THE LAST YEARS 369 
[a niece of Mrs. Agassiz] came down to dine and we 
had a nice afternoon together. When she went I 
made a little music. I wish it were like old wine, the 
better for keeping, but it gets fearfully broken and 
rusty in places. 
TO MISS ELIZABETH H. CLARK 
Nahant, May 29, 1897 
Dear Miss Cuark:... Everything is prospering in 
the sunshine after the soft rain. My laburnum tree 
is in blossom and my purple irises most beautiful. I 
am getting ready for you, as you see. If I can only 
coax the roses out by June 15th! 
July 29, 1897. — A violent southerly storm with 
tremendous rain. I have been in the Arctics with Nan- 
sen all day. What a fascinating book! 
January 5, 1898. — Yesterday to Nannie’s funeral. 
J came straight home and spent the rest of the day in 
all sorts of business to be cleared away. It was the 
best occupation and helped to bring one back into the 
everyday current of life. I spent the day by myself 
and put my house in order. 
In February, 1898, a heavy sorrow came to Mrs. 
Agassiz in the death of her sister, Miss Sallie Cary; 
‘the world seems so strange and different without her,” 
she writes in her diary, ‘the best, the truest, dearest 
sister, strength and support to us all.” 
March 12, 1898. — To Council meeting. One must 
begin some time to take up the thread of life again, 
