"
However, she asked me to come in, gave me some water and an
old apron to serve me for a towel, and when I was ready to eat my
bread she placed a glass of milk before me, explaining that she
was not going to charge me for it
"In America people are not foolish enough to be content with dry
bread," she said, sententiously
While I ate she questioned me about my antecedents. I remember
how she impressed me as a strong, clever woman of few words as
long as she catechised me, and how disappointed I was when she
began to talk of herself.
The astute, knowing mien gradually faded out of her face and I had
before me a gushing, boastful old bore
My intention was to take a long stroll, as much in the hope of
coming upon some windfall as for the purpose of taking a look at
the great American city. Many of the letters that came from the
United States to my birthplace before I sailed had contained a
warning not to imagine that America was a "land of gold" and that
treasure might be had in the streets of New York for the picking.
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