第26章 CHAPTER XIII(1)

So I left Benicia,where John Barleycorn had nearly got me,and ranged wider afield in pursuit of the whisper from the back of life to come and find.And wherever I ranged,the way lay along alcohol-drenched roads.Men still congregated in saloons.They were the poor-man's clubs,and they were the only clubs to which Ihad access.I could get acquainted in saloons.I could go into a saloon and talk with any man.In the strange towns and cities Iwandered through,the only place for me to go was the saloon.Iwas no longer a stranger in any town the moment I had entered a saloon.

And right here let me break in with experiences no later than last year.I harnessed four horses to a light trap,took Charmian along,and drove for three months and a half over the wildest mountain parts of California and Oregon.Each morning I did my regular day's work of writing fiction.That completed,I drove on through the middle of the day and the afternoon to the next stop.

But the irregularity of occurrence of stopping-places,coupled with widely varying road conditions,made it necessary to plan,the day before,each day's drive and my work.I must know when Iwas to start driving in order to start writing in time to finish my day's output.Thus,on occasion,when the drive was to be long,I would be up and at my writing by five in the morning.On easier driving days I might not start writing till nine o'clock.

But how to plan?As soon as I arrived in a town,and put the horses up,on the way from the stable to the hotel I dropped into the saloons.First thing,a drink--oh,I wanted the drink,but also it must not be forgotten that,because of wanting to know things,it was in this very way I had learned to want a drink.

Well,the first thing,a drink."Have something yourself,"to the barkeeper.And then,as we drink,my opening query about roads and stopping-places on ahead.

"Let me see,"the barkeeper will say,"there's the road across Tarwater Divide.That used to be good.I was over it three years ago.But it was blocked this spring.Say,I'll tell you what.

I'll ask Jerry--"And the barkeeper turns and addresses some man sitting at a table or leaning against the bar farther along,and who may be Jerry,or Tom,or Bill."Say,Jerry,how about the Tarwater road?You was down to Wilkins last week."And while Bill or Jerry or Tom is beginning to unlimber his thinking and speaking apparatus,I suggest that he join us in the drink.Then discussions arise about the advisability of this road or that,what the best stopping-places may be,what running time Imay expect to make,where the best trout streams are,and so forth,in which other men join,and which are punctuated with more drinks.

Two or three more saloons,and I accumulate a warm jingle and come pretty close to knowing everybody in town,all about the town,and a fair deal about the surrounding country.I know the lawyers,editors,business men,local politicians,and the visiting ranchers,hunters,and miners,so that by evening,when Charmian and I stroll down the main street and back,she is astounded by the number of my acquaintances in that totally strange town.

And thus is demonstrated a service John Barleycorn renders,a service by which he increases his power over men.And over the world,wherever I have gone,during all the years,it has been the same.It may be a cabaret in the Latin Quarter,a cafe in some obscure Italian village,a boozing ken in sailor-town,and it may be up at the club over Scotch and soda;but always it will be where John Barleycorn makes fellowship that I get immediately in touch,and meet,and know.And in the good days coming,when John Barleycorn will have been banished out of existence along with the other barbarisms,some other institution than the saloon will have to obtain,some other congregating place of men where strange men and stranger men may get in touch,and meet,and know.