Dearest Herbert,
You will find alongside this letter a package containing the Rubaiyat of Doc Sifers. I’m sure you know that James Whitcomb Riley dedicated this book to me, but I’m afraid that I’m not vain enough to keep a book that was written about me in my library. I have even left my own inscription to you and your wife next to the one he left me when he first gave me this book (Figure 1). I’ll never forget the time we spent on the battlefield together, and how much of a help you were in my medical tent, injured and ignorant as you were. There is an illustration in the book (on page 95) by C.M. Relyea that is almost exactly the scene from when we first met. Riley actually made that man travel to Indiana to make sure he didn’t mess up capturing the spirit of the state! You were always the first “To he'p Doc out, ef he wuz pressed financial” after the war, and whenever my practice was in dire straits, you were the one to always save me, financially or otherwise. Of course once I got established the money you lent me was returned, but the sentiment is still there. I suppose I am giving you this book because I am reminded of the same “perfect faith in God and man a-shinin' in his eyes” Riley sees in me when I think of you. It has been far too long since I have written, and you will have to forgive me for my absence. I hope that this gift and letter can be the start of the rekindling of our once bright friendship.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Franklin W. Hays