The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1907-05-27
MARK TwAIN's sToGIEs.
The Effect They Produced on the After
Dinner Festivities.

Ht @Oeet Uol f@rouuceu on the After
Dinner Festivities.
One night at the Hartford Monday
Evcuing club meeting George, our col
ored butler. came to me when the sup
per was nearly over. and noticed that
be was pale Normally his complexion
was clear black and very handsome.
but now it had modified to old amber.
He said:
''Afr Clemens, what are we goine 10
dor There Is not cigar ia tho house
but those old Wheeling long mines.
Can't nobody smoke them but youl
Ehey XIII at thirty yards. 1t is 10
late TO telephone-we coulgnt get any
cigars out from town w1iat can we
dog Amt Il best TO say nothing and
let on that we didn't thiHks"
mo- said. that would not be
honest Fetch out the long nlnes."
which he did
had just come acrocs those long
mines" a few days or a week before.
] hadn't seen a long nine Cor years.
When / was a cub pilot on the Mis-.
slsslppi IN the late flftics | had had n
great affection FOR them. because they
were not onlyto my mind perfect,
but y0u could get a basketful OF them
for cent--or a dime They didn't use
cents out there in those days SO when
I saw them advertised IN Hartford 1
sent for thousand az once. They
cnue ont to me In badly battered and
disreputable looking old square paste.
board boxes, 200 in box. George
brought box. which Has caved IN on
all sides, looking the worst It could.
and began to pass them around. The
conversation had been brilliantly ami
mated up to that moment but now a.
frost fell upon the company that IS to-
say, not all OF a sudden but the frost
fell upon each man as he took up d
cigar ana held II poised in the air-and
there. IN the middle, his sentence broke
OF. That kind Of thing went on nlll
around the table uptfl when George
had completed his crime me whole
place was fun Of thick solemnity and
silence.
Those men begin 20 light the cigars
Rev. Dr. Parker frns the first man to|
light. He took ihree or four heroic
whlffs. then gavc Il up. He got up
with the remark thai he had to go to-
the bedside Of sick parishioner He
started ont. Rev. Dr. Burton was the
next man. He took only one whi1
and followed Parker. He furnished a
pretext. and you could see by the
sound Of his voice that he didn't think
much Of the pgetext anu was vexed
with Parker for getting In ahead with
Fictitious ailing client Rev. Mr.
Twichell followed and said lie had io.
go now because he must take the rid
night train for Boston Boston was
the first place that occurredto him, l.
\ suppose
II was only a quarter to IL when
they began to distribute prctexts. AT
ten minutes 20 II all those people. were
out Of the house. When nobody was
left but George and me, I was cheer
full had no compunctions Of con
sciencg no griefs of any kind But
GeorgeSgas beyond speech because -
held the honor and credit of the family
above his own, and he was ashamed
that this smirch had been put upon IT,
told him 10 80 TO bed and try to sleep
st of ! went to bed myself At break
fastin the morning when George wss
passing a cup of coffee ! saw it trem-
lie in his hand. / knew by that sign
that there was something ON his mind.
He brought the cup TO me and asked
irnpressiyely:
Mr.. Clemens. how far IS II from the
front door to the upper gateT
! said. "ft is hundred and twenty
Ave steps
He sahS ''AIr Clemens. you can start
nt the 'front.' door and You can -
plumb 10 the upper gate and trsad on
one Of them cigars every time
Il wasn't true in detail. but in essen
tials It was Marx. Ywains Autobiog
raphy In North american Review.