The authoress, Pearl Mary Theresa Craigie, more familiarly known
as John Oliver Hobbes, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, November
3, 1867, daughter of John Morgan and Laura Hortense (Arnold)
Richards. She is descended from early settlers of New York. After
being educated under private tutors, Miss Richards, in 1883, went to
Europe, continuing her studies in Paris. In 1887 she was enrolled as
a student at University College, London, where, under the tuition of
Professor Goodwin, she obtained an adequate knowledge of the classics
and philosophy. In early childhood she was fond of writing. One of
her first stories, entitled “Lost, A Dog,” appeared in Dr. Joseph
Parker’s paper, The Fountain. This story was signed Pearl Richards,
aged nine. Another of her stories, entitled “How Mark Puddler Became
an Innkeeper,” appeared in The Fountain of February 10, 1881. At the
age of eighteen she decided to make literature her profession and
immediately took up a special study of style, especially dramatic
dialogues. Her first book, entitled “Some Emotions and a Moral,” 1891,
is an excellent example of success under difficulties. This book was
composed during months of weary illness and amid the strain of domestic
anxiety, but its success was immediate, for over eighty thousand copies
were sold in a short time. Since then she has written several other
novels.