nage. And what a wrench it was when I tore myself
away from the delights of the great city and scurried back to my desk
in sleepy Philadelphia. Had I been a prince royal Richard could not
have planned more carefully than he did for these visits, and to meet
the expense was no easy matter for him. Indeed, I know that to pay for
all our gayeties he usually had to carry his guitar to a neighboring
pawn-broker where the instrument was always good for an eight-dollar
loan. But from the time Richard first began to make his own living one
of the great pleasures of his life was to celebrate, or as he called
it, to "have a party." Whenever he had finished a short story he had a
party, and when the story had been accepted there was another party,
and, of course, the real party was when he received the check. And so
it was throughout his life, giving a party to some one whom a party
would help, buying a picture for which he had no use to help a
struggling artist, sending a few tons of coal to an old lady who was
not quite warm enough, always writing a letter or a check for some one
of his own craft who had been less fortunate than he--giving to every
beggar that he met, fearing that among all the thousand fakers he might
refuse one worthy case. I think this habit of giving Richard must have
inherited from his father, who gave out of all proportion to his means,
and with never too close a scrutiny to the worthiness of the cause.
Both men were too intensely human to do that, but if this great desire
on the part of my father and brother to help others gave the recipients
pleasure I'm sure that it caused in the hearts of the givers an even
greater happiness. The following letters were chosen from a great
number which Richard wrote to his family, telling of his first days on
The Evening Sun, and of his life in New York.

YORK Evening Sun--1890

DEAR MOTHER:

Today is as lovely and fresh as the morning, a real spring day, and I
feel good in consequence. I have just come from a couple of raids,
where we had a very lively time, and some of them had to pull their
guns. I found it necessary to punch a few sports myself. The old
sergeant from headquarters treats me like a son and takes the greatest
pride in whatever I do or write. He regularly assigns me now to
certain doors, and I always obey orders like the little gentleman that
I am. Instead of making me unpopular, I find it helps me with the
sports, though it hurts my c