two full hours’ liberty ashore while the boat discharged This trade grew to be so formidable that Italy was obliged to freight. In the back streets but few white people were vis-put a prohibitory impost upon it to keep it from working ible, but there were plenty of colored folk—mainly women serious injury to her oil industry.
and girls; and almost without exception upholstered in bright Helena occupies one of the prettiest situations on the new clothes of swell and elaborate style and cut—a glaring Mississippi. Her perch is the last, the southernmost group and hilarious contrast to the mournful mud and the pensive of hills which one sees on that side of the river. In its normal puddles.
condition it is a pretty town; but the flood (or possibly the Helena is the second town in Arkansas, in point of popu-seepage) had lately been ravaging it; whole streets of houses lation—which is placed at five thousand. The country about had been invaded by the muddy water, and the outsides of it is exceptionally productive. Helena has a good cotton trade; the buildings were still belted with a broad stain extending handles from forty to sixty thousand bales annually; she has upwards from the foundations. Stranded and discarded scows a large lumber and grain commerce; has a foundry, oil mills, lay all about; plank sidewalks on stilts four feet high were machine shops and wagon factories—in brief has $1,000,000
still standing; the board sidewalks on the ground level were invested in manufacturing industries. She has two railways, 179
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain and is the commercial center of a broad and prosperous re-I got my friends into my stateroom, and said I was sorry to gion. Her gross receipts of money, annually, from all sources, create annoyance and disappointment, but that upon reflec-are placed by the New Orleans “Times-Democrat” at tion it really seemed best that we put our luggage ashore and $4,000,000.
stop over at Napoleon. Their disapproval was prompt and loud; their language mutinous. Their main argument was one which Chapter 31
has always been the first to come to the surface, in such cases, since the beginning of time: ‘But you decided and agreed to A Thumb-print and What
stick to this boat, etc.; as if, having determined to do an un-Came of It
wise thing, one is thereby bound to go ahead and make two unwise things of it, by carrying out that determination.
WE WERE APPROACHING Napoleon, Arkansas. So I began to I tried various mollifying tactics upon them, with reason-think about my errand there. Time, noonday; and bright ably good success: under which encouragement, I increased and sunny. This was bad—not best, anyway; for mine was my efforts; and, to show them that I had not created this not (preferably) a noonday kind of errand. The more I annoying errand, and was in no way to blame for it, I pres-thought, the more that fact pushed itself upon me—now in ently drifted into its history—substantially as follows: one form, now in another. Finally, it took the form of a Toward the end of last year, I spent a few months in distinct question: is it good common sense to do the errand Munich, Bavaria. In November I was living in Fraulein in daytime, when, by a little sacrifice of comfort and incli-Dahlweiner’s pension, 1a, Karlstrasse; but my working quar-nation, you can have night for it, and no inquisitive eyes ters were a mile from there, in the house of a widow who around. This settled it. Plain question and plain answer make supported herself by taking lodgers. She and her two young the shortest road out of most perplexities.
children used to drop in every morning and talk German to 180
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain me—by request. One day, during a ramble about the city, I body stricken to quivering jelly by the sudden clamor of visited one of the two establishments where the Govern-that awful summons! So I inquired about this thing; asked ment keeps and watches corpses until the doctors decide that what resulted usually? if the watchman died, and the re-they are permanently dead, and not in a trance state. It was stored corpse came and did what it could to make his last a grisly place, that spacious room. There were thirty-six moments easy. But I was rebuked for trying to feed an idle corpses of adults in sight, stretched on their backs on slightly and frivolous curiosity in so solemn and so mournful a place; slanted boards, in three long rows—all of them with wax-and went my way with a humbled crest.
white, rigid faces, and all of them wrapped in white shrouds.
