dismay:

"Good heavens! I've been eating the illustrations for my book."

=iv=

_Timothy Tubby's Journal_ is, of course, the diary of the famous British
novelist with notes by Theresa Tubby, his wife. Tubby, on his visit to
this side, was remarkably observant. He says:

"How weary we were after a few hours of being interviewed and
photographed! This deep appreciation on the part of the American people
was touching, but exhausting. Yet my publishers telephoned me every two or
three hours, to say that editions of my latest novel were flying through
multitudinous presses; that I must bear up under the strain and give the
public what it demands; namely, the glimpse of me and of my aristocratic
wife. This, it seems, is what sells a book in America. The public must see
an author in order to believe that he can write.

"When my distinguished forebear Charles Dickens[1] arrived in the town of
Boston, he found his room flooded with offers of a pew at Sunday morning
church. This fashion in America has apparently passed, though I was taken
on sightseeing expeditions to various cathedrals whose architecture seemed
to me to be execrable (largely European copies--nothing natively
American). It was never suggested that I attend divine service. On the
contrary, I had countless invitations to be present at what is known as a
'cocktail chase.' My New York literary admirers seemed tumbling over one
another to offer me keys to their cellars and to invite me to take part in
one of those strange functions. It is their love of danger, rather than
any particular passion for liquor, that has, I believe, given birth to
these elaborate fetes.

"A cocktail chase takes place shortly before dinner. It may lead you into
any one of a number of places, even as far as the outlying districts of
the Bronx. If you own a motor, you may use that; if not, a taxi will do.
Usually a large number of motors are employed. Add to this pursuing
motorcycle policemen, and the sight is most impressive. The police are for
protection against crime waves, not for the arrest of the cocktail
chasers. A revenue agent performs this function, when it becomes
necessary.

"The number of our invitations was so large that it was hard to pick and
choose. Naturally, we did not care to risk attendance at any function
which might injure our reputation. Usually my wife has an almost psychic
sense of such matters; but the Social Register was of no assistance in
this case.[2] Bef