Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-12-08
THE LOOKOUT OF THE WORLD.

THE LOOKOUT OF THE WORLD.
Mark Twain's Preparation for Possible
Encounter with the Comet.
Desiring to get the opinion on the
new coret of that celebrated anna
teur astronomer, Mr.. Samuel Long
horne Clemens, known to the world
as ssMark Twair," visited his house
just before daybreak. His passion
ate fondness for observing celestial
phenomena is we'll known. was.
confident that should find him at his
telescope in the turret that caps the
northeast corner OF his extraordinary
mansion. A few well-directed peb-
bles brought him to the window.
"Hello!" said he. s'Come up; but
don't wake the baby. Mind the sixth
stair on the second fight; it creaks a
Hades of falsetto.'' So saying he
let down his door key at the end of
string. ..-.. =
When I reached the turret my
friend was no longer on the inside.
He was sitting in an open scuttle
leading to the roof, smoking q cigar.
With both hands he grasped a long
pole. When it grew lighter I per-
ceived that it was a boat hook. His
face had haggard look, and his long
legs hung listlessly through the scut-
tleway. "You look tired, Mark, /
said. ''Have you been at it all
night?"
"All night?' said be with a groan
that consisted of q vowel and two
cousonant sounds. GAIL night? This
one makes the fourth consecutive
night that 1 haven't closed half an
eye. It's wearing on me. This con-
stant l,:sconslbility is undermining
my-my cons ,.-tion. My sense Of
duty is as stron. the next mans,
but sometimes 1 & Ike letting 60
my grip, even 1. NJ condemned
planet slides into t;.o revised version
of birthstone. All night? Good
night! Some other night"
There was degree Of evaporation
in his tone which the circumstances
did not seem to warrant. "Well,"
said I, ''there's no occasion for an
ger. Nobody compels you to sit up
here in the malarious morning at
mosphere and early dew"
He looked for a minute as if he
was going to break out in torrent
Of objurgation. Then be mastered
his wrath and gazed down upon me
with an expression of melancholy
pity.
"The tail of that comet" said he
slowly waving the end OF his pole to-
ward the north sky, sis, according
to my calculations, a tritle over eor-
ty million miles long; yet it woulin' |.
reach more than quarter way
through the skulls Of some people 1
know. Tie reckless ignorance of
mankind amazes me more and more
the older 1 grow. Whv don't 1 go
to bed? Yes, it would be perfectly
easy and natural thing to 60 to bed,
wouldn't it, now? Perhaps 1 had
better go to he'd" And he laughed
derisively.
"What in the name of common
sense are you driving at, Clemens?"
l demanded.
ooh, nothing at ALL" he replied,
with a sardonic wave to his pole.
Nothing, except that while the mad
revelry of the world goes on below.
and the multitude pursues its wonted
avocations precisely as though a uni
versal catastrophe was not imminent.
one solitary watcher sits up here in
his lonely tower, Drawing danger and
incurring great fatigue for the sake
of his infatuated fellow-beings. There
have been examples of such devo-
tion to duty in history, but they are
rare and it has always been left to
posterity to recognize them. At the
present moment l fill the post OF
lookout to the planet, young man.
You'll find set down in the census
the exact number of fellow-citizens
whose existence depends upon my
vigilance. That's all I'm driving
at
|, l saw now pretty well how things
were with my friend. So, to humor,
1 gravely remarked: 81 always
knew your philanthropy, Mark. Yet
must say that this last undertaking
surprises'me."
He Immediately became affable and
even confidential. "There is gooG
deal Of the true Christian spirit o
. self-denial in it, isn't there, now
You see, they are all wrong about
the tail. I've ciphered on that tai
until / understand every inch of it
It's absurd to suppose that the tai
isn't solid, and pretty tough, too
Do you imagine that this come
could 60 bulging through space a
the rate of 200 miles a minute with
D out knocking spots out of tail tha
was vapor? Tie fog bank on th,
, rear end of the New York and Bostol
A O'Clock express, stalt her off evel
at forty miles An hour, and see hoy
long your fog horn will last. Ye
they ask us to swallow this inferns
| hohoShSS oooot thC CoiuCt . tdll. III
. observations Of this fellow, and ais
! of Coggia's Gomez, seven years ago
/ have convinced me that comets tail
v are fastened on tight, and are of
ibrous and durable nature, iik
= Hartford beefsteak.
4 "And what do you propose to d
b with your pole!" l asked.
n ''Great Caesar!" he exclaimed
a "With tail forty-two million mile
a long, three million miles thick, an
t tough as whip leather, whisk,ug abou
{ in the wake of that piratical era
4 every time she tacks overhead, don
e you see the necessity of keeping
. cool-headed and muscular man O
e deck here to fend off, in case Ii
e cussed thing whisks this way ?"..
q New York Sun.
The personal appearance of j. T
McCullagh, editor of the Globe Den
e OcrUf il not parficnlarlv nro,,osa,,;,