In the fall of this year he had a commission from the Appletons to visit Rhode Island on a sketching tour. It was his first attempt at anything of just this sort, and he was evidently nervous over his responsibilities. But his unfailing courage served him once more, and his naïve account of the trip and of the reception of its fruits is preserved in a letter to his mother: “BROOKLYN, N. Y., _Sept. 23/72_. “MY DEAR MOTHER: “I returned from my trip on Thursday, but did not wish to write you immediately as I hoped to be able to send you more encouraging news by waiting a day or so. Many were the disadvantages which I labored under during all the time while I was away, being almost sick constantly. Nevertheless I worked through it all, hard and faithfully, and the result is ‘a perfect success,’ far exceeding my greatest anticipations. It was a very important period in my business career, and I felt the necessity of working _hard_, and, truth to say, I was confident of success, but not to any such degree as that with which I have met. “My commission included Providence and Suburbs: Pawtucket; Providence Bay; Narragansett Bay; Rocky Point and Narragansett Pier, all of which I visited and sketched. During the first week I remained at the Central Hotel, Providence, where I had quite a pleasant room. It being the first time of my being sent upon work of this kind I was ignorant as to what would be expected of me and of course was much worried and anxious, and the one thing which troubled me most has been the one of all others which has made me so successful. Each day, (with my camp seat, umbrella and materials,) I would start out either on foot or in the cars, traveling nearly until evening and in no case did I bring home with me more than three sketches, and this number only once. It was this scarcity in my number of sketches that caused me to worry, but I still felt that what I had got were good; all through the day would I pass by little bits of landscape that I thought would compose rather prettily, but nevertheless I made up my mind (as I was not to be gone long) to sketch only such bits as I knew would be particularly attractive, and of course it would take nearly the whole day before I could find and sketch more than two. I imagined that this was a very small number, but did not see how I could do much better, as it took a great deal of time to walk about and select the prettiest views. Well, I worked on in this way for the whole week, and at the end of it I never realized more happily the fact that ‘seven times two made fourteen’ and I thought that if I could go home with twenty-eight sketches it would be certainly well enough as far as the number was concerned. But, again I was very much in doubt as to the merit of my sketches and as the other