Richard went to Marion to rest from his social
activities, and to work on his English articles.

CHAPTER VI

THE MEDITERRANEAN AND PARIS

It was, I think, the year previous to this that my mother and father
had deserted Point Pleasant as a place to spend their summer vacations
in favor of Marion, on Cape Cod, and Richard and I, as a matter of
course, followed them there. At that time Marion was a simple little
fishing village where a few very charming people came every summer and
where the fishing was of the best. In all ways the life was most
primitive, and happily continued so for many years. In, these early
days Grover Cleveland and his bride had a cottage there, and he and
Joseph Jefferson, who lived at Buzzard's Bay, and my father went on
daily fishing excursions. Richard Watson Gilder was one of the
earliest settlers of the summer colony, and many distinguished members
of the literary and kindred professions came there to visit him. It
was a rather drowsy life for those who didn't fish--a great deal of
sitting about on one's neighbor's porch and discussion of the latest
novel or the newest art, or of one's soul, and speculating as to what
would probably become of it. From the first Richard formed a great
affection for the place, and after his marriage adopted it as his
winter as well as his summer home. As a workshop he had two rooms in
one of the natives' cottages, and two more charming rooms it would be
hard to imagine. The little shingled cottage was literally covered
with honeysuckle, and inside there were the old wall-papers, the open
hearths, the mahogany furniture, and the many charming things that had
been there for generations, and all of which helped to contribute to
the quaint peaceful atmosphere of the place. Dana Gibson had a cottage
just across the road, and around the corner Gouverneur Morris lived
with his family. At this time neither of these friends of Richard, nor
Richard himself, allied themselves very closely to the literary colony
and its high thoughts, but devoted most of their time to sailing about
Sippican Harbor, playing tennis and contributing an occasional short
story or an illustration to a popular magazine. But after the colony
had taken flight, Richard often remained long into the fall, doing
really serious work and a great deal of it. At such times he had to
depend on a few friends who came to visit him, but principally on the
natives to many of whom he was grea