"I give in," I wrote.
"When the next allowance arrives, I shall go straight
out West, where you can do what you like with me."
It is to be understood that Pinkerton had been, in a
sense, pressing me to come from the beginning;
depicting his isolation among new acquaintances, "who
have none of them your culture," he wrote; expressing
his friendship in terms so warm that it sometimes
embarrassed me to think how poorly I could echo them;
dwelling upon his need for assistance; and the next
moment turning about to commend my resolution and press
me to remain in Paris. "Only remember, Loudon," he
would write, "if you ever DO tire of it, there's
plenty of work here for you--honest, hard, well-paid
work, developing the resources of this practically
virgin State. And, of course, I needn't say what a
pleasure it would be to me if we were going at it
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER." I marvel, looking back, that I
could so long have resisted these appeals, and continue
to sink my friend's money in a manner that I knew him
to dislike. At least, when I did awake to any sense of
my position, I awoke to it entirely, and determined not
only to follow his counsel for the future, but, even as
regards the past, to rectify his losses.
Pages:
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136