I heard was playing
"Away Down on the Sewanee River." To me it seemed that everybody was
smiling, and happy, and prosperous.

THE CAPITOL

I went to the capitol, and it is a fine building, overlooking the city.
When I got there, I acted just like everybody that ever visited a fine
building--they wanted to go on top and look at the landscape. That is
what they all say. Now, I always wanted to go on top, but I never yet
thought of landscape. What I always wanted to see, was how far I could
look, and that is about all that any of them wants. It's mighty nice
to go up on a high place with your sweetheart, and hear her say, "La!
ain't it b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l," "Now, now, please don't go there," and how
you walk up pretty close to the edge and spit over, to show what a brave
man you are. It's "bully," I tell you. Well, I wanted to go to the top
of the capitol--I went; wanted to go up in the cupola. Now, there was
an iron ladder running up across an empty space, and you could see two
hundred feet below from this cupola or dome on top. The ladder was about
ten feet long, spanning the dome. It was very easy to go up, because
I was looking up all the time, and I was soon on top of the building.
I saw how far I could see, and saw the Alabama river, winding and turning
until it seemed no larger than a silver thread. Well, I am very poor
at describing and going into ecstacies over fancies. I want some abler
pen to describe the scene. I was not thinking about the scene or the
landscape--I was thinking how I was going to get down that ladder again.
I would come to that iron ladder and peep over, and think if I fell,
how far would I have to fall. The more I thought about going down that
ladder, the more I didn't feel like going down. Well, I felt that I had
rather die than go down that ladder. I'm honest in this. I felt like
jumping off and committing suicide rather than go down that ladder.
I crossed right over the frightful chasm, but when forbearance ceased to
be a virtue, I tremblingly put my foot on the first rung, then grabbed
the top of the two projections. There I remained, I don't know how long,
but after awhile I reached down with one foot and touched the next rung.
After getting that foot firmly placed, I ventured to risk the other foot.
It was thus for several backward steps, until I come to see down--away
down, down, down below me--and my head got giddy. The world seemed to be
turning round and round. A