want him?"

"I hadn't thought of that, but--"

"Now, look here; you want to get right down to business and stop
dreaming. You are capable of immense things--man. You can make a perfect
success in life. All you want is somebody to steady you and boost you
along on the right road. Do you own anything in the business?"

"No--not exactly; but if I continue to give satisfaction, I suppose I
can keep my--"

"Keep your place--yes. Well, don't you depend on anything of the kind.
They'll bounce you the minute you get a little old and worked out;
they'll do it sure. Can't you manage somehow to get into the firm?
That's the great thing, you know."

"I think it is doubtful; very doubtful."

"Um--that's bad--yes, and unfair, too. Do you suppose that if I should
go there and have a talk with your people--Look here--do you think you
could run a brewery?"

"I have never tried, but I think I could do it after a little
familiarity with the business."

The German was silent for some time. He did a good deal of thinking,
and the king waited curiously to see what the result was going to be.
Finally the German said:

"My mind's made up. You leave that crowd--you'll never amount to
anything there. In these old countries they never give a fellow a show.
Yes, you come over to America--come to my place in Rochester; bring the
family along. You shall have a show in the business and the foremanship,
besides. George--you said your name was George?--I'll make a man of you.
I give you my word. You've never had a chance here, but that's all going
to change. By gracious! I'll give you a lift that'll make your hair
curl!"

AT THE SHRINE OF ST. WAGNER

Bayreuth, Aug. 2d, 1891

It was at Nuremberg that we struck the inundation of music-mad strangers
that was rolling down upon Bayreuth. It had been long since we had
seen such multitudes of excited and struggling people. It took a good
half-hour to pack them and pair them into the train--and it was the
longest train we have yet seen in Europe. Nuremberg had been witnessing
this sort of experience a couple of times a day for about two weeks.
It gives one an impressive sense of the magnitude of this biennial
pilgrimage. For a pilgrimage is what it is. The devotees come from the
very ends of the earth to worship their prophet in his own Kaaba in his
own Mecca.

If you are living in New York or San Francisco or Chicago or anywhere
else in America, and you conclude, by the middle of May