Page:Behind the scenes, or, Thirty years a slave and four years in the White House.djvu/294

292 friends, which only urgent necessity compels me to part with, and I am especially anxious that they shall not be sacrificed. "The circumstances are peculiar, and painfully embarrassing; therefore I hope you will endeavor to realize as much as possible for them. Hoping to hear from you, I remain, very respectfully,

"Sept. 25, 1867.
 * —My great, great sorrow and loss have made me painfully sensitive, but as my feelings and pecuniary comforts were never regarded or even recognized in the midst of my overwhelming bereavement—now that I am pressed in a most startling manner for means of subsistence, I do not know why I should shrink from an opportunity of improving my trying position.

"Being assured that all you do will be