I had to leave.

They didn't want a man there that knew all the ropes so well, and so I called a meeting of the mayor and told him good-by.

He! he! By George! 'S a fack! I drank too much and I lived two-forty on the plank-road, till the devil sent me word he didn't want to lose his best friend, and he wished I'd just put out from New York.

'Twas leave New York or die.

That's what brought me here.