Next morning I was telling the widow my adventure, when Along the sides of the room were deep alcoves, like bay win-she exclaimed—
dows; and in each of these lay several marble-visaged babes,
“Come with me! I have a lodger who shall tell you all you utterly hidden and buried under banks of fresh flowers, all want to know. He has been a night-watchman there.” but their faces and crossed hands. Around a finger of each of He was a living man, but he did not look it. He was abed, these fifty still forms, both great and small, was a ring; and and had his head propped high on pillows; his face was wasted from the ring a wire led to the ceiling, and thence to a bell in and colorless, his deep-sunken eyes were shut; his hand, ly-a watch-room yonder, where, day and night, a watchman ing on his breast, was talon-like, it was so bony and long-sits always alert and ready to spring to the aid of any of that fingered. The widow began her introduction of me. The man’s pallid company who, waking out of death, shall make a eyes opened slowly, and glittered wickedly out from the twi-movement—for any, even the slightest, movement will twitch light of their caverns; he frowned a black frown; he lifted his the wire and ring that fearful bell. I imagined myself a death-lean hand and waved us peremptorily away. But the widow sentinel drowsing there alone, far in the dragging watches of kept straight on, till she had got out the fact that I was a some wailing, gusty night, and having in a twinkling all my stranger and an American. The man’s face changed at once; 181
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain brightened, became even eager—and the next moment he A DYING MAN’S CONFESSION
and I were alone together.
I opened up in cast-iron German; he responded in quite Then he went on as follows:—
flexible English; thereafter we gave the German language a I have never given up, until now. But now I have given up.
permanent rest.
I am going to die. I made up my mind last night that it must This consumptive and I became good friends. I visited be, and very soon, too. You say you are going to revisit your him every day, and we talked about everything. At least, river, by-and-bye, when you find opportunity. Very well; that, about everything but wives and children. Let anybody’s wife together with a certain strange experience which fell to my lot or anybody’s child be mentioned, and three things always last night, determines me to tell you my history—for you will followed: the most gracious and loving and tender light glim-see Napoleon, Arkansas; and for my sake you will stop there, mered in the man’s eyes for a moment; faded out the next, and do a certain thing for me—a thing which you will will-and in its place came that deadly look which had flamed ingly undertake after you shall have heard my narrative.
there the first time I ever saw his lids unclose; thirdly, he Let us shorten the story wherever we can, for it will need ceased from speech, there and then for that day; lay silent, it, being long. You already know how I came to go to America, abstracted, and absorbed; apparently heard nothing that I and how I came to settle in that lonely region in the South.
said; took no notice of my good-byes, and plainly did not But you do not know that I had a wife. My wife was young, know, by either sight or hearing, when I left the room.
beautiful, loving, and oh, so divinely good and blameless When I had been this Karl Ritter’s daily and sole intimate and gentle! And our little girl was her mother in miniature.
during two months, he one day said, abruptly—
It was the happiest of happy households.
“I will tell you my story.”
One night—it was toward the close of the war—I woke up out of a sodden lethargy, and found myself bound and 182
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain gagged, and the air tainted with chloroform! I saw two men a sound of voices and trampling hoofs; the robbers held their in the room, and one was saying to the other, in a hoarse breath and listened; the sounds came slowly nearer and nearer; whisper, “I told her I would, if she made a noise, and as for then came a shout—
the child—”
‘HELLO, the house! Show a light, we want water.” The other man interrupted in a low, half-crying voice—
“The captain’s voice, by G—!” said the stage-whispering
“You said we’d only gag them and rob them, not hurt them; ruffian, and both robbers fled by the way of the back door, or I wouldn’t have come.”
shutting off their bull’s-eye as they ran.
“Shut up your whining; had to change the plan when they The strangers shouted several times more, then rode by—
waked up; you done all you could to protect them, now let there seemed to be a dozen of the horses—and I heard noth-that satisfy you; come, help rummage.” ing more.
