Out in the lake, near the British building, a half-sized model had been built, of brick, of the battleship _Illinois_ (or the cruiser _Chicago_, I forget which). One day this man insisted on taking me over to look at it, and then said to me quite seriously, “Now do you really dare to tell me that there is a ship in the British navy as big and fine as that?” To argue with such a man as this one has to stretch a point, as Americans are very fond of doing, and I told him that a boat of that size was generally used as a pinnace aboard a British man-of-war. Americans love humorous exaggeration. An American, discussing with a stranger the forty-five-storey building of the Singer Company in New York, said, “Yes, they are really getting too high now; in Chicago they have a building that has snow on the roof all the year round.” However, the best of friends must part, and I left the firm’s employ through a nephew of my friend, who did not care to argue. One night there was something special on—I think it was the night they had fireworks for the Princess Eulalia of Spain—and the firm wanted to keep running till 12 P.M. Just as I was leaving, this nephew came and asked me if I would stay on if he would allow me a full day’s pay for the six hours. I agreed and stayed, but when Saturday came round I only received my regular wages. The nephew was standing outside the office, so I went up to him and spoke to him about it, and he denied having made me any such promise. He reached the office door just one jump in the lead, and all that saved him was the fact that they had a wire netting from the pay counter clear to the ceiling, which I could not get through. The old man, hearing the racket, came up and offered to pay me out of his own pocket; but I was young and independent, and would have none of it. One rather amusing experience I had out at the fair-grounds before this occurred. At that time I had not quite forgotten the Hindustani learned during a year in India. I had just delivered some change at one of the fountains, and was taking a drink of ice-cream soda, when I overheard two gentlemen, who were also taking a drink, making comments, in Hindustani, on the good looks of the girl cashier. In fun I said, also in Hindustani, “Be careful what you say.” I thought they would choke as they hastily swallowed their drinks and fled. It must have astonished them to find an American labourer in overalls who was able to understand and answer them in a language they naturally thought unknown over here.