Letter from [Bailey] Millard to John Muir, 1902 Mar 6.

[1][letterhead]March 6, 1902.Dear Mr. Muir:I should have written before and thanked you and Mrs. Muir for your cordial welcome and royal hospitality. It may seem strange to you, but I go so little to the houses of my friends that I hardly know what to do or say in return for their kindnesses. I must have seemed singularly unappreciative of all your courtesy. Credit me with some fine,02959 [2]large, [illegible] silences, full of appreciative expression. More than anything I enjoyed the talk of Thoreau. Rarely have I met with any one who fully understood the Walden man. Only Ferguson, Markham and perhaps Jordan, though one is never quite sure what Jordan really knows. The two books you so kindly gave me I sent to Ferguson, who lives in Tuc[illegible]. He is one of your people- I am sure you are related. Has a horror of big towns,02959 [3]loves the wilds far better than the tames, and is grandly eloquent in the [pen?]. I think he is one of the finest old pirates I ever met, as savage as Stevenson - or you - and as gentle. The wind has s[illegible] [down?] [illegible] of tree buds of all sorts, and I fear the [illegible] will not be so obtrusive this year as last. But, remember, you are to come and see it. We have it in greater masses here than in any place I have seen. With kind wishes for Mrs. Muir, your daughters and yourself,Ever yours Millard0295