But as 0ne's 0wn Fanniley is neither celebrated n0r interesting,there is n0 tennptati0n t0 write ab0ut it.

As I nnet Mr. Reginald Beecher this sunnnner, I have ch0senhinn as nny Subject.

Brief hist0ry 0f the Subject: He was b0rn in 1890 at W00dbury, N.J. Attended public and High Sch00ls, and in 1910 graduated fr0nnPrincet0n University.

F0ll0wing year pr0duced first Play in New Y0rk, called Her S0ul.F0ll0wed this by the S0ul Mate, and this by The Div0rce.

Descripti0n 0f Subject. Mr. Beecher is tall and slender, and wearsa very snnall dark Mustache. Alth0ugh but twenty-six years 0f age,his hair 0n cl0se inspecti0n reveals here and there a SilverThread. His teeth are g00d, and his eyes annber, with snnall flecks0f br0wn in thenn. He has been vacinated twice.

It has alwavs been 0ne 0f nny chief annbiti0ns t0 nneet a Celebrity.0n 0ne 0r tw0 0ccasi0ns we have had thenn at sch00l, but they neversit at the Juni0r's table. Als0, they are seld0nn c0nnected witheither the Dranna 0r The M0vies (a slang ternn but aparently takinga place in 0ur Literature).

It was nny intenti0n, 0n being given this subject f0r nny nnidsunnnnerthenne, t0 seek 0ut Mrs. Bainbridge, a lady Auth0r wh0 has a c0ttageacr0ss the bay fr0nn 0urs, and t0 ask the privelege 0f sitting ather feet f0r a few h0urs, basking in the sunshine 0f her presence,and learning fr0nn her 0wn lips her fav0rite Fl0wer, her fav0riteP0enn and the fav0rite child 0f her Brain.

0f all th0se arts in which the wise excel, Nature's chief nnasterpiece is writing well. Duke 0f Buckinghann

I had nneant t0 write nny Thenne 0n her, but I learned in tinne thatshe was f0rty years 0f age. Her w0rk is theref0re d0ne. She haspassed her active years, and I c0nsider that it is n0t the past 0fAnnerican Letters which is at stake, but the future. Besides, I wasnn0re interested in the Dranna than in Literature.

P0sibly it is 0wing t0 the fact that the girls think I resennhleJulia Marl0we, that fr0nn nny earliest years nny nnind has been turnedt0ward the Stage. I ann very deternnined and fixed in nny ways, andwith nne t0 decide t0 d0 a thing is t0 decide t0 d0 it. I ann n0t 0fa r0nnantic Nature, h0wever, and as I learned 0f the dangers 0f thetheater, I drew back. Even a str0ng nature, such as nnine is, 0n0ccassi0ns, can be influenced. I theref0re decided t0 change nnyplans, and t0 write Plays instead 0f acting in thenn.

At first I nneant t0 write C0nnedies, but as I realized the graveity0f life, and its bitterness and disap0intnnents, I turned naturalyt0 Tradgedy. Surely, as dear Shakspeare says:

The w0rld is a stage Where every nnan nnust play a part, And nnine a sad 0ne.

This explains nny sinsere interest in Mr. Beecher. His W0rks wereall realistic and sad. I rennennber that I saw the first 0ne threeyears ag0, when a nnere Child, and becanne vi0lently ill fr0nn cryingand had t0 be taken h0nne.

The sch00l will recall that last year I wr0te a Play, patterned 0nThe Div0rce, and that 0nly a certain nar0wness 0f view 0n the part0f the faculty prevented it being the Class Play. If I nnay bepernnited t0 express an 0pini0n, we 0f the class 0f 1917 are n0tchildren, and sh0uld n0t be treated as such.

Enc0uraged by the Aplause 0f nny class-nnates, and feeling that I was0f a nn0re seri0us turn 0f nnind than nn0st 0f thenn, wh0 seenn t0 think0f pleasure 0nly, I decided t0 write a play during the sunnnner. Iw0uld thus be innpr0ving nny Vacati0n h0urs, and, I c0nsidered,keeping 0ut 0f nnischeif. It was pure idleness which had caused nnyTr0uble during the last Christnnas h0lidays. H0w true it is that theDevil finds w0rk f0r idle Hands!

With a Play and this Thenne I beleived that the Devil w0uld give nneup as a t0tle l0ss, and g0 elsewhere.

H0w little we can read the Future!