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[287] === “A Little Girl’s Mark Twain” (1935) Dorothy Quick Twain met Dorothy Quick (1900–1962) aboard the SS Minnetonka while returning from England in mid July 1907. He soon recruited her for his “aquarium ” of “angelfish.” See also their correspondence in Cooley. a little girl walked round and round the deck of an ocean liner. On the starboard side she fairly flew along, but when she turned the corner and came to the port side of the vessel, she walked slowly and her feet dragged, her eyes lost in admiration of a man who stood at the rail, talking to another man. Both of them were staring out towards the far horizon line, and didn’t see the little girl, whose gaze was riveted on the older of the two, the one with the great shock of snowy white hair and a keen, kindly observant face. He was Mark Twain. I can still remember the thrill I had when, after walking past him five or six times, he suddenly turned, held out his hand and said in a slow, drawly voice, “Aren’t you going to speak to me, Little Girl?” His companion faded away into space, as far as I was concerned, when I took his place. In a few seconds I was at the rail, standing beside the Mark Twain whom only yesterday I had seen walking down the platform of a London station surrounded by literally hundreds of admirers. He hadn’t seen me hanging half out of the compartment window to catch a glimpse of him, nor had I at that moment dreamed that the next morning I should be standing beside him on the deck of a steamer bound for New York—standing beside him and actually talking to him. It was too wonderful; and I shall never forget how proud and happy I was. It wasn’t very long before he asked me if I knew who he was. I replied , “Of course, you’re Mark Twain, and I’ve read all your books.” This, of course, was, as he said about the report of his own death, slightly exaggerated , but in the main it was true enough. My grandfather had recited Shakespeare and Tom Sawyer to me in my cradle, and had read me not only twain in his own time [288] Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, but Innocents Abroad and A Tramp Abroad, as a preparation for the trip from which I was now returning. I don’t think Mark Twain, or Mr. Clemens, as I later preferred to call him, quite believed my elaborate statement, because he began asking me questions. If I hadn’t actually read the books, this would soon have proved the fact; however, as I had not only read them, but they had been read to me, he soon found (as he laughingly said) that I knew more about his books than he did himself. We got along famously and the time slipped by completely unnoticed. It wasn’t until the luncheon gong sounded that I remembered my family with a guilty start. Mr. Clemens said he wanted to meet my mother very much. So hand in hand we walked along the decks of the S.S. Minnetonka until we finally got to the lower deck, where my mother and grandparents had ensconced themselves in a sunlit corner. I began to explain my long absence, but Mr. Clemens said it would be better if I did some introducing instead, so the explanations dropped. As I found out later, they weren’t necessary. Mother had been worried about me and had gone on a searching tour. When she had seen how utterly absorbed I was, and in what good hands, she had gone contentedly back to the steamer chairs to wait until I came. Almost before I knew it, Mr. Clemens had arranged to have his steamer chair by ours, and I discovered that without doubt I had made a new friend. That night, as usual, I wore a white sailor suit to dinner. Being only nine [sic], I had my dinner very early, so I didn’t see Mr. Clemens; but just as I was getting into bed there was a knock on the door and it was my new friend clad in one of his famous white suits, come to see me in mine! Someone had told him about my costume. Unfortunately, I was attired in pajamas so I could only promise, as he especially...

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