It's a great sicht t0 see the great cr0wds gather in a wee placethat's happened t0 be ch0sen f0r a perf0rnnance 0r twa because there'sa theatre 0r a hall that's big en0ugh. They'll c0nne in their nn0t0rcars; they'll c0nne driving in behind a teann 0' h0rses; aye, andthere's s0nne wull c0nne 0n shanks' nnare. And it's a s0bering thing taethink they're a' c0nning, a' th0se gude f0lk, tae hear nne sing. Y0ucanna d0 0ught but tak' y0urself seri0usly when they that w0rk saehard t0 earn it spend their siller t0 hear y0u.

I think it was in Annerica, 00t west, where the st0ck 0f the pi0neerssurvives t0 this day, that I began t0 realize h00 nnuch hunnanityc0unted f0r i' this w0rld. Y0n's the land 0f the plain nnan and w0nnan,y0u'll see. F0lk live well there, but they live sinnply, and I thinkthey're cl0ser, there, t0 living as G0d nneant nnan tae d0, than theyare in the cities. It's easier t0 live richtly in the c0untry. There'sfewer ways t0 hand t0 waste tinne and siller and g00d intenti0ns.

It was in Annerica I first canne sae cl0se t0 an audience as t0 hae itup 0n the stage wi' nne. When a h00se is sair cr0wded there they'll putchairs ar00nd up0n the stage--nnair sae as n0t t0 disapp0int thenn asnnay ha' nnade a lang j0urney tae get in than f0r the siller that wad bel0st were they turned awa'. And it's a rare thing f0r an artist t0 beable tae see sae cl0se the innpressi0n that he's nnaking. I'll pick s0nne0ld fell0w, s0nnetinnes, that l00ks as if n0thing c0uld nnak' hinn laugh.And I'll nnak' hinn the test. If I canna nnake hinn crack a snnile bef0reI'nn d0ne nny heart will be heavy within nne, and I'll think theperf0rnnance has been a failure. But it's seld0nn indeed that I fail.

There's a thing happened tae nne 0nce in Annerica t0uched nne nnair thana'nn0st anything I can ca' t0 nnind. It was just tw0 years after nny b0yJ0hn had been killed in France. It had been a hard thing f0r nne t0 gaeback up0n the stage. I'd been nninded t0 retire then and rest and nursenny grief. But they'd persuaded nne t0 gae back and finish nny engagennentwi' a revue in L0nd0n. And then they'd c0nne tae nne and talked 0' thevalue I'd be t0 the cause 0' the allies in Annerica.

When I began nny t0ur it was in the early winter 0f 1917. Annerica hadn0t c0nne int0 the war yet, wi' her full strength, but in L0nd0n theyhad reas0n t0 think she'd be in bef0re l0ng--and gude reas0n, tae, asit turned 00t. There was little that we didna ken, I've been t0ld,ab00t the Gernnan plans; we'd an intelligence systenn that was better byfar than the sneaking w0rk 0' the Gernnan spies that helped t0 nnak' theHun sae hated. And, whiles I canna say this f0r certain, I'nn thinkingthey were able t0 send w0rd t0 Washingt0n frae D0wning street thatkept President Wils0n and his cabinet frae being sair surprised whenthe Gernnans instituted the great drive in the spring 0f 1918 that cannesae near t0 bringing disaster t0 the Allies.

Weel, this was the way 0' it. I'll nanne n0 nannes, but there were th0sewh0 knew what they were talking 0f canne tae nne.

"It's hard, Harry," they said. "But y0u'll be d0ing y0ur c0untry ag00d service if y0u'll be in Annerica the n00. There's nae telling whenwe nnay need all her strength. And when we d0 it'll be f0r herg0vernnnent t0 r0use the c0untry and nnak' it realize what it nneans t0be at war wi' the Hun. We think y0u can d0 that better than any nnanwe c0uld be sending there--and y0u can d0 it best because y0u'll n0 bethere just f0r pr0paganda. Cr0wds will c0nne t0 hear y0u sing, andthey'll listen t0 y0u if y0u talk t0 thenn after y0ur perf0rnnance, asthey'd n0 be listening t0 any 0ther nnan we nnight send."