The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-23
SUSY'S BIOGRAPHY
OF MARK TWAIN
CNorth American Review

(Susy was Mark Twain's little daughter
VINO died-)
Sept. 10. 'S5-The other evening Clara
and I brought down our new soap bub-
bic water and we all blew soap bub-
bles Papa blew his soap bubbles and
filled them with tobacco smoke, and as
the light shOne or them they took very
beautiful opalne cOlOrs. Papa would hold
them and then let US catch them in our
hand and they felt delightful to the
touch, the mixture OF the smoke and
water had a singularly pleasant effect.
1t is human life. We are blown upon
the world: we float buOyantly upon the
summer air a little while, complacently
showing off our grace of form and our
dainty iridescent coiors; then we vanish
with a little puff, leaving nothing behind
but a memory-and sometimes not even
that. | suppose that those solemn times
when we wake In the deeps of the night
and reflect. there is not one of US who Is
not willing to confess that he is really
only soap bubble, and as little worth
the making.
I remember those days of twenty-one
years ago, and a certain pathos clings
about them. Susy, with her manifold
young charms and her iridescent mind.
was as lovely a bubble as any we made
that day-and as transitory. She passed.
as they passed. in her youth and beauty,
and nothing of her is left but a heart
break of memory. That lOng-vanished day
came wildly back to me few weeks
ago when, for the first time in twenty
one years. found myself again amusing
child with smoke-charged soap-bub-
bles
Susy's next date is November %, 1885,
the eve of my 50th birthday. II seems
good while ago. | must have been rather
young for my age then, for I was try
ing to tame an old-fashioned bicycle nine
feet high. II Is to me almost unbelievable
at my present stage of life that there
have really been people willing to trust
themselves upon a dizzy and unstable
altitude like that. and that ] was one
of them. Twichel and / took lessons
every day. He succeeded. and became a
master of the art of riding that wild
vehicle, but / had no gift in that d.
rection and was never able to stay on
mine long enough to get any satisfac-
tory view of the planet. Every time l
tried to steal a look at a pretty girl. or
any other kind of scenery, that single mo-
ment of inattention gave the bicycle the
.chance it had been waiting for. and /
went over the front of il and struck the
ground on my head or my back before
had time to realize that something was
front way: ] had other ways, and prac
ticed them all; but no matter which way
was chosen for me there was always
one monotOnouS result - the bicycle
air and came down on top of me. Some
times its wires were so sprung by this
violent performance that it had the col
lapsed look of an umbrella that had had
misunderstanding with a cyclone. Aft
er each days practice I arrived home
with my skin hanging in ribbons, from
my knees down. ] plastered the ribbons
on where they belonged and bound them
there with handkerchiefs stepped in
Ponds Extract. and was ready for more
adventures next day. 1t was always
surprise to me that I had much skin.
and that it held out so well. There was
always plenty, and l soon came to under
stand that the supply was going to
main sufficient for all my needs. 1t
turned out thai I haG nine skins, in lay
ers, one on top of the other like the
leaves of book. and some of the doctors
said il was quite remarkable.
| was full of enthusiasm over this in
sane amusement. Ny teacher was I
young German from the bicycle factory:
a gentle. kindly. patient creature, with
a pathetically grave face. He never
smiled; he never made remark; he al
ways gathered me tenderly up when |
plunged off. and helped me on aga N
without word When he had been
teaching me twice a day for three weeks
I introduced a new gymnastic-one that
he had never seen beforehand so at last
a compliment WAS wrung from him. a
thing which ! had been risking my life
for days to achieve. He gathered me up
and said mOurnfully: Mr.. Clemens. you
can fall off the bicycle in more different
ways than any person | ever saw be-
fore"