remedies. Livy Langdon showed
especial anxiety.

He was not allowed to go, now, of course; he must stay until it was
certain that his recovery was complete. Perhaps he had been internally
injured. His visit was prolonged two weeks, two weeks of pure happiness,
and when he went away he had fully resolved to win Livy Langdon for his
wife.

Mark Twain now went to Hartford to look after his book proofs, and there
for the first time met the Rev. Joseph H. Twichell, who would become his
closest friend. The two men, so different in many ways, always had the
fondest admiration for each other; each recognized in the other great
courage, humanity, and sympathy. Clemens would gladly have remained in
Hartford that winter. Twichell presented him to many congenial people,
including Charles Dudley Warner, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other writing
folk. But flattering lecture offers were made him, and he could no
longer refuse.

He called his new lecture "The Vandal Abroad," it being chapters from the
forthcoming book, and it was a great success everywhere. His houses were
crowded; the newspapers were enthusiastic. His delivery was described as
a "long, monotonous drawl, with fun invariably coming in at the end of a
sentence--after a pause." He began to be recognized everywhere--to have
great popularity. People came out on the street to see him pass.

Many of his lecture engagements were in central New York, no great
distance from Elmira. He had a standing invitation to visit the Langdon
home, and went when he could. His courtship, however, was not entirely
smooth. Much as Mr. Langdon honored his gifts and admired him
personally, he feared that his daughter, who had known so little of life
and the outside world, and the brilliant traveler, lecturer, author,
might not find happiness in marriage. Many absurd stories have been told
of Mark Twain's first interview with Jervis Langdon on this subject, but
these are without foundation. It was an earnest discussion on both
sides, and left Samuel Clemens rather crestfallen, though not without
hope. More than once the subject was discussed between the two men that
winter as the lecturer came and went, his fame always growing. In time
the Langdon household had grown to feel that he belonged to them. It
would be only a step further to make him really one of the family.

There was no positive engagement at first, for it was agreed between
Clemens and Jervis Langdon that letters should be sent