They said little of matters about which he now most desired specific information, while they seemed to communicate a great many important facts in regard to the splendid enterprise in which they were engaged.

Altogether, they left no satisfactory impression on his mind.

One of them, bearing a later date than the rest, disturbed him deeply.

It was the first, for some months, in which allusion was made to his daughter.

The closing paragraph of this letter ran thus:-- "I have not found time, amid this pressure of business, to write a word to your daughter for some weeks.