My  dear  Mrs.  Lathrop,  —  Rummaging
among  my  papers,  last  evening,  I  ran  across  an-
other letter  from  our  "bright-eyed"  and  noble-
hearted  friend  Mullet,  which  I  think  you  will  be
glad  to  read,  because  Mullet  wrote  it.  I  there-
fore inclose  the  letter.  Mullet  is  very  hard  of
hearing,  and  on  that  account  goes  out  but  little.
During  the  twelve  years  that  I  lived  in  Salem  I
am  sure  I  never  once  met  him  on  the  street.  In
fact,  I  think  I  never  heard  of  him,  even,  till  after
I  moved  to  Providence.  I  heard  of  him  one  day
at  the  "  Gazette  "  office,  and  forthwith  dug  him  out.
He  is  a  great  reader.  The  Harpers  have  sent  me
all  of  Rolfe's  Shakespeare,  and  I  found  that  I  have
duplicate  copies  of  three  or  four  of  the  Plays*.
These  duplicates  I  shall  ask  Mullet  to  oblige  me
by  accepting.  Mullet  is  not  the  chap  who  bored
your  father  so  fearfully  by  endless  talk  about
Shakespeare  and  Napoleon,  but  he  is  a  prodigious
admirer  of  the  great  dramatist.  He  has  the  Plays
in  one  huge,  unwieldy  volume,  and  for  that  reason
reads  them  less  than  he  would  if  they  were  in  a
more  handy  form.    Mullet  is  a  great  reader  of  the

old  English  poets  (I  don't  mean  so  far  back  as

no


LIFE   IN   SALEM

Chaucer  and  Spenser),  and  I  suppose  he  can
repeat  from  memory  thousands  of  lines.  I  have
found  no  chance  to  call  upon  him  since  I  fruitlessly
rang  his  doorbell,  as  stated  in  his  letter.
Please  remind  me  to  tell  you  about  an  African
fetich  which  Mullet  gave  me  one  day,  and  a
reminiscence  of  your  father  linked  therewith.
Ever  faithfully,

George  H.  H  olden.
Salem,  September  lo,  1884.
