"OLD TIMES"
old. As long as any one reads of the Mississippi they will look up those chapters of Mark Twain's piloting days. When the first number appeared, John Hay wrote:
It is perfect; no more, no less. I don't see how you do it."
The "Old Times" chapter ran through seven numbers of the Atlantic, and show Mark Twain at his very best. They form now most of the early chapters of Life on the Mississippi. The remainder of that book was added about seven years later.
Those were busy literary days for Mark Twain. Writing the river chapters carried him back, and hardly had he finished them when he took up the neglected story of Tom and Huck, and finished that under full steam. He at first thought of publishing it in the Atlantic, but decided against this plan. He sent Howells the manuscript to read, and received the fullest praise. Howells wrote:
It is altogether the best boy's story I ever read. It will be an immense success.
Clemens, however, delayed publication. He had another volume in press—a collection of his sketches—among them the "Jumping Frog," and others of his California days. The "Jumping Frog" had been translated into French, and in this book Mark Twain published the French version and then a literal re-translation of his own, which is one of the most amusing features in the volume. As an example, the stranger's remark, "I don't see no p'ints about
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