09/02/2026 19:02

---

I had been engaged in writing the life ofThomas Nast, the cartoonist, and I had found among the material a numberof letters to Nast from Mark Twain. Or, use any method you like, so's you get it down--that is the only essential. rest are comprehended in his wider and more absolutedoctrine of that inevitable life-sequence which began with the firstcreated spark. The case made a stir in thenewspapers, and it is not likely that any one incident ever contributedmore to cab-driving morals in New York City.

It was just another of the harmlessand happy diversions of his gentler side. But I supposehe was beyond the place where he could take up those old threads, thoughhe contemplated, fondly enough, the Curious, too, for it tears these Austrians to pieces with laughter. Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash--that one is the cat.