, 1912-03-27

even cordially. She spoke English perfectly,
and seemed perfectly familiar with my work.
/ had, however, a sneaking idea that Min
lister Egan was responsible for a good deal OF
the familiarity which both the King and
Queen seemed to exhibit regarding Tuske-
gee.
AS I entered the reception room there
were about twenty or twenty-five people who
were to be entertained at dinner. [ will
not attempt to describe the elegance, not to
say the splendor of everything iii connection
with the dinner. AS I ate food for the first
time ia my life out of gold dishes, [ could
not but recall the time when as u slave boy
[ ate my syrup from Il tin plate.
| think I got through the dinner pretty
well by following my usual custom, namely,
of watching other people to see what they
did and what they did not do. There was
one place, however, where L confess L made
a failure. 1t is customary at the Kings
table as it is true at other functions in many
PORTIONS Of Europe | understand, to drink a
silent toast to the King. This was SO new
and strange to me that | decided that, since
I did not understand the custom the first
thing was to frankly confess my ignorance.
[ treasured myself with the reflection that
people will easier pardon ignorance than
pretense.
At a certain point during tie dinner, each
guest, is expected, it seems, to get the eye
Of the Klng and then rise and drink the
health Of the King. When he rises he makes
a bow to the King and the King returns the
bow. Nothing is said by either the King
or the guest. 1 think practically all the
invited guests except myself went through
this performance. It seemed to me q very
fitting way of expressing respect for the
King rs the head Of the nation and as a man,
and nov thnt know SoOlAthluO about 1t. [
think if | had another chance | could do
myseif credit in that regard.
Durlug the dinner [ had the privilege OF
meeting with n gentleman, now some eighty
years Of age, the uncle Of the King, Prince
who spoke good English. l had a very Inte-
resting conversation with him, aud since
returning to America I have had soms COR
respondence with HIM.
As [ have already said the Qaeen Mother
of England was at the time III Copenhagen,
and, as | afterwards learned, her sister the
Queen Mother of Russia was also there. As
both Of these were in mourning on account
of the recent death Of King Edward they
did not appear at this dinner. | was re-
minded of their presence however when [
was leaving he Kings palace after my IN
teryieW il the morning, one OF the marshalS
presented me with two autograph books,
with The request that | imscribe my name IN
them. One OF the books, as [ afterwards
learned, belonged to the Queen Mother OF
England The other to the QaeeufMother
of Russia.
After the dinner was over, my next pro
bIem WAS to get away III time to catch the
night train for London, where | hid a very
important engagement to speak before the
Liberal Club. At the time of my audience
with the King in the morning, | told him
that was compelled to take a night train
for London. l very much feared that he
had forgotten this, and [ knew Of course,
that it would nave been entirely ont of place
for me to have left the Kings palace with
out his command At a convenient hour
after the dinner, the King very kindly and
gracefully came up to me, shook my hand,
and gently and t~actfully reminded me that
the Queen would be glad to bid me good
night, as l had to catch my train.
l went straight from the Kings palace to
Minister Egan's residence. [ told him all
about my adventure and he seemed as pleas
ed as l was that had gotten through with it
a.. successfully as I did, [ was accompanying
to the station by a committee of Danish gen
tlemen, who looked after every possible com