May find as dear a nurse at need,
And every child who lists my rhyme,
In the bright fireside, nursery clime,
May hear it in as kind a voice
As made my childish days rejoice."


"Of course," he said, speaking of this dedication when he wrote to
Cummie about the book, "this is only a flourish, like taking off one's
hat, but still a person who has taken the trouble to write things does
not dedicate them to anyone without meaning it; and you must try to
take this dedication in place of a great many things that I might have
said, and that I ought to have done; to prove that I am not altogether
unconscious of the great debt of gratitude I owe you."

[Illustration: Facsimile of letter sent to Cummy with "An Inland
Voyage"]

If Thomas Stevenson had been one of the first to doubt his boy's
literary ability, he was equally quick to acknowledge himself mistaken.
He was proud of his brilliant son, keenly interested in whatever he was
working on and, during the days spent together at Skerryvore, gave him
valuable aid in his writing.

To have this old-time comradeship with his father, to enjoy his sympathy
and understanding once more was Stevenson's greatest joy at this time; a
joy which he sorrowfully realized he must soon part with forever as his
father's health was failing rapidly.

Thomas Stevenson remained at Skerryvore until April, 1887, when he left