Alexander Ginkel has been around the world. A week ago he came to Chicago and, after looking around for a few days, located in one of the less expensive hotels and started to work as a porter in a well-known department store downtown. A friend said, "There's a man living in my hotel who should make a good story. He's been around the world. Worked in England, Bulgaria, Russia, Siberia, China and everywhere. Was cook on a tramp steamer in the south seas. A remarkable fellow, really." In this way I came to call on Ginkel. I found him after work in his room. He was a short man, over 30, and looked uninteresting. I told him that we should be able to get some sort of story out of his travels and experiences. He nodded. "Yes," he said, "I've been all around the world." Then he became silent and looked at me hopefully. I explained, "People like to read about travelers. They sit at home themselves and wonder what it would be like to travel. You probably had a lot of experiences that would give people a vicarious thrill. I understand you were a cook on a tramp steamer in the south seas." "Oh, yes," said Ginkel, "I've been all over. I've been around the world." * * * * * We lighted pipes and Ginkel removed a book from a drawer in the dresser. He opened it and I saw it was a book of photographs--mostly pictures taken with a small camera. "Here are some things you could use," he said. "You wanna look at them." We went through the pictures together. "This one here," said Ginkel, "is me in Vladivostok. It was taken on the corner there." The photograph showed Ginkel dressed just as he was in the hotel room, standing near a lamp post on a street corner. There was visible a part of a store window. "This one is interesting," said Ginkel, warming up. "It was taken in the archipelago. You know where. I forget the name of the town. But it was in the south seas." We both studied it for a space. It showed Ginkel standing underneath something that looked like a palm tree. But the tree was slightly out of focus. So were Ginkel's feet. "It is interesting," said Ginkel, "But it ain't such a good picture. The lower part is kind of blurred, you notice." We looked through the album in silence for a while. Then Ginkel suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "There's one I think you'll like. It was taken in Calcutta. You know where. Here it is." He pointed proudly toward the end of the book. We studied it through the tobacco smoke. It was a photograph of Ginkel dressed in the same clothes as before and standing under a store awning. "There was a good light on this," said Ginkel, "and you see how plain it comes out."