require complete silence to fire off one of your best remarks.

There is the old lady who listens to you frowning, and who does not mind
what you are saying, but is all the time shaking for fear of what you
are going to say next. She never laughs before she has seen other people
laugh. Then she thinks she is safe.

All these I am going to have in America again; that is clear. But I am
now a man of experience. I have lectured in concert rooms, in lecture
halls, in theaters, in churches, in schools. I have addressed embalmed
Britons in English health resorts, petrified English mummies at
hydropathic establishments, and lunatics in private asylums.

I am ready for the fray.

CHAPTER VI.

A CONNECTICUT AUDIENCE--MERRY MERIDEN--A HARD PULL.

_From Meriden, January 8._

A Connecticut audience was a new experience to me. Yesterday I had a
crowded room at the Opera House in Meriden; but if you had been behind
the scenery, when I made my appearance on the stage, you would not have
suspected it, for not one of the audience treated me to a little
applause. I was frozen, and so were they. For a quarter of an hour I
proceeded very cautiously, feeling the ground, as it were, as I went on.
By that time, the thaw set in, and they began to smile. I must say that
they had been very attentive from the beginning, and seemed very
interested in the lecture. Encouraged by this, I warmed too. It was
curious to watch that audience. By twos and threes the faces lit up with
amusement till, by and by, the house wore quite an animated aspect.
Presently there was a laugh, then two, then laughter more general. All
the ice was gone. Next, a bold spirit in the stalls ventured some
applause. At his second outburst he had company. The uphill work was
nearly over now, and I began to feel better. The infection spread up to
the circles and the gallery, and at last there came a real good hearty
round of applause. I had "fetched" them after all. But it was tough
work. When once I had them in hand, I took good care not to let them go.

* * * * *

I visited several interesting establishments this morning. Merry Meriden
is famous for its manufactories of electro-plated silverware.
Unfortunately I am not yet accustomed to the heated rooms of America,
and I could not stay in the show-rooms more than a few minutes. I should
have thought the heat was strong enough to melt all the goods on view.
This town looks l