Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The University of Pennsylvania Library Chronicle, Vol. 13: Issued Four Times a Year by and for the Friends of the Library of the University; March, 1945; Life of Robert Montgomery Bird, Written by His Wife, Mary Mayer Bird (Third Instalment)
S well as the opportunities for observation - limited though they were - relieved the gloom of the retrospect, and left a feeling of sober satisfaction when, in after years, he reverted to the events of this winter. Besides, with his usual good luck in this respect, he again had occasion to rejoice in the moth erly attentions of a most kind-hearted land-lady, whose heart he so won that, not only did she her utmost to promote his comfort and recovery, but ever after manifested the greatest interest in his welfare. In addition, he was blessed with the society of his friend Grimes, then temporarily resident in the city.
Being confined a great deal indoors, the time must have passed rather drearily, but the evenings were enlivened by music or a game of chess, in which he soon became proficient. There were some superior players in the house, and the chess board was regularly a source of entertainment. AS a general rule, Dr. Bird never fancied or indulged in games of chance or Skill; but this winter, unable to do much else, he, in this way, alleviated many a heavy hour, and was soon voted one of the most expert hands. Among the most frequent occupants of the board was a young couple, shortly to be united in marriage. Being rather excitable and proud of their skill, it was some times observed that interest in the game bid fair to over power the tenderness belonging to their mutual relations; and one evening, in an unusually long contest, the rivalry waxed so strong as to threaten a decided quarrel. At this crisis, when every move made more imminent the danger of a rupture, the table at which they were playing was violently Shaken, as if by the awkwardness or inadvertence of some one rising hasti ly. Confusion reigned among knights and castles, bishops and royal personages, and the game, nearly finished, was ir retrievably broken up. But the storm was averted; and Dr.
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