Part 22 (1/2)

_March 14th, '86_--Clara sprained her ankle, a little while ago, by running into a tree, when coasting, and while she was unable to ith it she played solotaire with cards a great deal While Clara was sick and papa saw her play solotaire so an to play it himself a little, then Jean took it up, and at last _mamma_, even played it ocasionally; Jean's and papa's love for it rapidly increased, and now Jean brings the cards every night to the table and papa and maotten a separate pack of cards, and is playing alone, with great interest Maious solatair, and there are four solotaireans at the table; while you hear nothing but ”Fill up the place” etc It is dreadful! after supper Clara goes into the library, and gets a little red as fixture seats herself and begins to play again, then papa folloith another table of the same discription, and they play solatair till bedtime

We have just had our Prince and Pauper pictures taken; two groups and soroups (the Interview and Lady Jane Grey scene) were pretty good, the lady Jane scene was perfect, just as pretty as it could be, the Intervieas not so good; and two of the little single pictures were very good indeed, but one was very bad Yet on the whole we think they were a success

Papa has done a great deal in his life I think, that is good, and very rees hich he could have developed the gifts which he hashis books, or in any other way for other peoples pleasure and benefit outside of his own family and intireat deal more even He is known to the public as a humorist, but he has much more in him that is earnest than that is humorous He has a keen sense of the ludicrous, notices funny stories and incidents kno to tell theet thereat many of the funny adventures related in ”Tom Sawyer” and in ”Huckleberry Finn,” _hi just such boys, and in just such villages all the days of his early life His ”Prince and Pauper” is his inal, and best production; it shows the most of any of his books what kind of pictures are in his land in the 16th Century and the adventures of a little prince and pauper are the kind of things he mainly thinks about; but that _that_ book, and those pictures represent the train of thought and i of to-day, to-iven in ”Tom Sawyer” or ”Huckleberry Finn”[13]

Papa can s, and when he is with people he jokes and laughs a great deal, but still he is more interested in earnest books and earnest subjects to talk upon, than in humorous ones[14]

When we are all alone at home, nine times out of ten, he talks about some very earnest subjects, (with an ocasional joke thrown in) and he a good deal more often talks upon such subjects than upon the other kind

He is asI think I think he could have done a great deal in this direction if he had studied while young, for he seereat ifts which have made him famous

Thus at fourteen she had made up her mind about me, and in no timorous or uncertain terms had set down her reasons for her opinion Fifteen years were to pass before any other critic--except Mr Howells, I think--was to reutter that daring opinion and print it Right or wrong, it was a brave position for that little analyser to take She never withdrew it afterward, norphysical courage, and has evinced her ade, which is the rarest of hu it I think that in questions of morals and politics she was usually on my side; but when she was not she had her reasons and round Two years after she passed out of my life I wrote a Philosophy Of the three persons who have seen the manuscript only one understood it, and all three condemned it If she could have read it, she also would have condemned it, possibly,--probably, in fact--but she would have understood it It would have had no difficulties for her on that score; also she would have found a tireless pleasure in analyzing and discussing its problems

MARK TWAIN

(_To be Continued_)

FOOTNOTES:

[13] It is so yet--M T

[14] She has said it well and correctly Humor is a subject which has never had much interest for me This is why I have never examined it, nor written about it nor used it as a topic for a speech A hundred times it has been offered me as a topic in these past forty years, but in no case has it attracted me--M T

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW

No DCXVI

JUNE 7, 1907

CHAPTERS FROM MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY--XIX

BY MARK TWAIN

_Froraphy of Me_

_March 23, '86_--The other day wasand papa acted some very funny charades with Mr Gherhardt, Mr Jesse Grant (who had co with us) and Mr Frank Warner One of theood many other funny ones, all of which I dont re the charades in thehas defeated me, this time I cannot make out what ”honys-sneeze” stands for Ihtly pastime of ours, from the children's earliest days--they played in them with me when they were only five or six years old As they increased in years and practice their love for the sport almost amounted to a passion, and they acted their parts with a steadily increasing ability

At first they required enerally ready as soon as the parts were assigned, and they acted thee facility and absence of constraint and self-consciousness in the ”Prince and Pauper” was a result of their charading practice