P. and his secretaries were extremely
interesting, the honorarium was accumulating steadily, and in the
background Barbados still slept in the sunshine, an emerald in a
sapphire sea.
During the afternoon I had a visit from Jabez E. Dunningham, the major-
domo. I pay tribute to him here as one of the most remarkable men I have
ever met, an opinion which I formed after months of daily intercourse
with him. He was an Englishman, and he had spent nearly twenty years
with Mr. Pulitzer, traveling with him everywhere, hardly ever separated
from him for more than a few hours, and he was more closely in his
confidence than anyone outside the family.
He was capable and efficient in the highest degree. His duties ranged
from those of a nurse to those of a diplomat. He produced, at a moment's
notice, as a conjuror produces rabbits and goldfish, the latest hot-
water bottle from a village pharmacy in Elba, special trains from
haughty and reluctant officials of State railways, bales of newspapers
mysteriously collected from clubs, hotels, or consulates in remote and
microscopic ports, fruits and vegetables out of season, rooms, suites,
floors of hotels at the height of the rush in the most crowded resorts,
or a dozen cabins in a steamer.
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