other. There were
many jolly laughs and much earnest talk. He met Miss Lucy Kimball of
Flatlands, Long Island, at our house at a Commencement reception, and
they were soon married. She lived only a few years.

Mr. Morton was next in Boston in the dry-goods house of James Beebe
Morgan & Company, and was soon made a partner. Mr. Morgan was the
father of Pierpont Morgan. It is everlastingly to Mr. Morton's honour
that after he failed in business in New York he was able before long
to invite his creditors to dinner, and underneath the service plate of
each creditor was a check for payment in full.

Preferring to give money while living, his whole path has been marked
by large benefactions. My memory is of his Hanover life and his
friendship with my father, but it is interesting to note the several
steps in his career: Honorary Commissioner, Paris Exposition, 1878;
Member 46th Congress, 1879-81, Sixth New York District; United States
Minister to France, 1881-85; Vice-President of the United States,
1889-93; Governor of New York, 1895-6.

Mr. Morton recently celebrated at his Washington home the ninety-first
anniversary in a life full of honours, and what is more important--of
honour.

CHAPTER II

A Friend at Andover, Mass.--Hezekiah Butterworth--A Few of my Own
Folks--Professor Putnam of Dartmouth--One Year at Packer Institute,
Brooklyn--Beecher's Face in Prayer--The Poet Saxe as I Saw
him--Offered the Use of a Rare Library--Miss Edna Dean Proctor--New
Stories of Greeley--Experiences at St. Louis.

Next a few months at Andover for music lessons--piano and organ. A
valuable friend was found in Miss Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, who had
just published her _Gates Ajar_. She invited me to her study and
wanted to know what I meant to accomplish in life and urged me to
write. "I have so much work called for now that I cannot keep up my
contributions to _The Youth's Companion_. I want you to have my place
there. What would you like to write about?"

"Don't know."

"Haven't you anything at home to describe."

"No."

"Any pets?"

"Why I have a homely, ordinary dog, but he knows a lot."

And so I was roused to try "Our Rab and His Friends," which was
kindly mailed by Miss Phelps to Mr. Ford, the editor, with a wish that
he accept the little story, which he did, sending a welcome check and
asking for more contributions. I kept a place there for several years.

In Miss Phelps's case, one must believe in heredity an