f all sorts; ingrained Yankee
common sense, checking his vaulting enthusiasm; enormous
self-confidence, impatience of failure--all of these were in him;
and he was besides affectionate to a fault, devoted to his country,
his family, his craft--a strong, bluff, tender man.

"Those were the decorous days of the old tradition, and Page's
entrance into the 'atmosphere' of Park Street has taken on the
dignity of legend. There were all kinds of signs and portents, as
the older denizens will tell you. Strange breezes floated through
the office, electric emanations, and a pervasive scent of tobacco,
which--so the local historian says--had been unknown in the
vicinity since the days of Walter Raleigh, except for the literary
aroma of Aldrich's quarantined sanctum upstairs. Page's coming
marked the end of small ways. His first requirement was, in lieu of
a desk, a table that might have served a family of twelve for
Thanksgiving dinner. No one could imagine what that vast, polished
tableland could serve for until they watched the editor at work.
Then they saw. Order vanished and chaos reigned. Huge piles of
papers, letters, articles, reports, books, pamphlets, magazines,
congregated themselves as if by magic. To work in such confusion
seemed hopeless, but Page eluded the congestion by the simple
expedient of moving on. He would light a fresh cigar, give the
editorial chair a hitch, and begin his work in front of a fresh
expanse of table, with no clutter of the past to disturb the new
day's litter.

"The motive power of his work was enthusiasm. Never was more
generous welcome given to a newcomer than Page held out to the
successful manuscript of an unknown. I remember, though I heard the
news second hand at the time, what a day it was in the office when
the first manuscript from the future author of 'To Have and To
Hold,' came in from an untried Southern girl. He walked up and
down, reading paragraphs aloud and slapping the crisp manuscript
to enforce his commendation. To take a humbler instance, I recall
the words of over generous praise with which he greeted the first
paper I ever sent to an editor quite as clearly as I remember the
monstrous effort which had brought it into being. Sometimes he
would do a favoured manuscript the honour of taking it out