blank in the world as I sat down just now, and I said to Dad "Its
Dick--he must come THIS morning."

You don't know how my heart used to give a thump when you and Bob came
in that old door. It has been such a good month--everybody was so
friendly--and Dad was so well and happy--but your visits were the core
of it all. And our good drives! Well we'll have lots of drives at the
Crossroads. You'll call at our cottage every morning and I'm going to
train the peacocks to run before the trap and I'll be just like Juno.

There isn't a scrap of news. It is delightfully cool here.

M.

CHAPTER XIV

THE JAPANESE-RUSSIAN WAR

During the fall and early winter of 1903 Richard and his wife lingered
on in Marion, but came to New York after the Christmas holidays. The
success of his farce "The Dictator" had been a source of the greatest
pleasure to Richard, and he settled down to playwriting with the same
intense zeal he put into all of his work. However, for several years
Robert J. Collier and my brother had been very close friends, and
Richard had written many articles and stories for Collier's Weekly, so
that when Collier urged my brother to go to the Japanese-Russian War as
correspondent with the Japanese forces, Richard promptly gave up his
playwriting and returned to his old love--the role of reporter.
Accompanied by his wife, Richard left New York for San Francisco in
February.

February, 1904.

DEAR MOTHER:

We are really off on the "long trail" bound for the boundless East. We
have a charming drawing-room, a sympathetic porter and a courtly
conductor descended from one of the first Spanish conquerors of
California. We arranged the being late for lunch problem by having
dinner at five and cutting the lunch out. Bruce and Nan came over for
dinner and we had a very jolly time. They all asked after you all, and
drank to our re-union at Marion in July. Later they all tried to come
with us on the train. It looked so attractive with electric lights in
each seat, and observation car and library. A reporter interviewed us
and Mr. Clark gave us a box of segars and a bottle of whiskey. But
they will not last, as will Dad's razors and your housewife. I've used
Dad's razors twice a day, and they still are perfect. It's snowing
again, but we don't care. They all came to the station to see us off
but no one cried this time as they did when we went to South Africa.
Somehow we cannot take this trip seriou