interesting facts about Robert Louis Stevenson while
he was undergoing his legal training in his office.

'Mr Stevenson entered the office, which was then in 18 Hill Street, in
1871, and left it about the middle of the year 1873, and was afterwards
called to the Bar. His position in the office was neither that of a
clerk nor of an apprentice, but merely of a person gaining some
knowledge of business. He never received any salary, and, as is usual
with aspirants for the Bar, his position was in no way subject to the
ordinary office discipline. After searching through papers which were
written in the office during the time Stevenson was in the office, I
find a good many papers which were written by him, but they are all
merely copies of documents, and I can find no trace of any deeds which
were actually drawn up by him. This is no doubt accounted for, firstly,
because he was not experienced enough in the drafting of deeds, and,
secondly, because he may have found the somewhat dry intricacies of
conveyancing, which are for the most part governed by hard and fast
rules of law, foreign to his marvellous imagination.

'I have not been able to trace any of the staff of the office who were
in it with Robert Louis Stevenson, with the exception of two men, who
seem to remember little about him, but they said that he was very
reserved and kept very much to himself. One of the men did not even know
that he was the great Stevenson. The other man, however, said that he
remembered that Stevenson had, as he described it to me, "an awful
notion of the Pentland hills, and was that fond of talking about them."
I believe he was very fond of scribbling pieces of writing on odd pieces
of paper in his spare moments, but, unfortunately, I can find no trace
of these; but that is not to be wondered at, as the firm have removed to
two different houses since Stevenson was in the office.

'Mr Skene, who was head partner of the firm during the time that
Stevenson was in the office, had always a great admiration for his
writings, and shortly before his (Mr Skene's) death he said that it was
a great regret to him that he had not known him better, and recognised
in him a brother in letters. My father, who saw a good deal more of
Stevenson, says that he struck him as being a very shy and nervous man,
or rather, as he then was, a boy. My father also states that Stevenson
was a tremendous walker, and that he used often to come into the office
in the mor