This digression concerning a poetry book occurs to
me only now, while telling of my wickedness about the
blanket. The lesson that master wished to teach me
had no effect, for the simple reason that I had not stolen.
The fear, however, doubtless remained; the injustice
scored deep, bitter wounds. I trace back to it a curious
persistent dread, not entirely obliterated even now: the
dread of being accused of a crime I have not committed;
yet where the evidence of guilt seems overwhelming.
Patanjali's "Aphorisms" describe a method of living
through in imagination all possible experiences. A series
of laborious incarnations would be necessary to exhaust
these experiences in the ordinary way. They can be lived
out in the mind instead. In imagination, anyhow,
thanks to that little school injustice, I have often tried to
realize the feelings of a man serving a term of imprisonment
for a crime he has not committed. Patanjali's interesting
method is, at any rate, a means of opening the mind to
a sympathetic understanding of many an experience one
could not otherwise know. Only imagination must be
sustained and very detailed, and the projection of the
personality is not easy.
An interlude of play-acting now enlivened my period of free-lance journalism. Kay was in my life again, and the opportunity came through him. He had spent the summer between odd jobs on the stage, and odd jobs at buying and selling exchange in Wall Street. He made both ends meet, at any rate, and had a cheap room in the purlieus of Hoboken across the river. A part in a third-rate touring company had just been offered to him, and he said he could get me a part as well. One-night stands in the smaller towns of New York State with a couple of plays, of which "Jim, the Penman," was one, formed the programme, and my utter ignorance of acting, he assured me, need not stand in the way. My salary would be $15 a week, with travelling expenses paid. Gilmour, the leading man, and organizer of the company, was anxious to find someone like myself.
I jumped at it. Gilmour looked me up and down
