those days grumbled back at him:"You're so bad,Richard,that I'll give you a hundred dollars a week,and you can sign the contract whenever you're ready."Although that was much more than my brother was making in his chosen profession at the time,and in spite of the intense interest he had in the theatre,he never considered the offer seriously.As a matter of fact,Richard had many natural qualifications that fitted him for the stage,and in after-years,when he was rehearsing one of his own plays,he could and frequently would go up on the stage and read almost any part better than the actor employed to do it.Of course,he lacked the ease of gesture and the art of timing which can only be attained after sound experience,but his reading of lines and his knowledge of characterization was quite unusual.In proof of this I know of at least two managers who,when Richard wanted to sell them plays,refused to have him read them the manu on the ground that his reading gave the dialogue a value it did not really possess.

In the spring of 1880Richard left the Episcopal Academy,and the following September went to Swarthmore College, situated just outside of Philadelphia.I fear,however,the change was anything but a success.The life of the big coeducational school did not appeal to him at all and,in spite of two or three friendships he made among the girls and boys,he depended for amusement almost wholly on his own resources.In the afternoons and on holidays he took long walks over the coun-->>

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