To Joseph Jefferson

May 4th, 1898.--To-day, fishing down the Swiftwater, I found Joseph Jefferson on a big rock in the middle of the brook, casting the fly for trout. He said he had fished this very stream three-and-forty years ago; and near by, in the Paradise Valley, he wrote his famous play.--Leaf from my Diary.

We met on Nature's stage, And May had set the scene, With bishop-caps standing in delicate ranks, And violets blossoming over the banks, While the brook ran full between.

The waters rang your call, With frolicsome waves a-twinkle,-- They knew you as boy, and they knew you as man, And every wave, as it merrily ran, Cried, "Enter Rip van Winkle!"