Page:Autobiography of an Androgyne 1918 book scan.djvu/193

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Recognized by Jennie June’s Associates.
163

I was greeted by former soldiers with whom I had associated at forts in the suburbs of that city. A number of times in the heart of New York I ran across soldiers with whom I had associated at those forts. Once while in a theatre, a soldier a few seats back called out, "Jennie June," but I pretended not to hear him. On another occasion, while living in a small suburb, I was stopped near my home by a young man who asked if I could tell him "where a fellow they call 'Jennie June' lives?" Evidently he thought he recognized myself as Jennie June, but I boldly replied that I had never heard of such an individual. I feared a disclosure of my double life, but nothing eventuated.

While visiting my native village in 1907, where I was now a stranger to nearly all the inhabitants, one of a group of young men whom I passed called out: "Hello Jennie June! . . . Hello Jennie June! . . . Why don't you say something?" My appearing as if I did not hear him probably led him to conclude that he was mistaken. It is almost a miracle that the little community in which I was reared did not learn of my double life, since approximately four thousand young men knew me only as "ennie June," about one-half of whom were at one time soldiers by profession, and therefore wanderers over the face of the earth. In 1914, in New York City, almost in front of the building where I was employed, a Stuyvesant Square acquaintance of more than ten years before thought he recognized me, called out "Jennie June," and threw kisses. I pretended not to notice anything, which probably made him conclude he was mistaken.