Ranney?"
I said, "Yes." He had four large hampers filled with sandwiches, which
we carried into the Mission. He said he was the Count's valet and the
Count wished him to make tea for the men. I said, "All right." I
thought it would be a change for the men, although coffee would have
been all right.
The tea was made and everything was ready for the feed. I wanted the
papers to know about it, so I sent my assistant to the office and told
the reporters that a real French Count was going to give a feed that
night. They were on hand and the next day the papers all had an account
of it.
As soon as the doors opened the men came in and the place was jammed to
the limit. The meeting was opened with prayer, then the sandwiches and
tea were passed around. The Count, wearing a dress-suit, was sitting on
the platform. I introduced him as the "man of the hour" who had given
the lay-out to the boys. They thanked him with three cheers.
I asked the men to look him over and see if they had ever seen him
before. Now the Bowery men are sharp, and over seventy-five hands went
up. They had seen him somewhere, in Mission bread-lines and different
places.
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