. .
Very respectfully,
WAXING POETIC OVER FIRST LOVE
November 24, 1925
Ithaca Gun Company
Ithica, New York
Gentlemen,
I am sending you by parcel post the barrels of an Ithica
hammerless shot gun, No. 29438, I must have bought 30 years ago
or more when a very small boy. . .
It was the pride of my younger life. I have slept with it in
sheer delight, and for fear it would be stolen. For years not a
pin point of rust marred its gloriously shining barrels; the
stock shone as does the throne of Allah from being gone over
hundreds of times lovingly and tenderly with silk and wool, oil
and polish. Its shooting prowess--it made the fur fly out of
unsuspecting rabbits before Bryan built his crown of thorns and
cross of gold; it sought the tender spots in ambitious fox
squirrels when automobiles were as scarce as we Democrats are
now; it has shot at everything from a beer bottle to a chicken-
thief, and never failed or refused to respond.
The number of this gun was burned in my memory so unforgettably
that today it came to me as doth the lamb the ewe. And while I do
not know when the Magna Charta was wrung from King John, yet this
numeral remains with me--yesterday, today and to the ages.
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