. St. Nicholas [serial]. r thought. It was the high tide of spring, late in April,when the prospective cocoa-hunter decided thatit was time to set out for the upper Amazon. Hehad saved money enough to carry him at least asfar as New Orleans, where he would take ship, itlieing farther south and therefore nearer hisdestination. Furthermore, he could begin with alazy trip down the Mississippi, which next tobeing a pilot had been one of his most cherisheddreams. The Ohio River steamers were lessgrand than those ofthe Mississippi, butthey had a homelikeatmosphere and didnot hurry. SamuelClemens had
. St. Nicholas [serial]. r thought. It was the high tide of spring, late in April,when the prospective cocoa-hunter decided thatit was time to set out for the upper Amazon. Hehad saved money enough to carry him at least asfar as New Orleans, where he would take ship, itlieing farther south and therefore nearer hisdestination. Furthermore, he could begin with alazy trip down the Mississippi, which next tobeing a pilot had been one of his most cherisheddreams. The Ohio River steamers were lessgrand than those ofthe Mississippi, butthey had a homelikeatmosphere and didnot hurry. SamuelClemens had thespring fever and waswilling to take histime. In Life on theMississippi we readthat the author ranaway, vowing neverto return until hecould come home apilot, shedding this is the fictiontouch. It is true hehad always loved the river, and his boyhood dream of piloting had timeand again returned, but it was not uppermostwhen he bade good-by to Macfarlane and steppedaboard the Paul Jones, bound for New Orleans,. ORION CLEMENS. I9i6.] THE BOYS LIFE OF MARK TWAIN 217 and thus conferred immortality on that ancientlittle craft. Now he had really started on his voyage—avoyage that would continuenot for a week or a fortnight,but for four years—four mar-velous, sunlit years, the gloryof which would color all thatfollowed them. Chapter XII RENEWING AN OLD AMBITION A READER of Mark TwainsMississippi book gets the im-pression that the author was aboy of about seventeen whenhe started to learn the river,and that he was painfully ig-norant of the great taskahead. But this also is thefiction side of the story. Sam-uel Clemens was more thantwenty-one when he set out onthe Paul Jones, and in a waywas familiar with the trade ofpiloting. Hannibal had turned out many young Sam was rolling boulders downHollidays Hill, an older brother of the Bowenboys was already on the river. Often he came home to air his grandeur and hold forth on thewonder of his work. That learning t
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