The Letters Of Mark Twain, Volume 1, 1853-1866

atus in the corres

there is but one le

written, of course,

ived. It was about

er finally abandone

is shoulders walke

tains to Virginia C

tained to claim at

Enterprise office

entered into his

a man of great abi

p of gay-hearted fe

delighted the Comsto

sentation of mere

this group. By the

of it. When he ask

Carson legislature

e Clemens knew noth

at least make the

of this work that

e famous throughout

been fully told el

See Mark Twain: A B

; Chap

rst signed to a Car

hat time was attach

letters had alread

which gave them p

was attached to h

fore he had been ca

ost universally M

of Mark Twain's jo

but we are permitte

supply connection

ome briefly in Febr

orth preserving. Th

least a hint of

ens and Mrs. Moff

, April

n my room, which is not quite as large or as nice as the one I had at h

himself in church, and now I will tell you a few more lies, while my hand is in. For instance, some of the boys made me a present of fifty feet in the East India G. and S. M. Company ten days ago. I was offered ninety-five dollars a foot for it, yesterday, in gold. I refused it-not because I think the claim is worth a cent for I don't but because I had a curiosity to

their beauty as specimens-they don't let everybody supply themselves so liberally. I send Mr. Moffett a little specimen of it for his cabinet. If you don't know what the white stuff on it i

e can write, to an absent friend, is one that treats of persons he has been acquainted with rather than the public events of the day. Now you speak of a young lady who wrote to Hollie Benson that she had seen me; and you didn't mention her name. It was just a

hots down street-as such things are i

y Missourian, shot two of my friends, (police officers,) through the h

his letter was a riva

his name during the l

nd he had undertaken

ly that Rice's letters

ledge a "festering ma

be properly termed t

r life. This burlesqu

t interfere with frien

es, though continually

ive papers-a form of p

on the

find these two journal

the coast metropolis.

ably, the second from

, and even No,

ens and Mrs. Moff

$20.00

, S. F., J

out and we lunch out, and we eat, drink and are happy-as it were. After breakfast, I don't often see the hotel again until midnight-or after. I am going to the Dickens mighty fast. I know a regular village of families here in the house, but I never have time to call on them. Thunder! we'll know a little more about this town, before we leave, than some of the people who live in it. We take trips across the Bay to Oakland, and down to San Leandro, and Alameda, and those places; and we go out to the Willows, and Hayes Pa

ting about, here, and there, and far away at sea. When I stood on the beach and let the surf wet my feet, I recollected doing the same thing on the shores

ia City there are s

jets of steam thr

ce was a health resor

olds, now and again re

the late summer-a ga

of these periods

ens and Mrs. Moff

-$20 e

PRINGS, Aug

" There's a comment on human vanity for you! Why, blast it, I was under the impression that I could get such a situation as that any time I asked for it. But I don't want it. No paper in the United States can afford to pay me what my place on the "Enterprise" is worth. If I were not naturally a lazy, idle, good-for-nothing vagabond, I coul

l, I can't help it-in reality I am no

I could not resist the temptation to take a hand in all the fun going. Those Virginians-men and women both-are a stirring set, and I found if I went with them on all their eternal excursions, I should bring the consumption home with me-so I left, day before yesterday, and

a steam-boat, too-hence the name. We put eggs in a handkerchief and dip them in the springs-they "soft boil" in 2 Minutes, and boil as hard as a rock in 4 minutes. These fissures extend more than a quarter of a mile, and the long line of steam columns looks very prett

s

A

of 1863. Mark Twain

had established a r

ter. Thus far, however

r is there any eviden

as unformed, uncultiv

we realize that som

ty. Rudyard Kipling at

eatest

ho had a fine literary

mately associated with

no hint of his greater

prise, William Wright,

l humorist, gave far

f future d

ho first suspected th

o some more important

ontinental lecture tou

und congenial society

ing but a few days, bu

s celebration, closin

ght of final festivit

ce on his own accoun

evada, written a day

cteri

's letter to

, Jan.

2 o'clock. It is a wild, untamable place, full of

ander the Great, in his most drinkinist days, and I blackened my face at the Melodeon, and made a gibbering, idiotic speech. God-dam it! I suppose the U

" Your notice, by the way, did much good here, as it doubtlessly will elsewhere. The miscreants of the Union

llects in the world hav

that you are the only chastely-hum

earnestly shall be just as earnestly attended to-and again with very many w

ully, grate

MUS

mentions was the riva

w York Sunday Mercury,

te. Ward wrote a secon

ke City. He was a fra

don, died of consum

edly exerted an influ

nd letter h

rd to S. L

CITY, Ja

ertained of my recovery, but happily the malady is gone, though leaving me very, very weak. I hope to be able to resume my journ

me, I could not have been better or mor

ite any more. Love to Jo and Dan, an

ys y

MUS

Mark Twain's letters

are probably long sin

assures us that he un

ady, however, for ser

the Mercury, was dist

ed, but it apparently

ot follo

just then too busy rep

ponding to social dema

nit during the early

attained a high degr

l. In the Legislatur

Enterprise he was fear

r, his satire, and h

ed we

ordinary popularity.

e, had come out from t

hold in Carson City, a

in his stead, and inde

. His home became the

liant brother its chi

a year before he had b

no occasion was comp

Legislature assemble

was organized and prop

fter very brief consid

o preside at this Thir

," and a letter of inv

reply to

and G. A. Sea

Y, January

rest in religious affairs, and would willingly inflict my annual message upon the Church itself if it might derive benefit thereby. You can charge what you please; I promise the public no amusement, but I do promise a reasonable amount of ins

ectf

K T

this letter more sugge

at has preceded it. Hi

ot been preserved, b

ssic. It probably ab

g ridicule of the Gove

s. It was all taken in

f his success he recei

cribed to "The Govern

rst public appearance

to achieve ve