The reception of your letter afforded me perplexity, curiosity & pleasure. Perplexity in finding out those fractions, curiosity to know what they contained and pleasure to hear from you but I must confess that you did not give me as much news as I desired or expected to hear. In your next you must be more profuse & give me an account of all the little incidents that have taken place since I left. I was not surprised to hear of the separation of Smith & his wife. It has taken place so often that I dont wonder at it at all, but it seems rather strange that the people of Wmston [unrecovered] suffered such a creature to remain there so long, though they tolerate almost anything. In leaving home I must admit that my regret was very much increased [unrecovered] the circumstance of leaving Miss Charity there also, but I soon overcame the emotion & consoled myself with the reflection, that if I live, I shall see lots of good times yet. You ask me if I have any notion of cutting in there, I answer none, but I tell you what if is it would not have done for me to have staid in her company muchlonger for at one time I was almost smitten. Dr White is very much mistaken in supposing the next six months will be an age to me for I begrudge almost every hour that passed away. I am very glad however that the Doctor takes so much interest in my welfare, but I think I shall turn my attention to another direction which I will tell you of in a subsequent part of this letter & which I wish you to disclose to no one on earth.

A fellow, calling himself the "Fakir of Ava" came through here the other day with a boy & girl proposing to give a grand scientific entertainment to the inhabitants of Chapel-Hill; after procuring a house & getting in readiness, about a hundred of the students went down & the house I understand was crowded to such an extent that the "Fakir" had very little opportunity of "showing off" & the students being rather noisy he dismissed the assembly gave them tickets & told them that on the next night he would have a better place & consequently a better chance for exhibition, but the next morning he left having made some forty or fifty dollars at the expense of the students. Several of them followed him to Hillsboro' & I expected that an engagement would have taken place there but as he was exhibiting he let the students go in which I supposed pacified them. One of them however, while there became intoxicated & with some other fellows went to one of the taverns & began to be rather noisy & the landlord came out & ordered them off & to enforce his command raised a chair at one of them & this fellow immediately shot him, the ball went into his arm near his shoulder but they say his life is not endangered; the name of the fellow that shot him is Ruffin, he was a member of the sophomore class & lives in Alabama, I believe he has not been heard of since the occurrence.

Why is it that Henry does not write me? Has he again fallen a victim to the smiles & caresses of his fair one? or is he diving into the profound & abstruse regions of medical or legal erudition? In any case, though, I should think he could spare a few moments for the purpose of writing to "Bill" . Please remind him of it & tell him also that he owes me a letter.

[Included are 11 lines of mathematic figures resembling fractions that based on the statement below appear to be a code. It is unclear if the code was used in the original letter or just as a means to preserve his privacy in his letter book. In Bagley's earlier correspondence with Moses Pierce there is nothing to suggest that they had a code in place.]

As you value me as a friend, I hope you will not disclose the above underany considerations but place it in the same laboratory that already contains many of my secrets.

You say nothing in your letter about the Wednesday night meeting. I truly hope it has not perished in its bud but that it increases continually in interest & benefit to the souls of all those who attend it, you must write me all about it, the state of religion in the church also which I am afraid is continually degenerating. I hope, My Dear Mose, that you still hold out faithful, that amid all the snares, temptations & difficulties to which you are continually exposed that you still remain firm as adamant & never let Satan, under any form beguile you & let me especially caution you to beware of evil company, you may consider me as rather presumptuous but still I have experienced so much evil myself from that source that I can scarcely refrain from cautioning you to beware of the rocks on which I had well nigh wrecked. Please write soon & consider me always