hs. The following June he went to London at the time of
King George's coronation, but did not write about it. Again, in
November, 1911, he visited my sister in London, but returned to New
York in January, 1912, and spent a part of the winter in Aiken and
Cuba. At Aiken he found at least peace and the devotion of loving
friends that he so craved, but in London and Cuba, which once had meant
so much to him, he seemed to have lost interest entirely. But not once
during these years did he cease working, and working hard. On almost
every page of his diary at this period I find such expressions as
"wrote 500 words for discipline." And again "Satisfaction in work of
last years when writing for existence, has been up to any I ever wrote."

And in spite of all of the trouble of these days, he not only wrote
incessantly but did some of his very finest work. Personally I have
never seen a man make a more courageous fight. To quote again from his
diary of this time: "Early going to my room saw red sunrise and gold
moon. I seemed to stop worrying about money. With such free pleasures
I found I could not worry. Every day God gives me greater delight in
good things, in beauty, and in every simple exercise and amusement."

Twice during these difficult days he went to visit Gouverneur Morris
and his wife at Aiken, and after Richard's death his old friend wrote
of the first of these visits:

"It was in our little house at Aiken, in South Carolina, that he was
with us most and we learned to know him best, and that he and I became
dependent upon each other in many ways. "Events, into which I shall
not go, had made his life very difficult and complicated. And he who
had given so much friendship to so many people needed a little
friendship in return, and perhaps, too, he needed for a time to live in
a house whose master and mistress loved each other, and where there
were children. Before he came that first year our house had no name.
Now it is called 'Let's Pretend.'

"Now the chimney in the living-room draws, but in those first days of
the built-over house it didn't. At least, it didn't draw all the time,
but we pretended that it did, and with much pretense came faith. From
the fireplace that smoked to the serious things of life we extended our
pretendings, until real troubles went down before them--down and out.

"It was one of Aiken's very best winters, and the earliest spring I
ever lived anywhere. R. H. D. came sho