s a
library of old and rare editions of the classics. A back room, sunlit
and warm, gave a view of James River, the Henrico Hills, and the
spacious dells and forests of Chesterfield. To the mind of Dr. Bagby
all these things were represented by "John M. Daniel's Latchkey" and,
for all the charm of "Home, Sweet Home," is it not better to have the
privileges without the responsibilities of a latchkey?

Next to the editorial office of the _Messenger_ that of the _Daily
Examiner_ was the place with which Dr. Bagby was, perhaps, best
acquainted in Richmond. There, with the fiery editor, he spent his
evenings in reading proof, comforted by a mild cigar and protected by
a Derringer which Mr. Daniel would put on the table when he first
arrived, a not unnecessary precaution, for if there was one place more
dangerous than another in the Richmond of war days it was almost any
point in the near vicinity of the belligerent editor of the
_Examiner_.

Dr. Bagby was married to Miss Parke Chamberlayne of Richmond, and we
may be sure that she was the model from which he drew his charming
study of "the Virginia lady of the best type," who accompanies "The
Old Virginia Gentleman" in his pages.

After the close of the war Dr. Bagby attained high distinction as a
lecturer on Southern topics and later served his State as assistant
secretary. But in all that he did there was with him the lost dream of
the nation he had served so well through the dark and stormy years of
strife, and in August, 1883, he passed beyond into the land where
earth's broken hearts are renewed to youth.

It was written of him: "There is no man left in Virginia fit to lift
the lid of his inkstand."

"WOMAN AND POET"

MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON

"Whoever has the good fortune to follow its trails and shimmering
waters is already half a poet," wrote Professor Harris of the road
that leads down from the verdant hills of the Alleghanies over
picturesque gorge and crag and fissure into the quiet of the valley
and brings us by exquisite stages to the beautiful town of Lexington,
Virginia. Making that journey in taking my boy, fourteen years old, to
the Virginia Military Institute, I entered at once two charming
regions--Lexington with its romantic environment, and the heart of
Margaret Junkin Preston.

When I spoke of the beautiful scenery Mrs. Preston asked me if I had
read Professor Maury's description of it. I replied that I had not. "I
am glad," she said,