Had a man the size of a mountain spoken to me in that arrogant style in America I should have indignantly resented it; but where I then was it seemed best to swallow and digest it as well as I could. So in reply ... I said I should be _honored_ by his subscription to the "Birds of America." "Sir," he said, "I never sign my name to any subscription list, but you may send in your work and I will pay for a copy of it. Gentlemen, I am busy, I wish you good morning." We were busy men, too, and so bowing respectfully, we retired, pretty well satisfied with the small slice of his opulence which our labor was likely to obtain. A few days afterwards I sent the first volume of my work half bound, and all the numbers besides, then published. On seeing them we were told that he ordered the bearer to take them to his house, which was done directly. Number after number was sent and delivered to the Baron, and after eight or ten months my son made out his account and sent it by Mr. Havell, my engraver, to his banking-house. The Baron looked at it with amazement, and cried out, "What, a hundred pounds for birds! Why, sir, I will give you five pounds, and not a farthing more!" Representations were made to him of the magnificence and expense of the work, and how pleased his Baroness and wealthy children would be to have a copy; but the great financier was unrelenting. The copy of the work was actually sent back to Mr. Havell's shop, and as I found that instituting legal proceedings against him would cost more than it would come to, I kept the work, and afterwards sold it to a man with less money but a nobler heart. What a distance there is between two such men as Baron Rothschild of London and the merchant of Savannah! CHAPTER XXXIII NEW ENTERPRISES AND LIFE AT "MINNIE'S LAND" Settlement in New York—The _Birds_ in miniature, and work on the _Quadrupeds_—Marriage of Victor Audubon—Coöperation of Bachman in the _Quadrupeds_ secured—Prospectuses—History of the octavo edition of the _Birds_—Baird's enthusiasm and efficient aid—Parkman's wren—Baird's visit to Audubon in New York—"Look out for Martens!" and wildcats—New home on the Hudson—Godwin's pilgrimage to "Minnie's Land" in 1842.