THE CALL OF AMERICA 



thy trust in princes " is what my nurse taught me, 

 and the lavished word cannot be believed as heard by 

 transatlantic hustlers after favours in Europe ; but 

 at the same time there can be princely treatment and, 

 what is more, the real grasp of friendship. 



When Mr Lewis of the Telegraph gave me the order 

 for a series of stories it happened at the moment that 

 the bank-roll was a bit thin. I put it to him therefore, 

 in a short note, that dollars would quicken the thought 

 and enable me to go about town without appearing 

 a piker. Within half-an-hour came a cheque for a use- 

 ful sum — real money. That's a pal and a white man. 

 I delivered the goods certainly, and had other cheques, 

 and even four months after, when I thought I had 

 received nearly all there was to get, another cheque 

 followed me to Chicago. 



Many managers, editors and what not sat in their 

 offices thinking they were " it," and drew big salaries, 

 but would not go out of their way to pay a cent more 

 to their men than would keep the live men from taking 

 another job. Many a good English journalist would 

 have turned up his nose at the paltry salaries paid. I 

 pot-boiled along in New York until going west. But 

 that must be written later. 



Men frequently ask me whether life in New York is 

 as dear as it is described to be. It is difficult to 

 answer, in a way, because it so much depends on what 

 is required. I was fortunate for a time in finding 

 some excellent lodgings in a house with not a first-class 

 address, but very central, and wherein was much 

 comfort. A large bedroom with a big double sitting- 

 room and a grand piano were the attraction, but you 

 couldn't get it everywhere. On certain days, when 

 there was a lot of work to do, I could get my early 

 breakfast, a meal from the delicatessen shop : cold 



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