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CHAPTER VI From Susy's Biography Papal made arrangements to read at Vassar College the 1st of May, and I went with him.Z We went by way of New York City. Mamma went with us to New York and stayed two days to do some shopping. We started Tuesday, at Vz past two o'clock in the afternoon, and reached New York about V4 past six. Papa went right up to General Grants from the station and mamma and I went to the Everett House. Aunt Clara3 came to supper with us up in our room.... We and Aunt Clara were going to the theatre right after supper, and we expected papa to take us there and to come home as early as he could. But we got through dinner and he didn't come, and didn't come, and mamma got more perplexed and worried, but at last we thought we would have to go without him. So we put on our things and started down stairs but before we'd goten half down we met papa coming up with a great bunch of roses in his hand. He explained that the reason he was so late was that his watch stopped and he didn't notice and kept thinking it an hour earlier than it really was. The roses he carried were some Col. Fred Grant' sent to mamma. We went to the theatre and enjoyed ')\donis" [word illegible ] acted very much. We reached home about Vz past eleven o'clock and went right to bed. Wednesday morning we got up rather late and had breakfast about Vz past nine o'clock. After breakfast mamma went out shopping and papa and I went to see papa's agent about some business matters. After papa had gotten through talking to Cousin Charlie, [Webster]5 papa's agent, we went to get a friend of papa's, Major Pond,6 to go and see a Dog Show with us. Then we went to see the dogs with Major Pond and we had a delightful time seeing so many dogs together; when we got through seeing the dogs papa thought he would go and see General Grant and I went with him - this was April 29, 1885. Papa went up into General Grant's room and he took me with him, I felt greatly honored and delighted when papa took mt; into General Grant's room and let me see the General and Col. Grant, for General Grant is a man I shall be glad all my life that I have seen. Papa and General Grant had a long talk together and papa has written an account of his talk and visit with General Grant for me to put into this biography. North American Review, vol. 183, no. 603 (November 16, 1906): 961-70. 56 Chapter VI 57 Susy has inserted in this place that account of mine- as follows: April 29, 1885. I called on General Grant and took Susy with me. The General was looking and feeling far better than he had looked or felt for some months. He had ventured to work again on his book that morning- the first time he had done any work for perhaps a month. This morning's work was his first attempt at dictating,7 and it was a thorough success, to his great delight. He had always said that it would be impossible for him to dictate anything, but I had said that he was noted for clearness of statement, and as a narrative was simply a statement of consecutive facts, he was consequently peculiarly qualified and equipped for dictation. This turned out to be true. For he had dictated two hours that morning to a shorthand writer, had never hesitated for words, had not repeated himself, and the manuscript when finished needed no revision. The two hours' work was an account of Appomattox8 - and this was such an extremely important feature that his book would necessarily have been severely lame without it. Therefore I had taken a shorthand writer there before, to see if I could not get him to write at least a few lines about Appomattox.* But he was at that time not well enough to undertake it. I was aware that of all the hundred versions of Appomattox, not one was really correct. Therefore I was extremely anxious that he should leave behind him the truth. His throat was not distressing him, and his voice was...

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