Chapter IReminiscences of Bret Harte. "Plain Language From Truthfulful James."The Glamour of the Old Mining TownsIt is forty-four years since the writer met the author of "The Luck ofRoaring Camp" - that wonderful blending within the limits of a shortstory of humor, pathos and tragedy - which, incredible as it may seem,met with but a cold reception from the local press, and was even brandedas "indecent" and "immodest!"On the occasion referred to, I was strolling on Rincon Hill - at thattime the fashionable residence quarter of San Francisco - in companywith Mr. J. H. Wildes, whose cousin, the late Admiral Frank Wildes,achieved fame in the battle of Manila Bay. Mr. Wildes called myattention to an approaching figure and said: "Here comes Bret Harte, aman of unusual literary ability. He is having a hard struggle now, butonly needs the opportunity, to make a name for himself."