Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-08-15
MARK AND ARTEMUS.
The Formers Account Of their First
Interview.

had never seen him before. He
brought letters of introduction
from mutual friends in San Fran
cisco, and by invitation l breakfast
ed with him. 1t was almost re-
ligion, there in the silver mines,
to precede such a meal with whisky
cocktails. Artemus, with the true
cosmopolitan instinct, always de-
lerred to the customs Of the coun-
try he was in, and so he ordered
three Of those denominations. Hing
son was present. am a match for
every beverage you can mention ex-
cept a whisky cocktail, and there
fore | said would rather not
drink one. l said it would 20 right
to my head and confuse me so that
| would be in helpless tangle in
ten minutes. | did not want to act
like a lunatic before strangers, but
Artemus gently insisted, and l
drank the treasOnable mixture un-
der protest, and | felt all the time
that | was doing a thing | might
be sorry for. In a minute or two ]
began to imagine that my ideas
were clouded. / waited in great
anxiety for the conversation to
open, with a sort of vague hope
that my understanding would
prove clear, after all, and my mis-.
givings groundless.
Artemus dropped an unimport-
ant remark or two, and then as
sumed a look of superhuman earn
estness and made the following
Astounding speech. He said:
"Now, there is one thing | ought
to ask you about before | forget it
You have been here in Silverland
here in Neyada-two or three
years, and, of course, your position
on the daily press has made it ne
cessary for you to 60 down in tho
mines and examine them carefully
in detail, and therefore you know
all about the silver mining bust
! ness. Now, what | want to get a
, isis, well, Othe way the depositl
, of ore are made, you know. Fol
7 instance; Now, as understand it
, the vein which contains the silver
+ is sandwiched in between casting
of granite, and runs along thu
ground, and sticks up like curb
stone.
t "Well, take a vein forty fee
/ thick, for example, or eighty, 70
e that matter, or even q hundred
e say you go down on it with a shaft
! straight down, you know, or will
what you call the 'inclines,' mayb
G you 90 down 500 feet, or maybe yol
l. don't 60 down but 200; anyway
o you 90 down, and all the time thi
o vein grows narrower, when tn
d castings come nearer or approach
" Zach other, you may say, that
II when they do approach, which Q
s course they do not always do, par
v ticularly in cases where the natur
d of the formation is such that the
IS stand apart wider than they other
is wise would, and which geology ho
d failed to account for, althougI
.e everything in that science goes
$. prove that, all things being equa
r. it would if it did not, or would nc
10 certainly if it did, and then {
% course they are. Do not you thin
1 lit is2"
.e | said to myself, "Now, / iut
s. knew how it wonld be. Tbi
10 cussed whisky cocktail has done II
,r business for me l don't unde
stand any more than a clam" An
n then / SAID, "I--I-that is-if 20
1f don't mind, would you-wonI
10 you say that over again? Ought
'r ooh, certainly certainly Va
t. see am very familiar with the sui
a ject, and Perhaps | Idon't present IN
a, case clearly, but l."
lie rNo, no--no, no-you state
it plain enough, but that vile oocl
G. TAIL has muddled me a little. Bl
or | will--no, / do understand, {,
~ that matter; but ] would get Il
or hang of it all the better II you wei
or over it again, and III pay better a
At tention this time"
or lie said, "Why, what ] was aft
d. was this" Here he became eve
in moro raorfnllv imprpssivn than ev