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, 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 Appomattox--and this was such an extremely important feature that his book would necessarily have been severely lame without it.