We had both been fired by reading Bayard Taylor's "Views Afoot." It was in the days of the oil excitement and shares were going up like rockets.

One Sunday, lying in the grass, I said to "Vandy": "If you could make three thousand dollars would you spend it in a tour through Europe with me ?" "Would a duck swim or an Irishman eat potatoes ?" was his reply.
The sum was soon made in oil stock by the investment of a few hundred dollars which "Vandy" had saved.

This was the beginning of our excursion.

We asked my partner, Harry Phipps, who was by this time quite a capitalist, to join the party.

We visited most of the capitals of Europe, and in all the enthusiasm of youth climbed every spire, slept on mountain-tops, and carried our luggage in knapsacks upon our backs.