XLVIII. LETTERS OF 1910. LAST TRIP TO BERMUDA. LETTERS TO PAINE.

THE

LAST LETTER.

Mark Twain had returned from a month's trip to Bermuda a few days

before Jean died. Now, by his physician's advice, he went back to

those balmy islands. He had always loved them, since his first trip

there with Twichell thirty-three years earlier, and at "Bay House,"

the residence of Vice-Consul Allen, where he was always a welcome

guest, he could have the attentions and care and comforts of a home.

Taking Claude, the butler, as his valet, he sailed January 5th, and

presently sent back a letter in which he said, "Again I am leading

the ideal life, and am immeasurably content."

By his wish, the present writer and his family were keeping the

Stormfield house open for him, in order that he might be able to

return to its comforts at any time. He sent frequent letters--one

or two by each steamer--but as a rule they did not concern matters

of general interest. A little after his arrival, however, he wrote

concerning an incident of his former visit--a trivial matter--but

one which had annoyed him. I had been with him in Bermuda on the

earlier visit, and as I remember it, there had been some slight

oversight on his part in the matter of official etiquette--something

which doubtless no one had noticed but himself.

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The Letters Of Mark Twain, Complete