12 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
education there, ideas that he was later to put in practice as 
president of Williams College. Cyrus’ education was of short 
duration, but sound and inspiring. As this boy studied his 
“fourth reader,” he little dreamed that a later generation of 
pupils all over the United States would read and recite a 
poem about Cyrus Field from the fourth reader of their day. 
As to the social diversions of the village of Stockbridge, 
they were few enough. Cyrus liked to wander over the hills 
and envisage new horizons—a characteristic that remained 
with him throughout life. Inspired by his nervous energy, he 
mingled well with the other boys and led them in games. At 
the age of fifteen he acted in amateur theatricals at the local 
academy. Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer was given, and 
Cyrus played “Mrs. Hardcastle.’’ On the previous evening he 
had taken the part of the son of an Indian chief, in what was 
called a “Tragical Dialogue,’ including five young men. 
This appearance on the stage in his home village is somewhat 
surprising in view of the rigid beliefs about amusements. 
Little did the audience realize the drama that was to charac- 
terized his life. Other names on the theater program indicate 
the nationality and something of the character of his com- 
rades. ‘They included Adams, Watts, Dwight, Lincoln, Stuart, 
Tremain, Williams, Pomeroy, Rockwell, Fowler, Selkirk, 
Carter and Vallet—all of northwestern European origin. 
Before he was sixteen Cyrus left home for good. Yet so 
thorough had been his upbringing that his character was al- 
ready set at that early age. Once away from his parents’ con- 
trol, he acted as mature and grown-up as though he was ten 
years older. Even beset by the strange customs and easy ways 
of the sophisticated city of New York, he remained a boy of 
the hills, although later to become an international promoter 
and to consort with the great. 
