MY LIFE [Illustration: From a photograph taken in 1894] [Illustration: Signature] _MY LIFE_ BY JOSIAH FLYNT Author of "Tramping with Tramps," "The World of Graft," Etc. With an Introduction by ARTHUR SYMONS _ILLUSTRATED_ [Illustration] NEW YORK THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY MCMVIII Copyright, 1908, by THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY DEDICATION I dedicate this book to all those human beings, who, like myself, have come under the spell of that will-o'-the-wisp, _Die Ferne_, the disappearing and fading Beyond, and who, like myself again, are doomed sooner or later to see the folly of their quest, _Die Ferne_ receding meanwhile farther and farther away from their vision. "It is the way of the World," says the Philosopher. That my fellow dupes in the fruitless chase may all become sweet-natured philosophers in the end, is my earnest wish and prayer. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION--_By Arthur Symons_ xi FOREWORD xxiii I EARLIEST REMINISCENCES 3 II YOUTHFUL DAYS AT EVANSTON 18 III REST COTTAGE 30 IV EARLY COLLEGE DAYS 53 V MY FIRST IMPRISONMENT 75 VI IN A REFORM SCHOOL 86 VII EARLY TRAMPING EXPERIENCES 101 VIII MY VOYAGE TO EUROPE 120 IX UNTER DEN LINDEN 141 X BERLIN UNIVERSITY 152 XI WANDERINGS IN GERMANY 167 XII A VISIT TO LONDON 177 XIII THE BLOOMSBURY GUARDS 190 XIV SOME LONDON ACQUAINTANCES 196 XV TWO TRAMPING EXPERIENCES 201 XVI SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY 206 XVII A VISIT TO TOLSTOY 227 XVIII SOME ANECDOTES OF TOLSTOY 241 XIX I MEET GENERAL KUROPATKIN 248 XX IN ST. PETERSBURG 258 XXI I RETURN TO AMERICA 269 XXII NEW YORK AGAIN 273 XXIII RAILROAD EXPERIENCES 287 XXIV TRYING TO LIVE BY MY PEN 295 XXV WITH THE POWERS THAT PREY 302