Year: 1875

How Mark Twain Became a PiIOf-A


cubs" PxPerienees-Dinieuit At


tending the Mental PhOtOgrap phing OF
Two Thousand Miles of River Bank.


In the February Atlantic Mark Twain
contributes the narrative of his expert
ences as "cub" pilot on the Mississippi
steamer Paul Jones. What with lying
on the rocks four days at Louisville and
some other delays, says Twain, the poor
old Paul Jones fooled away about two
weeks going from Cincinnati to New
Orleans. This gave me chance to get
acquainted with one of the pilots, and
he taught me how to steer the boat, and
thus made the fascination of river life
more potent than ever for me.


1t also gave me chance to get &C
quainted with a youth who had taken
deck passage-more's the pity for he
easily borrowed six dollars from me on
promise to return to the boat and pay
it back to me the day after we should
arrive. But he probably died or forgot,
for he never came. 1t was doubtless
the former, since he has said his parents
were wealthy, and he only travelled deck
passage because it was cooler.


soon discovered two things. One
was that vessel would not be likely to
sail for the mouth of the Amazon under
ten or twelve years and the other was
that the nine or ten dollars still left in
my pocket would not suffice for so i'm
posing an exploration as had planned,
even if I could afford to wait for ship.
Therefore, it followed that 1 must con-
trive a new career. The Paul Jones
was now bound for st. Louis. Iplanned
a siege against my pilot, and at the end
of three hard days he surrendered. 1
entered upon the small enterprise of
cleaning" twelve or thirteen hundred
miles of the great Mississippi river with
the easy confidence of my time of life.
If had really known what was about
to require of my faculties should not
have had the courage to begin. sup
posed that all pilot had to do was to
keep his boat in the river, and 1 did not
consider that that could be much of a
trick, since it was so wide.


The boat backed cut from New Or
leans at four in the afternoon, and it
was "our watch" until eight. Mr..
B, my chief, " Strengthened her up
plowed her along past the sterns of the
other boats that lay at the levee, and
then said, "Here, take her; shave
those steamships as close as you'd peel
an apple" took the wheel, and my
heart went down into my boots for it
seemed to me that We were about to
scrape the side off every ship in the line,
We were so close. Iheld my breath and
began to claw the boat away from the
danger; and I had nay own opinion of
the pilot who had known no better than
to get US into such peril, but was too
wise to express it. In half a minute.
! had a wide margin of safety inter-
vening between the Paul Jones and the
the ships and within ten seconds more
/ was set aside in disgrace, and Mr..
B was going into danger again and
faying me alive with abuse of my cow
ardice. was sting, but I was obliged
TO admire the easy confidence with
which my chief loafed from side to side
of his wheel, and trimmed the ships so
closely that disaster seemed ceaselessly
imminent. When he had cooled lit
tie he told me that the easy water was
close ashore and the current outside,
and therefore we must hug the bank up
stream to get the benefit of the former,
and stay we'll out, down stream, to take
advantage of the latter. In my own
mind I resolved to be a downstream
pilot and leave the up streaming to
people dead to prudence.


DULL CONVERSATION.


Now and then Mr. B - called my
attention to certain things. Said he,
"This is Six mile point" 1 assented.
1t was pleasant enough information,
but could not see the bearing of it. /
was not conscious that it was matter
of any interest to me. Another time he
said, "This is Nine Mile point" Later
he said, "This is Twelve-M point"
They were all about level with the
waters edge; they all looked about
alike to me; they were monotcnously
unpicturesque. 1 hoped Mr.. B
would change the subject. But no he
would crowd up around n point, hug,
ging the shore with affection, and then
say: "The slack water ends here,
abreast this bunch of China trees; now
we cross over" So he crossed over.
He gave me the wheel once or twice,
but | had no luck. l either came near
chipping off the edge of sugar plan
tation, or else I yawed too far from
shore, and so dropped back into dis
grace again and got abused.


SOMETHING LIKE WORK.


The watch was ended at last, and we
took supper and went to bed. At mid
night the glare of lantern shone in my
eyes and the night watchman said


Como, turn out -


And then he left. / could not un-
derstand this extraordinary procedure,
Sd l presently gave up trying to aud
dozed off to sleep. Pretty soon the
watchmsn was back again, and this time
be was gruf, was annoyed. 1 said {:


"What do you want to come bother
ing around here in the middle of the
night for? Now as like as not I'll not
get to sleep again tonight"


The watchman said


"Well, if this amt good I'm blest.


The "off watch" was just turning in,
and L heard some brutal laughter from
them, and such remarks as, "HalIoa,
watchman amt the new cub turned
out yet? He's delicate, likely. Give
him some sugar in rag and send for
the chambermaid to sing rock "a by baby
to him."


About this time Mr.. B -- appeared
on the scene. Something like minute
later 1 was climbing the pilot-house
steps, with some of my clothes on and
the rest IN my arms. Mr.. B was