The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls

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"The following day I had a thousand and one things to do; only the day
to do them in and a journey across the continent before me in the
evening.... It rained with potent fury; every now and then I had to get
under cover for a while in order, so to speak, to give my mackintosh a
rest; for under this continued drenching it began to grow damp on the
inside. I went to banks, post-offices, railway offices, restaurants,
publishers, book sellers and money changers.

"I was so wet when I got back to Mitchell's toward evening, that I had
simply to divest myself of my shoes, socks and trousers, and leave them
behind for the benefit of New York City. No fire could have dried them
ere I had to start; and to pack them in their present condition was to
spread ruin among my other possessions. With a heavy heart I said
farewell to them as they lay a pulp in the middle of a pool upon the
floor of Mitchell's kitchen. I wonder if they are dry by now."

That night he joined a party of emigrants bound for the West, the weight