how she had caught
him and denouncing the whole editorial tribe as humbugs. "Dear Madam,"
Page immediately wrote in reply, "when I break an egg at breakfast, I do
not have to eat the whole of it to find out that it is bad." Page's
treatment of authors, however, was by no means so acrimonious as this
little note might imply. Indeed, the urbanity and consideration shown in
his correspondence with writers had long been a tradition in American
letters. The remark of O. Henry in this regard promises to become
immortal: "Page could reject a story with a letter that was so
complimentary," he said, "and make everybody feel so happy that you
could take it to a bank and borrow money on it."

Another anecdote reminiscent of his editorial days was his retort to
S.S. McClure, the editor of _McClure's Magazine_.

"Page," said Mr. McClure, "there are only three great editors in the
United States."

"Who's the third one, Sam?" asked Page.

Plenty of stories, illustrating Page's quickness and aptness in retort,
have gathered about his name in England. Many of them indicate a mere
spirit of boyish fun. Early in his Ambassadorship he was spending a few
days at Stratford-on-Avon, his hostess being an American woman who had
beautifully restored an Elizabethan house; the garden contained a
mulberry tree which she liked to think had been planted by Shakespeare
himself. The dignitaries of Stratford, learning that the American
Ambassador had reached town, asked permission to wait upon him; the Lord
Mayor, who headed the procession, made an excellent speech, to which
Page appropriately replied, and several hundred people were solemnly
presented. After the party had left Page turned to his hostess:

"Have they all gone?"

"Yes."

"All?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then let's take hands and dance around the mulberry tree!"

Page was as good as his word; he danced as gaily as the youngest member
of the party, to the singing of the old English song.

The great service in St. Paul's Cathedral, in commemoration of America's
entry into the war, has already been described. A number of wounded
Americans, boys whose zeal for the Allies had led them to enlist in the
Canadian Army, were conspicuous participants in this celebration. After
the solemn religious ceremonies, the Ambassador and these young men
betook themselves for lunch to a well-known London restaurant. In an
interval of the conversation one of the Americans turned to P