Both men were masked, and wore coarse, ragged “nigger” I struggled, but could not free myself from my bonds. I clothes; they had a bull’s-eye lantern, and by its light I no-tried to speak, but the gag was effective; I could not make a ticed that the gentler robber had no thumb on his right hand.
sound. I listened for my wife’s voice and my child’s—lis-They rummaged around my poor cabin for a moment; the tened long and intently, but no sound came from the other head bandit then said, in his stage whisper—
end of the room where their bed was. This silence became
“It’s a waste of time—he shall tell where it’s hid. Undo his more and more awful, more and more ominous, every mo-gag, and revive him up.”
ment. Could you have endured an hour of it, do you think?
The other said—
Pity me, then, who had to endure three. Three hours—? it
“All right—provided no clubbing.”
was three ages! Whenever the clock struck, it seemed as if
“No clubbing it is, then—provided he keeps still.” years had gone by since I had heard it last. All this time I was They approached me; just then there was a sound outside; struggling in my bonds; and at last, about dawn, I got myself 183
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain free, and rose up and stretched my stiff limbs. I was able to the secret of how to apply it. I shall come to that, presently—
distinguish details pretty well. The floor was littered with you shall see. Let us go on, now, taking things in their due things thrown there by the robbers during their search for order. There was one circumstance which gave me a slant in my savings. The first object that caught my particular atten-a definite direction to begin with: Those two robbers were tion was a document of mine which I had seen the rougher manifestly soldiers in tramp disguise; and not new to mili-of the two ruffians glance at and then cast away. It had blood tary service, but old in it—regulars, perhaps; they did not on it! I staggered to the other end of the room. Oh, poor acquire their soldierly attitude, gestures, carriage, in a day, unoffending, helpless ones, there they lay, their troubles nor a month, nor yet in a year. So I thought, but said nothing.
ended, mine begun!
And one of them had said, “the captain’s voice, by G—!” —the Did I appeal to the law—I? Does it quench the pauper’s one whose life I would have. Two miles away, several regi-thirst if the King drink for him? Oh, no, no, no—I wanted ments were in camp, and two companies of U.S. cavalry.
no impertinent interference of the law. Laws and the gallows When I learned that Captain Blakely, of Company C had could not pay the debt that was owing to me! Let the laws passed our way, that night, with an escort, I said nothing, leave the matter in my hands, and have no fears: I would but in that company I resolved to seek my man. In conversa-find the debtor and collect the debt. How accomplish this, tion I studiously and persistently described the robbers as do you say? How accomplish it, and feel so sure about it, tramps, camp followers; and among this class the people made when I had neither seen the robbers’ faces, nor heard their useless search, none suspecting the soldiers but me.
natural voices, nor had any idea who they might be? Never-Working patiently, by night, in my desolated home, I made theless, I was sure—quite sure, quite confident. I had a clue—
a disguise for myself out of various odds and ends of cloth-a clue which you would not have valued—a clue which would ing; in the nearest village I bought a pair of blue goggles. By-not have greatly helped even a detective, since he would lack and-bye, when the military camp broke up, and Company 184
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain C was ordered a hundred miles north, to Napoleon, I se-who had murdered my wife and child; but I managed to creted my small hoard of money in my belt, and took my bridle my tongue. I bided my time, and went on telling for-departure in the night. When Company C arrived in Napo-tunes, as opportunity offered.
leon, I was already there. Yes, I was there, with a new trade—
My apparatus was simple: a little red paint and a bit of white fortune-teller. Not to seem partial, I made friends and told paper. I painted the ball of the client’s thumb, took a print of fortunes among all the companies garrisoned there; but I it on the paper, studied it that night, and revealed his fortune gave Company C the great bulk of my attentions. I made to him next day. What was my idea in this nonsense? It was myself limitlessly obliging to these particular men; they could this: When I was a youth, I knew an old Frenchman who had ask me no favor, put upon me no risk, which I would de-been a prison-keeper for thirty years, and he told me that cline. I became the willing butt of their jokes; this perfected there was one thing about a person which never changed, my popularity; I became a favorite.
