Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-01-06
Some Account of Mark Twain's Late Travels
He has Splendid Time.

Mark Twain, in his last letter to the
Alta California describes the interna-
tional boat race at Springfield, reports
an interview with John Allen, and gives
| some account Of his travels. Of the
scenery, while waiting on the banks Of
the lake for the return Of the boats, he
says: "But the next twenty minutes
hung heavily on my hands. There wss
nothing in the world to look at but five
hundred umbrellas, and occasionally a
| floating glimpse of the water-and even
umbrellas lose their interest in the long
run, find. There is nothing exciting
about umbrellas - nothing thrilling.
Ones pulse beats just as calmly in the
presence of umbrellas as ifthey we're not
there. And they don't really amount to
anything for scenery, being monotonous
when there are go many"
Mr.. Twain thinks John Allen is "lost
ram," and adds: Let us be consistent
if we are nothing else, and surely there
is little of the sheep in John Allen,
lost or otherwise" Tommy Hadden
evidently has Mark Twain's sympathy !:
f"Another person, hungry for fame, and
jealous of John Aliens brilliant fortune,
advertised in ill-tempered language that
in the matter of awful and deliberate
wickedness, the boasted John Allen was
| an innocent lamb to him, and proceeded
to prove it by series of evidences,
either one of which ought to be sufficient
to damn him without even glance at
the others. This man was naturally in
ceb555 at the injustice that tiast. had had been
done him, and outraged by the spectacle
of another man wearing laurels to which
he himself alone was entitled, as the
guerdon of long lifetime earnestly and
unself<hly devoted to the commission of
peculiarly revolving crimes. To such a
mind the reflection that, after all, his life
has been failure, could not be other
than agonizing. He invited attention to
his case-insisted on throwing his doors
open to prsyer-haunted his superior sins
before the public, and went on railing at
the feeble impositor, John Allen.
About this time the Wickedest Man
himself arrived-a tall, plain, bony fell
| low, with a good-natured look in his eye,
q Water street cir about him, and a
touch of Irish in his face. He stood in
the door, and u crowd of vsgsbonds on
| tnc elucWdik RbEcu uuu elaIcu nv him
in stupid admiration. He said:
Don't this sort Of thing ever stir up
the devil in you-or may be you don't
mind it, being used to being notorious 7"
thanked him for the compliment, and
said wasn't notorious enough to have
become an Object for people to stare at.
No; but If that's 30 you're lucky.
They stare at me till l want to knock
their heads of. Why, they come here
and march right in and ask newell,
you stand { fl there and I'll show you
how they do. There, now; that's about
right"
Then the speaker stepped into the
street, and returned with his hat in bis
hand, and walked up gingerly aud said /:
"Are you the wickedest man in New
York ?"
"Yes."
John Allen 2
"Yes."
=" You =
"Yes."
GOOD God"
And then they walk around me this
way, and then sidle around toiher way,
aud examine the back Of my head, and
stooP down and feel my legs. And then
they 60 OF mumbline TO themselves, as
il they cant possibly understand il, any
how. Now you know that bothered me
like sin at first, bnt It don't now. I've
learned q trick. When they ask me
questions, ask them another l am
like the Irishnsn. The priest met him
one day and says;