But to fail in New York, to lose the stamp of a Broadway approval--that wad be laying too great a handicap altogether upon the rest of my tour.
In London I'd had nothing to lose.

Gi'e'n I hadna made my hit that first nicht in the Westminster Bridge Road, no one would have known the difference.

But in New York there'd be everyone waiting.

The critics would all be there--not just men who write up the music halls, but the regular critics, that attend first nichts at the theatre.

It was a different and a mair serious business than anything I'd known in London.
It was a great theatre in which I appeared--one o' the biggest in New York, and the greatest I'd ever played in, I think, up tae that time.
And when the nicht came for my first show the hoose was crowded; there was not a seat to be had, e'en frae the speculators.
Weel, there's ane thing I've learned in my time on the stage.