from the cradle to the grave—the lines in the ball of the thumb; I early found a private who lacked a thumb—what joy it and he said that these lines were never exactly alike in the was to me! And when I found that he alone, of all the com-thumbs of any two human beings. In these days, we photo-pany, had lost a thumb, my last misgiving vanished; I was graph the new criminal, and hang his picture in the Rogues’
sure I was on the right track. This man’s name was Kruger, a Gallery for future reference; but that Frenchman, in his day, German. There were nine Germans in the company. I used to take a print of the ball of a new prisoner’s thumb and watched, to see who might be his intimates; but he seemed put that away for future reference. He always said that pic-to have no especial intimates. But I was his intimate; and I tures were no good—future disguises could make them use-took care to make the intimacy grow. Sometimes I so hun-less; “The thumb’s the only sure thing,” said he; “you can’t gered for my revenge that I could hardly restrain myself from disguise that.” And he used to prove his theory, too, on my going on my knees and begging him to point out the man friends and acquaintances; it always succeeded.
185
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain I went on telling fortunes. Every night I shut myself in, all other man, whose fortune I was studying last night,—Pri-alone, and studied the day’s thumb-prints with a magnify-vate Adler,—have been murdering a woman and a child!
ing-glass. Imagine the devouring eagerness with which I pored You are being dogged: within five days both of you will be over those mazy red spirals, with that document by my side assassinated.”
which bore the right-hand thumb-and-finger-marks of that He dropped on his knees, frightened out of his wits; and unknown murderer, printed with the dearest blood—to me—
for five minutes he kept pouring out the same set of words, that was ever shed on this earth! And many and many a time like a demented person, and in the same half-crying way I had to repeat the same old disappointed remark, “will they which was one of my memories of that murderous night in never correspond!”
my cabin—
But my reward came at last. It was the print of the thumb
“I didn’t do it; upon my soul I didn’t do it; and I tried to of the forty-third man of Company C whom I had experi-keep him from doing it; I did, as God is my witness. He did mented on—Private Franz Adler. An hour before, I did not it alone.”
know the murderer’s name, or voice, or figure, or face, or This was all I wanted. And I tried to get rid of the fool; nationality; but now I knew all these things! I believed I but no, he clung to me, imploring me to save him from the might feel sure; the Frenchman’s repeated demonstrations assassin. He said—
being so good a warranty. Still, there was a way to make sure.
“I have money—ten thousand dollars—hid away, the fruit I had an impression of Kruger’s left thumb. In the morning of loot and thievery; save me—tell me what to do, and you I took him aside when he was off duty; and when we were shall have it, every penny. Two-thirds of it is my cousin out of sight and hearing of witnesses, I said, impressively—
Adler’s; but you can take it all. We hid it when we first came
“A part of your fortune is so grave, that I thought it would here. But I hid it in a new place yesterday, and have not told be better for you if I did not tell it in public. You and an-him—shall not tell him. I was going to desert, and get away 186
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain with it all. It is gold, and too heavy to carry when one is of it, I said—so must be out of reach of eavesdroppers. They running and dodging; but a woman who has been gone over always kept a picket-watch outside the town—mere disci-the river two days to prepare my way for me is going to pline and ceremony—no occasion for it, no enemy around.
follow me with it; and if I got no chance to describe the Toward midnight I set out, equipped with the counter-hiding-place to her I was going to slip my silver watch into sign, and picked my way toward the lonely region where her hand, or send it to her, and she would understand. There’s Adler was to keep his watch. It was so dark that I stumbled a piece of paper in the back of the case, which tells it all.
right on a dim figure almost before I could get out a protect-Here, take the watch—tell me what to do!” ing word. The sentinel hailed and I answered, both at the He was trying to press his watch upon me, and was expos-same moment. I added, ‘It’s only me—the fortune-teller.’
ing the paper and explaining it to me, when Adler appeared Then I slipped to the poor devil’s side, and without a word I on the scene, about a dozen yards away. I said to poor drove my dirk into his heart! Ya Wohl, laughed I, it was the Kruger—
tragedy part of his fortune, indeed! As he fell from his horse,
“Put up your watch, I don’t want it. You shan’t come to he clutched at me, and my blue goggles remained in his any harm. Go, now; I must tell Adler his fortune. Presently hand; and away plunged the beast dragging him, with his I will tell you how to escape the assassin; meantime I shall foot in the stirrup.
have to examine your thumbmark again. Say nothing to Adler I fled through the woods, and made good my escape, leav-about this thing—say nothing to anybody.” ing the accusing goggles behind me in that dead man’s hand.
