d Peter Finley Dunne (Mr.
Dooley); but they were handicapped by their business affairs, and were
not dependable for daily and protracted sessions. Any number of his
friends were willing, even eager, to come for his entertainment; but the
percentage of them who could and would devote a number of hours each day
to being beaten at billiards and enjoy the operation dwindled down to
a single individual. Even I could not have done it--could not have
afforded it, however much I might have enjoyed the diversion--had it not
been contributory to my work. To me the association was invaluable; it
drew from him a thousand long-forgotten incidents; it invited a stream
of picturesque comments and philosophies; it furnished the most intimate
insight into his character.

He was not always glad to see promiscuous callers, even some one that he
might have met pleasantly elsewhere. One afternoon a young man whom he
had casually invited to "drop in some day in town" happened to call in
the midst of a very close series of afternoon games. It would all have
been well enough if the visitor had been content to sit quietly on the
couch and "bet on the game," as Clemens suggested, after the greetings
were over; but he was a very young man, and he felt the necessity of
being entertaining. He insisted on walking about the room and getting in
the way, and on talking about the Mark Twain books he had read, and
the people he had met from time to time who had known Mark Twain on the
river, or on the Pacific coast, or elsewhere. I knew how fatal it
was for him to talk to Clemens during his play, especially concerning
matters most of which had been laid away. I trembled for our visitor.
If I could have got his ear privately I should have said: "For
heaven's sake sit down and keep still or go away! There's going to be
a combination of earthquake and cyclone and avalanche if you keep this
thing up."

I did what I could. I looked at my watch every other minute. At last, in
desperation, I suggested that I retire from the game and let the visitor
have my cue. I suppose I thought this would eliminate an element of
danger. He declined on the ground that he seldom played, and continued
his deadly visit. I have never been in an atmosphere so fraught with
danger. I did not know how the game stood, and I played mechanically and
forgot to count the score. Clemens's face was grim and set and savage.
He no longer ventured even a word. By and by I noticed that he was