ver piece in a basin of
water and told them the man taking it out could keep it, what a rush
there was! There was one would-be clever clown who was perfectly willing
to test the power of the battery, but was so clever he never would take
hold of both handles at once. He dodged around for two or three days
greatly pleased with his sharpness, but I determined to have him some
day and have him hard when I got him. So one morning when dancing about
as usual he happened to be barefooted. Apparently by accident, I upset
the basin of water over the deck, making it a good conductor, then
accepting his offer to try the machine by holding one handle, I dropped
the other on the wet deck and gave him the benefit of the whole power
of the battery. He let one terrific yell, then stood rooted to the deck
speechless for a moment; then gave vent to a series of whoops that would
have made the fortune of a Comanche Indian. When freed from the current
the clever fellow made a break for the steerage and never appeared again
at any of my electric seances. All those ignorants insisted that my
battery was surely el diablo.

After eighteen days we cast anchor in St. Thomas harbor, and pleasant as
our voyage had been we were glad to see land. We were to stop a day for
coaling.

Taking the two sisters, we went ashore in one of the many boats
surrounding the ship, all manned by scantily robed black fellows. The
town, with its hordes of gaudily dressed and noisy blacks, was most
interesting. I had hired the boat for the day, so the three black
fellows accompanied us around the town. Each wore a stovepipe hat. The
remainder of their furniture consisted of cotton shirt and trousers. The
men were barefooted, of course.

My wife was the typical blue-eyed, golden-haired Englishwoman, and was
the observed of all observers in that black mob. I myself was all in
white, from canvas shoes to white umbrella. So, between the two sisters
in their black robes and white bonnets and our attending boatmen, along
with a mob of half-naked black boys that followed, we formed quite a
circus and created a commotion in the town.

First I took the sisters to the cathedral. Both were grateful and knelt
at the altar for a full half hour while we waited. Then after visiting
several stores to make some small purchases, we went to a circus showing
there that week. I bought ten tickets for my party. Everything they saw
in the town was marvelous and strange to them. When we