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Show MARK TWAIN IN A FIX. How the Humorist Filled a Date on Short Notice Without Ills Knowledge. Washington Post. When MarkTwuiii was in Washington Washing-ton a week or two ago he told u number num-ber of interesting incidents and anecdotes. anec-dotes. A gentleman well known in political po-litical and newspaper circles, on being introduced to this well-known author, said to him that he had once had the pleasure of listening to a lecture of his which was delivered twenty years ago. "Did you?" said Mark. In that inimitable inim-itable droll of his. "Well, now, I'll have to tell you something about that lecture. It was a I it t lu the hardest and roughest experience I ever underwent iu my whole career as a locturer. I came to Washington with no intention whatever of delivering a lecture. I simply came, don't you know, to meet my friends, see the city and keep a litllo track of what was going on in congress, as . do ..hundreds of other people in the course of tho winter. This was twenty years ago, yon remember. "Now, I had not been in the city morn than a day or two before a friend of mine came to my room at tho hotel early one morning! awakening 1110 out of a sound sleep, and nearly stunned me by asking if I was aware of the fact that I was to deliver a lecture at Lincoln hall that evening. 1 told him no, and that lie must be crazy to get out of bed at such an unseemly hour simply to ask such a foolish question. Hut he soon assured 1110 that he whs perfectly sane by showing the papers, which all announced an-nounced that Mark Twain was to lecture lec-ture that evening and that his subject would be 'The-.Sandwich islands.' To say that I was surprised would be drawing draw-ing it mildly. 1 was mad, for 1 thought someone had put up a game on me. "Well, on careful inquiry, I learned that an old theatrical friend of mine thought he would do me a favor. So ho Blurted out by getting drunk. While in this condition ho maths all the necessary neces-sary arrangements for mo to lecture, with tho exception ol the slight circumstance circum-stance that he neglected to inform me of his intentions. He rented Lincoln hall, billed tho town and sent tho newspapers news-papers advertisements and notices about the coming lecture, and tin! worst of it was that he had done his work thoroughly. After learning this I was iu a dilemma. 1 had never prepared pre-pared any lecture on the Sandwich islands. isl-ands. What was I to do. I could not back out by telling the people 1 was unprepared, unpre-pared, and that my friend was intoxicated intoxi-cated when ho inado these arrangements. arrange-ments. No, that; was out of the question, ques-tion, because the public wouldn't believe be-lieve it anyway, Tho billing of the town had "been too well iono for that. So there was only 0110 thing left for mo to do, and that was to lock myself in my room and write that lecture between the breakfast hour and half-past that evening. Well, 1 did it, and wax on hand .it the advertised hour, facing one of the biggest audiences I ever addressed."' "Yes, Mr. Clemens, you were there all right," said Mr. for I heard the lecture, and a very amusing one it was too; but if I remember correctly, you did not read from vour notes." "You are right. I did not see my manuscript." replied Mark Twain, "but in those eany days I always hail my lecture in writing and 1 kept it on a reading stand at oiie side of the place where I stood on tho platform. I was very good at memorizing and rarely had any trouble in speaking without notes, but the very fact that 1 had my manuscript near at hand where I coulil readily turn to it without having to undergo un-dergo tho inortilicntion of pulling it from my pocket gavo me courage anil kept 1110 from junking awkward pauses. Hut the writing of that. Sandwich Island lecture in ono day was the toughest job ever put on nie." |