“Mrs. Bryan’s whole life has been one of study,” says Miss Wright, of Lincoln, a friend of the family. “Long before she could read she knew the names of all the bugs her little hoe turned up in the garden. In her early life the doctor said she must be kept out of doors. Luckily she did not like indoor life. All day long she tagged her father, and they played together in the garden. By the time she was old enough for books she was kin to everything they told about. She idealized the earth and its generating and regenerating character. From a weak child she has grown to be a strong woman with rare power of endurance and concentration. She and her father would sit on the porch at night and study the skies, and the Greek and Norse stories of the stars were repeated until she had committed all of them to memory. He told her how far away they were and what a speck the world would look if it could be seen from Venus. The idea of the immensity of the Universe and the relation of the world to the solar system seldom enters the mind of a child, but with Mary Baird, it was the most interesting story that could be told. Early star-gazing and her father’s influence trained her to think of things abstractly, nakedly, and without the impediments of custom and fashion. During her first days in school, her text-books were distasteful, as they were new, but she studied them nevertheless, and soon was at the head of her class. This habit of study has clung to her ever since.” Social dissipation is unknown in the Bryan household. Since Miss Ruth has grown to the dignity of young womanhood, and has gathered about her a bevy of young friends, an added gaiety has been given. She has had her little parties, but her parents receive rarely, and then but informally. The Bryans have several carriages and horses, and in these they find their chief amusement. Once in a while Mr. and Mrs. Bryan are seen at the theatres, but only at the best plays. Mr. Bryan has grown much stouter in late years, and has taken to frequent horseback rides as both an exercise and a pleasure. His favorite animal is a Kentucky bred saddle horse. It was presented him by ex-Governor W. J. Stone, of Missouri, and in compliment to its donor, Mr. Bryan has named it “Governor.”