STUDENT DAYS 57 



I boarded this season at the house of Miss 

 Upham on Kirkland Street. Two notable peo- 

 ple formed part of the group at the table. One 

 was the poet and artist, Christopher P. Cranch, 

 who gave me much sympathy and encourage- 

 ment, and seemed greatly interested in the study 

 I had undertaken, and the other, a law student 

 about to graduate from the university, was 

 Charles Bonaparte of Baltimore. 



In November I received a letter from Mr. 

 Straight from a place called Warrensburg, in 

 Missouri. He said he wished to procure the 

 services of some one who could start certain col- 

 lections of natural history for the normal school 

 situated at Warrensburg; that he had written to 

 Professor Agassiz regarding the matter, and had 

 been referred to me as a conscientious field- 

 naturalist to start the proposed collections and 

 show him how to carry them on. He said the 

 work would be Jfor three months in the spring, 

 beginning the last of March and ending in June, 

 and offered me one hundred and fifty dollars per 

 month for my services during the period, if I 

 were willing to entertain the proposition. 



After some consultation with my people at 

 home, and after thinking the matter over, I ac- 

 cepted Professor Straight's offer, leaving Cam- 

 bridge permanently in March, 1874. 



