The independent., 1907-02-14
MARK TWAIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

North American Review: One day in
the midwinter Of 1856 or 1857 think
it was 1861 was coming along the
main street of Keokuk in the middle of
the forenoon. 1t was bitter weather.
so bitter that the street was deserted,
almost. A light dry snow was blow
ing here and there on the ground and
on the pavement, swirling this way
and that way and making all sorts of
beautiful figures but very chilly to
look at The wind blew a piece of pa
per past me and it lodged against
wall of house. Something about the
look of it attracted my attention and
l gathered it in. 1t was a fifty-dolar
Dill, the only one | had ever seen, and
the largest assemblage of money | had
ever encountered in one spot. | adver-
tised 1T in the papers and suffered
more than a thousand dollars worth
of Sollcitude and fear and distress dur
ing the next few days lest the owner
should see the advertisement and come
and take my fortune away. AS many
as four days went by without an ap-
plicant; then [ could endure this kind
of misery no longer. / felt sure that
another four could not go by in this
safe and secure way felt that | must
take that money out of danger. So /
bought ticket for Cincinnati and
went to that city. 1 worked there sew
eral months in the PRINTING! office of
Wrightson and company. / had been
reading Lieutenant Herndon's account
of his explorations of the Amazon and
had been attracted by what he said of
coca. / made up my mind that would
go to the head waters of the Amazon
and collect coca and trade in it and
make fortune. left for New Orleans
in the steamer Paul Jones" with this
great idea filling my mind. One of the
pilots of that boat was Horace Bixby.
Little by little / got acquainted with
him, and pretty soon / was doing a
lot of steering for him in his daylight
watches. When l got to New Orleans
l inquired about ships leaving for Para
and discovered that there weren't any,
and learned that there probably
wouldn't be any during that century
1t had not occurred to me to inquire
about these particulars before leaving
Cincinnati, so there l was. / couldn't
get to the Amazon. / had no friends in
New Orleans and no money to speak
Of went to Horace Bixby and asked
him to make pilot out of me. He said
he would do it for a hundred dollars
L
up to st. Louis, borrowed the money
from my brother-in-law and closed the
bargain / had acquired this brother
in-Iaw several years before This was
Mr.. William A. Moffett, a merchant,
Virginian-a fine man in every way
He had married my sister Pamela, and
the Samuel e. Moffett Of whom / have
been speaking was their son Within
eighteen months / became a compe-
tent pilot, and I served that office un-
til the Mississippi river traffic was
brought to a standstill by the breaking
out of the civil war
The government of the new territory
of Nevada was an interesting menag-
erie. Governor Nye was an old and sea-
soned politician from New York-poli-
tician, not statesman. He had white
hair, he was in fine physical condition;
he had q winningly friendly face and
deep lustrous brown eyes that could
talk as a native language the tongue
of every feeling, every passion every
emotion His eyes could outtalk his
tongue, and this is saying a good deal,
for he was a very remarkable talker
both in private and on the stump. He
was a shreWd man, he generally saw
through surfaces and perceived what
pected of having an eye on the matter.
When grown-up persons indulge in
practical jokes, the fact gauges them
They have lived narrow, obscure, and
ignorant lives, and at full manhood
they still retain and cherish a job-lot
of leftover standards and ideals that
would have been discarded with their
boyhood if they had then moved out
into the world and a broader life
There were many practical jokers i'm
the new territory. / do not take pleas
ure in exposing this fact. for | liked
those people but what | am saying is
true. | wish / could say a kindier
thing about them instead-that they
were burglars, or hat-rack thieves, or
something like that. that wouldn't be
utterly uncomplimentary. | would pre-
| fer 1t, hnt can't say those things.
| they would not be true. These people
were practical jokers. and | will not
| try To- disguise 1t In other resperts