There would be a great packing of trunks, not only those devoted to the
personal belongings of the staff, but trunks for newspaper files,
encyclopedias, magazines, novels, histories, correspondence, and so on.
The chef and his assistants, the butler and his assistants, the major
domo, and the secretaries would leave the villa in a string of
carriages, followed by cartloads of baggage, and install themselves on
the yacht.
Or the cause of our sudden departure might be that Mr. Pulitzer was
feeling nervous and out of sorts and was expecting important letters or
cables which were sure to excite him and make him worse. On such
occasions Dunningham, who was one of the few people who had any
influence whatever over Mr. Pulitzer, would urge an instant flight on
the yacht as the only means of safeguarding J. P.'s health. He knew that
if we stayed ashore no power on earth could prevent Mr. Pulitzer from
reading his cables and letters when they arrived. Once out at sea we
were completely cut off from communication with the shore, for we had no
wireless apparatus, and Mr. Pulitzer would settle down and get some
rest.
More than once, however, I saw all the preparations made for a short
cruise, everybody on board, the captain on the bridge, the table laid
for lunch, a man stationed at the stem to report the automobile as soon
as it came in sight, and at the last moment a messenger arrive
countermanding everything and ordering everybody back to the villa as
fast as they could go.
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