At dinner the conversation usually ran along the lines of what was being
read to him by the various secretaries or of such topics in the day's
news as were of an unexciting nature. The meal varied greatly in length.
If J. P. was feeling tired, or out of sorts, he eat his dinner quickly
and left us, taking somebody along to read to him until he was ready to
go to bed. But, if he was in good form, and an interesting topic was
started, or if he was in a reminiscent mood and wanted to talk, dinner
would last from half-past-seven to nine, or even later.
I shall deal in another place with the different phases of the
conversation and reading which formed so large a part of our duties, but
I may refer here to various incidents of our routine and to some things
by which our routine was occasionally disturbed.
Mr. Pulitzer was very fond of walking. His usual practice was to leave
the villa in the automobile and drive either down to the plage at
Mentone or up the hill to a point about midway between Cap Martin and
the Tower of Augustus. When he reached the spot he had selected he took
the arm of a secretary and promenaded backward and forward over a
distance of five hundred yards, until he felt tired, when the automobile
was signaled and we drove home.
Pages:
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72