WILLIAM  M.  FOORD 
ATTORNEY 
LITCHFIELD,  CONN. 
July  27,  1925. 
Mr.  Walter  Deane, 
29  Brewster  St., 
Cambridge,  Mass. 
i.  V|V! r'llNl 
Dear  Mr-  Deane, 
Your  letter  of  December  31st,  1924  lias  been  lying  on  my 
desk  for  over  six  months  awaiting  the  spirit  to  move  me  to 
to  it.  I  have  seen  it  there  frequently  and  its  presence  brought 
very  pleasant  recollections.  This  morning  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
to  answer  it  regardless  of  other  things  calling  for  attention. 
I  suppose  this  will  find  you  at  Shelbourne  but  I  know  it 
will  reach  you  from  Cambridge.  No  doubt  you  are  enjoying  the 
summer  in  the  mountains  with  your  birds  and  flowers,  and  I  wish 
that  I  could  be  with  you  for  a  while  and  enjoy  it  too.  My  vacation 
however,  will  be  spent  in  Maine  on  a  fishing  trip  as  usual,  so  this 
is  not  a  request  for  an  invitation. 
Just  at  present  we  are  having  a  rather  wet  summer. _  It  has 
been  extremely  dry  until  this  month  and  since  July  began  it  has 
rained  just  enough  to  dampen  things  almost  every  day.  I  am  glad 
to  see  the  water,  however,  for  a  dry  summer  is  a  very  distressing 
thing. 
My  interest  in  natural  things  has  not  abated  any  but  other 
considerations  have  prevented  me  from  being  more  of  a  naturalist. 
Now  and  then,  however,  nature  forces  itself  upon  me,  as  it  did 
the  other  day  when  I  was  out  driving  with  one  of  my  boys  and  a  hen 
partridge  with  a  brood  of  chicks  disputed  the  right  of  way.  I 
stopped  the  car  and  Malcolm  got  out,  and  I  had  much  amusement  m 
seeing  him  try  to  Catch  one  of  the  chicks  wlmle  the  old  bird 
fluttered  around.  Of  course  he  was  unsuccessful,  but  he  had  the 
opportunity  of  getting  close  to  one  of  our  wildest  neighbors-  He 
was  much  pleased  and  has  talked  about  it  considerably,  and  feels 
that  he  has  something  on  the  other  boys. 
We  are  also  frequently  entertained  with  the  presence  of 
rabbits  in  the  village.  The  other  evening  I  took  my  dog  out  for 
a  walk  and  she  routed  three  rabbits  out  of  the  hedges  and  shubuery 
right  on  our  main  street.  These  were  cotton-tails  and  it  was 
astonishing  how  they  dared  to  live  in  the  village  with  so  many 
dogs  around.  Frequently  a  large  rabbit  comes  up  from  the  meadow 
back  of  my  house  and  comes  right  up  the  driveway  and  crosses  the 
road.  Sometimes  the  boys  try  to  catch  it,  much  to  their  amusement, 
and  I  think  to  that  of  the  rabbit  also.  The  strange  thing  about  it 
all  is  that  they  do  not  seem  to  molest  the  gardens  so  my  shot-gun 
has  remained  on  the  hook  except  for  one  occasion  when  it  put  the 
