"Back, back, all hands! Get what you can- Or pick, or oar, or stave." This way and that they breathless ran, To dig him out of his grave! "Too slow! too slow! the weight will kill! "Out with the cargo!" Then they go "Back to the sands! too slow, too slow! He's dying, dying! yet, heave ho! Heave ho! there, once again!' And now on the beach at Garl'ston stood Its love like a queenly crown; and the blood On, on it trampled, stride by stride. But lo! the great sea trembling stands; As if for the sake of the two white hands "Come to me, Jamie! God grants the way," And the sea, so cruel, grew kind, they say, THE STATUE IN CLAY. "Make me a statue," said the King, The sculptor heard the King's command, He had no marble, but he went, Day after day he wrought the clay, To-day the statue seemed to grow, The third day all was well again; At last his life-long work was done- He took his statue to the King, "Where is my statue?" asked the King. 66 Here, Lord," the sculptor said. "But I commanded marble." "True, He touched the statue, and it changed; A marble shape before him stands, MARK TWAIN AND THE INTERVIEWER. The nervous, dapper, “ peart" young man took the chair I offered him, and said he was connected with "The Daily Thunderstorm," and added, "Hoping it's no harm, I've come to interview you." "Come to what?" "Interview you." "Ah! I see. Yes yes. Um! Yes-yes." I was not feeling bright that morning. Indeed, my powers seemed a bit under a cloud. However, I went to the bookcase, and, when I had been looking six or seven minutes, I found I was obliged to refer to the young man. I said, "Oh, my goodness! What do you want to spell it for?" "I don't want to spell it: I want to see what it means." "Well, this is astonishing, I must say. I can tell you what it means, if you-if you " 'Oh, all right! That will answer, and much obliged to you, too." 'I n, in, t e r, ter, inter "- "Then you spell it with an I?" "Why, certainly!" "Oh, that is what took me so long!" 66 Why, my dear sir, what did you propose to spell it with?" Well, I—I—I hardly know. I had the Unabridged; and I was ciphering around in the back end, hoping I might tree her among the pictures. But it's a very old edition.” "Why, my friend, they wouldn't have a picture of it in even the latest e My dear sir, I beg your pardon, I mean no harm in the world; but you do not look as-as-intelligent as I had expected you would. No harm,-I mean no harm at all." 66 'Oh, don't mention it! It has often been said, and by people who would not flatter, and who could have no inducement to flatter, that I am quite remarkable in that way. Yes yes: they always speak of it with rapture." "I can easily imagine it. But about this interview. You know it is the custom, now, to interview any man who has become notorious." "Indeed! I had not heard of it before. It must be very interesting. What do you do it with?" "Ah, well-well-well-this is disheartening. It ought to be done with a club, in some cases; but customarily it consists in the interviewer asking questions, and the interviewed answering them. It is all the rage now. Will you let me ask you certain questions calculated to bring out the salient points of your public and private history?" "Oh, with pleasure,-with pleasure. I have a very bad memory; but I hope you will not mind that. That is to say, it is an irregular memory, singularly irregular. Sometimes it goes in a gallop, and then again it will be as much as a fortnight passing a given point. This is a great grief to me.” "Oh! it is no matter, so you will try to do the best you can." "I will. I will put my whole mind on it." Q. Indeed! I would have taken you to be thirty-five or six. Where were you born? Q. Why, how could that be, if you are only nineteen now? A. I don't know. It does seem curious, somehow. Q. It does indeed. Whom do you consider the most remarkable man you ever met? A. Aaron Burr. Q. But you never could have met Aaron Burr, if you are only nineteen years A. Now, if you know more about me than I do, what do you ask me for? Q. Well, it was only a suggestion; nothing more. How did you happen to meet Burr? A. Well, I happened to be at his funeral one day; and he asked me to make less noise, and Q. But, good heavens! If you were at his funeral, he must have been dead; and, if he was dead, how could he care whether you made a noise or not? A. I don't know. He was always a particular kind of a man that way. Q. Still, I don't understand it at all. You say he spoke to you, and that he was dead? A. I didn't say he was dead. A. Well, some said he was, some said he wasn't. A. Oh, it was none of my business! It wasn't any of my funeral. Q. Did you However, we can never get this matter straight. Let me ask about something else. What was the date of your birth? A. Monday, Oct. 31, 1693. Q. What! Impossible! That would make you a hundred and eighty years old. How do you account for that? A. I don't account for it at all. Q. But you said at first you were only nineteen, and now you make yourself out to be one hundred and eighty. It is an awful discrepancy. A. Why, have you noticed that? (Shaking hands.) Many a time it has seemed to me like a discrepancy; but somehow I couldn't make up my mind. How quick you notice a thing! Q. Thank you for the compliment, as far as it goes. Had you, or have you, any brothers or sisters? A. Eh! I-I-I think so,-yes-but I don't remember. Well, that is the most extraordinary statement I ever Q. heard. A. Why, what makes you think that? Q. How could I think otherwise? Why, look here! Who is this a picture of on the wall? Isn't that a brother of yours? A. Oh, yes, yes, yes! Now you remind me of it, that was a brother of mine. That's William, Bill we called him. Poor old Bill! Q. Why, is he dead, then? A. Ah, well, I suppose so. We never could tell. There was a great mystery about it. Q. That is sad, very sad. He disappeared, then? A. Well, yes, in a sort of general way. We buried him. Q. Buried him! Buried him without knowing whether he was dead or not? A. Oh, no! Not that. He was dead enough. Q. Well, I confess that I can't understand this. If you buried him, and you knew he was del ZZZ |