n

ON THE FIFTEENTH FLOOR

By a curious combination of circumstances, I
began, soon after my arrival in New York, to work
at an office downtown; and I was brought into
direct contact with the actual life of this busy city.
Mine was a sort of journalistic work; it did not,
however, involve me in that restless routine which
is the common lot of New York newspaper men :
I was only to do some scribbling, sitting at desk in
my office.

My office was on the fifteenth floor—in an office
building. It was near the famous Wall Street;
and I went down there every morning. The fif¬
teenth floor is nothing extraordinary in New York
(the Japanese Consulate is situated on the seven¬
teenth floor) ; but it was a far cry for me. Of course,
one does not walk up to such a height;  one is