From that time on I studied shorthand. When other young fellows were chasing baseballs I was writing shorthand outlines and loving it. One system followed another until I had managed to learn at least in a passable way almost twenty different systems, and if you are starting to grow grey, you will recall that in the early part of the twentieth century there were almost as many shorthand systems as there arc ways of getting a home permanent wave today.

One other subject was essential although I did not know it then. I analyze handwriting. Not just ovals, but Palmcrian, Zanerian, Ransom-erian, and half a dozen other muscular movement systems. One teacher after another must have added a grey hair here and there because of my papers. Only a few weeks ago I ran onto an old letter I had written back in those days, and just at first I thought it was the work of some successful penmanship teacher, until my eye caught one weakness.

I put long finals on almost every word. Very long finals, and the teachers said “No” and meant it. My papers would be all right for a day or two, and then I would slip back into my original penmanship sin, and would get the papers back with red ink strokes slashed across the tails on the words.