What does Jethro send to Shad that are" like gifts to a lonely boy" in Across Five Aprils?

It is actually Jethro who is the "lonely boy," and Shad
who sends things that are "like gifts." These things are letters, which Shad writes from
Washington while he is recuperating from injuries sustained in the
war.

Jethro's brothers have all gone off to fight in the
war, his brother Bill for the Confederacy, and the others for the Union. Shadrach also
has been fighting for the North, and is wounded at Gettysburg. Jethro's sister Jenny is
in love with Shadrach, but her father does not allow them to marry before Shad goes away
to war, because he thinks Jenny is too young. When Shadrach is gravely wounded, Mr.
Creighton relents and allows Jenny to go to him, and to become his bride. With all his
brothers and his sister gone, Jethro is left with his parents on the farm alone, and
although his days are filled with hard work and studying the books Shad has left him,
there is not doubt that he is lonely.

When Shadrach is
"slowly struggling back to health" in Washington wth Jenny by his side, he writes
letters to Jethro. These letters are

readability="7">

"like gifts to the lonely boy; he read(s) them
over again and again, and then place(s) them carefully in (a) big
envelope..."

Shad writes
about the war and politics in Washington, and his own reflections about what is
happening. In particular, he writes about President Lincoln, whom both he and Jethro
love and admire greatly (Chapter 11).