specimens, and
were mainly delirium and insanity. The Clemens-Clagget-Oliver-Tillou
combination never touched their claims again with pick and shovel,
though their faith, or at least their hope, in them did not immediately
die. Billy Clagget put out his shingle as notary public, and Gus Oliver
put out his as probate judge. Sam Clemens and Tillou, with a fat-witted,
arrogant Prussian named Pfersdoff (Ollendorf) set out for Carson City.
It is not certain what became of the wagon and team, or of the two dogs.

The Carson travelers were water-bound at a tavern on the Carson River
(the scene of the "Arkansas" sketch), with a fighting, drinking lot.
Pfersdoff got them nearly drowned getting away, and finally succeeded
in getting them absolutely lost in the snow. The author of 'Roughing
It' tells us how they gave themselves up to die, and how each swore
off whatever he had in the way of an evil habit, how they cast their
tempters-tobacco, cards, and whisky-into the snow. He further tells us
how next morning, when they woke to find themselves alive, within a few
rods of a hostelry, they surreptitiously dug up those things again and,
deep in shame and luxury, resumed their fallen ways: It was the 29th of
January when they reached Carson City. They had been gone not quite two
months, one of which had been spent in travel. It was a brief period,
but it contained an episode, and it seemed like years.

XXXIV. TERRITORIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Meantime, the Territorial secretary had found difficulties in launching
the ship of state. There was no legislative hall in Carson City; and
if Abram Curry, one of the original owners of the celebrated Gould and
Curry mine--"Curry--old Curry--old Abe Curry," as he called himself--had
not tendered the use of a hall rent free, the first legislature would
have been obliged to "sit in the desert." Furthermore, Orion had met
with certain acute troubles of his own. The government at Washington had
not appreciated his economies in the matter of cheap office rental, and
it had stipulated the price which he was to pay for public printing
and various other services-prices fixed according to Eastern standards.
These prices did not obtain in Nevada, and when Orion, confident that
because of his other economies the comptroller would stretch a point
and allow the increased frontier tariff, he was met with the usual
thick-headed official lack of imagination, with the result that the
excess paid was deduct