f great people,--poets, authors, statesmen, men of all
countries, occupations, and beliefs,--who have journeyed here to pay
their tribute to the greatest of all poets and writers.

"Whenever I meet people who believe that Lord Bacon or any other man
wrote Shakespeare's plays, I never discuss the question with them, for
I have no arguments to withstand their claims," said Mrs. Pitt
intently. "I only remind myself that if such men as Browning,
Thackeray, Kean, Scott, and Carlyle, who have all left their
signatures here, believed that the 'immortal Shakespeare' wrote his
own plays, I can feel safe in believing so, too. Therefore I want you
to understand, children, that you are standing in the room where
Shakespeare was born, and be glad all your lives when you remember
that you have seen it."

The other room on the second floor--a kind of attic--contains an
important picture of Shakespeare. It is called the "Stratford
Portrait," as it was discovered in that native town, and it is now
thought to have been painted in the eighteenth century, from a bust.

The Shakespeare house is double. In the other half, which is now a
museum, John Shakespeare, the father of the Poet, used to have his
shop and carry on his trade, or trades, for, like many people at that
time, he had several. This museum now contains many relics of
Shakespeare, which are more or less authentic, as well as a large
number of First Editions of his plays. The young people were
interested in an old desk, much scratched and marred, which it is
supposed that the Poet used when at the Guild School. It is not clear
whether it was when he was a pupil there, or at the time he was
"Junior Master," as he is thought to have been by some. The desk is
long and narrow, having but one little opening into which a hand could
be reached to pull out the books. It occurred to John that it would
have been a very convenient place to hide apples or pickles, or any
such forbidden articles, as the master could never even suspect their
existence in that dark interior.

"You will see where that desk once stood," remarked Mrs. Pitt, "for
later, I shall show you the old Guild Hall, and the room where the
Stratford boys had their lessons. Now, we are all hungry, and we'll go
straight to the Shakespeare Hotel and have some luncheon. Don't you
all approve that plan?"

Before leaving "the Birthplace," it must be remembered that there
exists a really very picturesque old English garden. I