Bierce promises to have his photograph taken so that he can fulfill her request for his autograph and a photograph and playfully says, "When I get there [Oakland] I shall blindfold you, hypnotize you and command you to find my lost youth and freedom. Then I shall marry you alive and live happily ever after."

Bierce writes "I am sending you by this mail the photograph of a bad old man with a scowl. The scowl, however, is not for you -you never saw it." He did not send a photograph to her big sister (Louise ?) because she already possessed one more pleasant looking

He accepts all of her gratitude and regard for himself although he does not believe that he merits it. He regrets that he cannot say when he will be able to meet Mr. King but agrees to see him informally some time when he is in Oakland

In this letter, he sends Harriet some wild pansies growing by the wayside because they made him think of her, "I feel sure that the thought of you was put into my head by some divine intervention in the affairs of mortals, and for some purpose. My interpretation -with my feeble light and dull intuition-is that I am to send you some of those poor little frail pansies." He then goes on to explain that pansies are for thoughts and their old English name "hearts-ease" is better suited than "pansies = pensees"

Thanks her for sending him the ginger cakes which he tried to share with the horned-toads but they preferred grasshoppers. He declines to visit Oakland because his last visit cost him a month's illness but urges her to visit him in Los Gatos and to bring with her "that impossible paragon, the Pittsburgh sister -whom, however, I believe to be a myth."

Asks Harriet for the Paris address of her "musical sweetheart," Will King, so that he can thank him for a book and asks her to write him concerning herself. Otherwise he will have to hire a detective to shadow her night and day and send him reports of everything he learns about her activities

He wishes to see her very badly but remembers all too well the last illness which he suffered in Oakland, promises to send tickets to Belle and her if they will visit him in Los Gatos for a Sunday afternoon, and mentions receiving a letter from her sister Louise

Expresses joy at the receipt of her letter for "it clears you of the solemn suspicion of running away from me in cold-blooded infraction of our understanding" but he also thinks "it very rascally of you to take all the sunshine out of Oakland to bestow it upon Iona "

Sends another photograph to replace the damaged one along with several books to "the Colonel and the Major" and mentions a letter from Mamie who proved to be a charming traveling companion

Responding to her impression of his goodness Bierce writes, "It is pretty easy to be good to you, and I don't expect any credit for it in the books of the Recording Angel. He will say: 'Bah ! who wouldn't be good to Hattie Hershberg?' and then he will debit me with one selfish motive." He also mentions Kodak photographs of a group consisting of Hattie, Mamie, Dave, Selma, Louise, and himself, while assuring her of his devotion, "you are still the only girl in the world; and if there is a man who does not love you he is a scoundrel." Referring the Preston School of Industry in Ione, California, a juvenile correction institute supervised by a relative of Hirshberg's Bierce writes, "No, my pet scheme for making soldiers of the Major's little rascals is not practicable. The confounded Government is so particular about the moral character of its recruits that I couldn't enlist myself. This is a great disappointment to me. I had quite set my heart on getting Co. A into Cuba, to prove that bad boys make the best soldiers. But I'm assured that it cannot be done."

Writes that he has severed all connections with Los Gatos and that his health is now good as he day dreams under the redwoods. He complains that thoughts of her often break in upon his reminiscences of the past, "Only the other day you want only interrupted the march of a column of troops from Readyville, Tennessee to Woodbury, Tennessee, which was not at all nice of you."

Agrees to take her to see the soldiers and to expound every military mystery they encounter and to plan a trip to the country when she visits

Promises to visit San Francisco next Sunday and Monday if she promises to give him Monday, when they can see the soldiers or go anywhere she wants

Bierce was unable to go to Oakland and wishes that he could run the world awhile, "My first official act would be to order you and Mamie to Los Gatos ; my second, to go there myself."

Thanks Hattie for the present of a cushion because it signified her return from her trip to a lake in the mountains and asks if he can visit her on Saturday afternoon

Hopes that she is happier than in her last letter and asks individually about the health of her whole family

Agrees to examine the manuscript of one of her friends if it is in typescript and legible and describes his new quarters in a house with six rooms, one of which he has reserved for her and her chaperon if she will visit

Apologizes for his seeming inattention and answers her questions about the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Urges Hattie to come, rent a house, and visit several weeks in the area along with Belle and Florence, "Please say if you will come and thereby sweeten the fragrance of the flowers, intensify the gold of the sunshine and add a new music to the voices of my pet quails -one of which sits on my knee as I write and looks knowing as if he said: I can tell by your face whom you are writing to?"

Expresses his disappointment that she did not come up to visit during her summer outing and determines to accustom himself to disappointment even to the point of allowing Harriet, Belle, and Florence to marry if they choose

Asks her to again send the recipe for molasses candy for some of the ladies there want to make some and "as the purpose of my existence is to please the members of the sex which your virtues preserve from damnation I comply with the request"

Voices his concern over Louise's illness (malaria ?) and begs for news of her condition

Asks for news of Louise and relates his plans to make a farewell visit to San Francisco before he returns to Washington, D.C. to live

Thanks Hattie for her good news about Louise and the invitation to Thanksgiving dinner which he must decline in the chaos of preparing to leave for Washington, D.C. but promises to try to see them all before he leaves

Tells Hattie that he is to leave today and asks if she can keep herself and Louise and Belle at home long enough to see him before he leaves at 5 p.m.

Tells her that "it is not worthwhile to love you anymore, for I shall never see you again" even if she should visit Pittsburgh because the coal smoke from the railway engines makes him very ill and there is little else in Pittsburgh .

Asks about the family and when she will be able to visit her sister Nettie in Pittsburgh and him in Washington

Declares that if he shall ever see those whom he loves again he will have to do the traveling "to the imminent destruction of my lungs" and wishes her "as much happiness as I can make up my mind that you ought to have in my absence"

Hopes to see her in Washington before she leaves on her trip to Europe with her sister Nettie and offers to show her the capital

Having just returned from an unpleasant fortnight in New York, Bierce hopes that Hattie will be able to visit him in Washington, although he would be willing to return to New York to see her

Bierce looks forward to seeing Harriet in a few days and describes his Christmas Day activities

Assures her that he is not angry that she won't be coming to Washington because "I have lived long enough to learn that a woman's promise is merely the expression of a mood -and woman's moods do not last long."

He is glad that Hattie had a good time in Washington during her visit and that she is enjoying New York City as well but does not plan to see her in New York

Thanks her for her expression of sympathy and mentions that his daughter is visiting with him

Bierce writes that he hopes her reasons for staying in the East so long is due to having such a good time and not the matchmaking attempts of Sally and Nettie, and he also touts his typewriting ability "I have one great qualification: I can hold my tongue, though sometimes both hands are required to do the job"

Having received her note about her impending marriage Bierce writes, "It is pleasant to know that you still live, though about to die -I mean marry and live in Philadelphia . I approve the marriage, but Philadelphia ! -that is going too far" and asks for news of everyone