:_ and now, with love to all, and the fervent hope that prosperity and happiness may wait upon you for many, many years to come, I remain, always, Your most affectionate son, Willard. [Illustration: Headwaters Of The Mississippi.] CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. An interval of literary work.--Conception of another expedition.--Reflections upon the Old Explorers.--Indian rumors.--Determined to find the true source of the Great River.--Starting on the eventful journey.--Joined by his brother George and Barrett Channing Paine.--Collecting materials for the expedition.--Brainerd the first point of departure.--Through the Chippewa Country.--Seventy miles of government road.--Curiosity its own reward.--Arrival at Leech Lake. An interval of three years, from 1878 to 1881, now elapsed in the career of Captain Glazier; years of retirement from public attention, but by no means of inactivity on his part. During this period he was engaged mainly in literary work, and in preparation for a forthcoming expedition which his ever restless brain had evolved, and which, if successful, would furnish a valuable contribution to the geography of North America.