He went away filled with fright and gratitude, poor devil.
This was fifteen or sixteen years ago. Since then I have I told Adler a long fortune—purposely so long that I could wandered aimlessly about the earth, sometimes at work, not finish it; promised to come to him on guard, that night, sometimes idle; sometimes with money, sometimes with and tell him the really important part of it—the tragical part none; but always tired of life, and wishing it was done, for 187
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain my mission here was finished, with the act of that night; and denly that dead-bell rang out a blood-curdling alarum over the only pleasure, solace, satisfaction I had, in all those te-my head! The shock of it nearly paralyzed me; for it was the dious years, was in the daily reflection, “I have killed him!” first time I had ever heard it.
Four years ago, my health began to fail. I had wandered I gathered myself together and flew to the corpse-room.
into Munich, in my purposeless way. Being out of money, I About midway down the outside rank, a shrouded figure sought work, and got it; did my duty faithfully about a year, was sitting upright, wagging its head slowly from one side to and was then given the berth of night watchman yonder in the other—a grisly spectacle! Its side was toward me. I hur-that dead-house which you visited lately. The place suited ried to it and peered into its face. Heavens, it was Adler!
my mood. I liked it. I liked being with the dead—liked be-Can you divine what my first thought was? Put into words, ing alone with them. I used to wander among those rigid it was this: “It seems, then, you escaped me once: there will corpses, and peer into their austere faces, by the hour. The be a different result this time!”
later the time, the more impressive it was; I preferred the Evidently this creature was suffering unimaginable ter-late time. Sometimes I turned the lights low: this gave per-rors. Think what it must have been to wake up in the midst spective, you see; and the imagination could play; always, of that voiceless hush, and, look out over that grim congre-the dim receding ranks of the dead inspired one with weird gation of the dead! What gratitude shone in his skinny white and fascinating fancies. Two years ago—I had been there a face when he saw a living form before him! And how the year then—I was sitting all alone in the watch-room, one fervency of this mute gratitude was augmented when his gusty winter’s night, chilled, numb, comfortless; drowsing eyes fell upon the life-giving cordials which I carried in my gradually into unconsciousness; the sobbing of the wind and hands! Then imagine the horror which came into this the slamming of distant shutters falling fainter and fainter pinched face when I put the cordials behind me, and said upon my dulling ear each moment, when sharp and sud-mockingly—
188
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain
“Speak up, Franz Adler—call upon these dead. Doubtless they step. It is coming this way. Hark, how near it is! One can will listen and have pity; but here there is none else that will.” count the footfalls—one—two—three. There—it is just He tried to speak, but that part of the shroud which bound outside. Now is the time! Shout, man, shout!—it is the one his jaws, held firm and would not let him. He tried to lift sole chance between you and eternity! Ah, you see you have imploring hands, but they were crossed upon his breast and delayed too long—it is gone by. There—it is dying out. It is tied. I said—
gone! Think of it—reflect upon it—you have heard a hu-
“Shout, Franz Adler; make the sleepers in the distant streets man footstep for the last time. How curious it must be, to hear you and bring help. Shout—and lose no time, for there listen to so common a sound as that, and know that one will is little to lose. What, you cannot? That is a pity; but it is no never hear the fellow to it again.”
