It's the Catskills I want to see now
rather than Niagara Falls. Your second letter containing the note from
Captain Kempt to Jack was at once delivered to him. What on earth has
the genial Captain written to effect such a transformation in my
friend? He came to me that evening clothed in his right mind; in
evening rig-out, with his decorations upon it, commanded me to get
into my dinner togs, took me in a carriage across the river to the
best restaurant St. Petersburg affords, and there we had a champagne
dinner in which he drank to America and all things American. Whether
it was the enthusiasm produced by Captain Kempt's communication, or
the effect of the champagne, I do not know, but he has reconsidered
his determination not to return to the United States, and very soon we
set out together for the west.
"I shall be glad to get out of this place. We were followed to the
restaurant, I am certain, and I am equally certain that at the next
table two police spies were seated, and these two shadowed us in a cab
until we reached our blacksmith's shop. It is a humiliating confession
to make, but somehow the atmosphere of this place has got on my
nerves, and I shall be glad to turn my back on it. Jack pooh-poohs the
idea that he is in any danger. Even the Governor of St. Petersburg, he
says, dare not lay a finger on him, and as for the Chief of Police, he
pours scorn on that powerful official.
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