matter—it does not always bring help. When you and your Oh, my friend, the agony in that shrouded face was ec-cousin murdered a helpless woman and child in a cabin in stasy to see! I thought of a new torture, and applied it—
Arkansas—my wife, it was, and my child!—they shrieked assisting myself with a trifle of lying invention—
for help, you remember; but it did no good; you remember
“That poor Kruger tried to save my wife and child, and I that it did no good, is it not so? Your teeth chatter—then did him a grateful good turn for it when the time came. I why cannot you shout? Loosen the bandages with your persuaded him to rob you; and I and a woman helped him hands—then you can. Ah, I see—your hands are tied, they to desert, and got him away in safety.” A look as of surprise cannot aid you. How strangely things repeat themselves, af-and triumph shone out dimly through the anguish in my ter long years; for my hands were tied, that night, you re-victim’s face. I was disturbed, disquieted. I said—
member? Yes, tied much as yours are now—how odd that is.
“What, then—didn’t he escape?”
I could not pull free. It did not occur to you to untie me; it A negative shake of the head.
does not occur to me to untie you. Sh—! there’s a late foot-
“No? What happened, then?”
189
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain The satisfaction in the shrouded face was still plainer. The
“O, miserable, miserable me, to slaughter the pitying soul man tried to mumble out some words—could not succeed; that, stood a friend to my darlings when they were helpless, tried to express something with his obstructed hands—failed; and would have saved them if he could! miserable, oh, mis-paused a moment, then feebly tilted his head, in a meaning erable, miserable me!”
way, toward the corpse that lay nearest him.
I fancied I heard the muffled gurgle of a, mocking laugh.
“Dead?” I asked. “Failed to escape?—caught in the act I took my face out of my hands, and saw my enemy sinking and shot?”
back upon his inclined board.
Negative shake of the head.
He was a satisfactory long time dying. He had a wonder-
“How, then?”
ful vitality, an astonishing constitution. Yes, he was a pleas-Again the man tried to do something with his hands. I ant long time at it. I got a chair and a newspaper, and sat watched closely, but could not guess the intent. I bent over down by him and read. Occasionally I took a sip of brandy.
and watched still more intently. He had twisted a thumb This was necessary, on account of the cold. But I did it partly around and was weakly punching at his breast with it. “Ah—
because I saw, that along at first, whenever I reached for the stabbed, do you mean?”
bottle, he thought I was going to give him some. I read aloud: Affirmative nod, accompanied by a spectral smile of such mainly imaginary accounts of people snatched from the peculiar devilishness, that it struck an awakening light grave’s threshold and restored to life and vigor by a few through my dull brain, and I cried—
spoonsful of liquor and a warm bath. Yes, he had a long,
“Did I stab him, mistaking him for you?—for that stroke hard death of it—three hours and six minutes, from the was meant for none but you.”
time he rang his bell.
The affirmative nod of the re-dying rascal was as joyous as It is believed that in all these eighteen years that have his failing strength was able to put into its expression.
elapsed since the institution of the corpse-watch, no shrouded 190
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain occupant of the Bavarian dead-houses has ever rung its bell.
out explaining to him why, I have furnished two-thirds of Well, it is a harmless belief. Let it stand at that.
his support, ever since.
The chill of that death-room had penetrated my bones. It Now, as to that watch—see how strangely things happen!
revived and fastened upon me the disease which had been I traced it around and about Germany for more than a year, afflicting me, but which, up to that night, had been steadily at considerable cost in money and vexation; and at last I got disappearing. That man murdered my wife and my child; it. Got it, and was unspeakably glad; opened it, and found and in three days hence he will have added me to his list. No nothing in it! Why, I might have known that that bit of matter—God! how delicious the memory of it!—I caught paper was not going to stay there all this time. Of course I him escaping from his grave, and thrust him back into it.
gave up that ten thousand dollars then; gave it up, and After that night, I was confined to my bed for a week; but dropped it out of my mind: and most sorrowfully, for I had as soon as I could get about, I went to the dead-house books wanted it for Kruger’s son.
and got the number of the house which Adler had died in. A