CHAPTER 13 | The Writings of Mark Twain (beta)

Explanatory Notes Ⓔ
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Apparatus Notes Ⓐ
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CHAPTER 13

[begin page 147]

CHAPTER 13Ⓐ

A heavy drowsiness presently fell upon the two comrades.Ⓐalteration in the MS The king said—

“Remove these rags”—Ⓐalteration in the MSmeaning his clothing.

Hendon disappareled the boy without dissent or remark, tuckedⒶalteration in the MS him up in bed, then glanced about the room, saying to himself, ruefully, “He hath taken my bed again, as before—marry, what shall I do?” The little king observed his perplexity, and dissipated it with a word. He said, sleepily—

“Thou wilt sleep athwart the door, and guard it.” In a moment more he was out of his troubles, in a deep slumber.

“Dear heart, he should have been born a king!” muttered Hendon, admiringly; “he playeth the part to a marvel.”

Then he stretched himself across the door, on the floor, saying, contentedly—

“I have lodged worse for seven years; ’twould be but ill gratitude to Him above to find fault with this.”

He dropped asleep as the dawn appeared. Toward noon he rose,Ⓐalteration in the MS uncovered his unconscious ward—a section at a time,—Ⓐalteration in the MSand took his measure with a string. The king awoke, just as he had completed his work, complainedⒶalteration in the MS of the cold, and asked what he was doing.

“’Tis done, now, my liege,” said Hendon; “I have a bit of business outside, but will presently return; sleep thou again—thou needest it. There—let me cover thy head also—thou’ltⒶemendation be warm the sooner.”

The king was back in dreamland before this speech was ended.

[begin page 148]

“he dropped asleep.”

Miles slipped softly out, and slipped as softly in again, in the course of thirty or fortyⒶalteration in the MS minutes, with a complete second-hand suit of boy’s clothing, of cheap material, and showing signs of wear;Ⓐalteration in the MS but tidy, and suited to the season of the year. He seated himself, and began to overhaul his purchase, mumbling to himself—

“A longer purse would have got a better sort, but when one has not the long purse one must be content with what a short one may do—

“ ‘There was a womanⒺ in our town,
In our town did dwell—’

“He stirred, methinks—I must sing in a less thunderousⒶalteration in the MS key; ’tis not good to mar his sleep, with this journey before him and he so wearied out, poor chap. . . . . . . This garment—’tis well enough—a stitch here and another one there will set it aright. This other is better, albeit a stitch or twoⒶalteration in the MS will not come amiss in it, likewise. . . . . . . These be very good and sound, and will keep his small feet warm and dry—Ⓐalteration in the MSan odd new thing to him, belike, since he hasⒶalteration in the MS doubtless been used to foot it bare, winters and summers the same. . . . . . . Would thread were bread, seeing one gettethⒶalteration in the MS a year’s sufficiencyⒶalteration in the MS for a farthing, and such a brave big needleⒶalteration in the MS without cost, for mere love. Now shall IⒶhistorical collation have the demon’s own time to thread it!Ⓐalteration in the MS”

And so he had. He did as men have always done, and probably always will do, to the end of time—heldⒶalteration in the MS the needle still, and tried to thrust the thread through the eye, which is the opposite of a woman’s [begin page 149] way.Ⓐalteration in the MS Ⓔexplanatory note Time and time again the thread missed the mark, going sometimes on one side of the needle, sometimes on the other, sometimes doubling up against the shaft; but he was patient, having been through these experiences before, when he was soldiering. He succeeded at last, and took up the garment that had lain waiting, meantime, across his lap,Ⓐalteration in the MS and began his work.

“The innⒶalteration in the MS is paid—the breakfast that is to come, includedⒶalteration in the MS—and there is wherewithal left to buy a couple of donkeys and meet our little costs for the two or three days betwixt this and the plenty that awaitsⒶalteration in the MS us at Hendon Hall—

“ ‘She loved her hus—’

“Body o’ me! I have driven the needle under my nail! . . . . . It

“ these be very good and sound.”

[begin page 150] matters little—’tis not a novelty—yet ’tis not a convenience, neither. . . . . . We shall be merry there, little one, never doubt it! Thy troubles will vanish, there, and likewiseⒶ thy sad distemper—

“ ‘She loved her husband dearilee,
But another man—’

“These be noble large stitches!”—holding the garment up and viewing it admiringly—“they have a grandeur and a majesty that do cause these small stingy ones of the tailor-man to look mightily paltry and plebeian—

“ ‘She loved her husband dearilee,
But another man he loved sheⒶ Ⓐ,—Ⓐ’

“Marry, ’tis done—a goodly piece of work, too, and wrought with expedition. Now will I wake him, apparel him, pour for him, feed him, and then will we hie us to the mart by the Tabard inn in Southwark and—be pleased to rise, my liege!—he answereth not—what ho, my liege!—of a truth must I profane his sacred person with a touch, sith his slumber is deaf to speech. What!”

He threw back the covers—the boy was gone!

He stared about him in speechless astonishment for a moment;Ⓐalteration in the MS noticed for the first time that his ward’s ragged raiment was alsoⒶalteration in the MS missing, then he began to rage and storm, and shout for the innkeeper. At that moment a servant entered with the breakfast.

“Explain, thou limb of Satan, or thy time is come!” roared the man of war, and made so savage a spring toward the waiter that this latter could not find his tongue, for the instant, for fright and surprise. “Where is the boy?”

In disjointed and trembling syllables the man gave the information desired.

“You were hardly gone from the place, your worship, when a youth came running and said it was your worship’s will that the boy come to you straight, at the bridge-end on the Southwark side. I brought him hither;Ⓐalteration in the MS and when he woke the lad and gave his message,Ⓐalteration in the MS the lad did grumble some little for being disturbed ‘so early,’ as he called it, but straightway trussed on his rags and went with the youth, only saying it had been better manners that your worship came yourself not sent a stranger—and so—”

[begin page 151]

“explain, thou limb of satan!”

“And so thou’rtⒶemendation a fool!Ⓐalteration in the MS—a fool, and easily cozened—hang all thy breed! Yet mayhap no hurtⒶalteration in the MS is done. PossiblyⒶalteration in the MS no harm is meant the boy. I will go fetch him. Make the table ready. Stay! the coverings of the bed were disposed as if one lay beneath them—happened that by accident?”

“I know not, good your worship. I saw the youth meddle with them—he that came for the boy.”

“Thousand deaths! ’twas done to deceive me—’tis plain ’twas done to gain time. Hark ye!Ⓐalteration in the MS Was that youth alone?”

“All alone, your worshipⒶemendation.”

“Art sure?”

“Sure, your worship.”Ⓐalteration in the MS

“Collect thy scattered wits—bethink thee—take time, man.”

After a moment’s thought, the servant said—

“When he came, none came with him; but now I remember me that as the two stepped into the throng of the Bridge a ruffian-Ⓐalteration in the MSlooking man plunged out from some near place, and just as he was joining them—”Ⓐalteration in the MS

“What thenⒶalteration in the MS?—out with it!” thundered the impatient Hendon, interrupting.

[begin page 152]

“Just then the crowd lapped them up and closed them in, and IⒶalteration in the MS saw no more, being called by my master, who was in a rage because a joint that the scrivenerⒶalteration in the MS had ordered was forgot, though I take all the saints to witness that to blame me for that miscarriage were like holding the unborn babe to judgment for sins com—”

“Out of my sight, idiot! Thy prating drives me mad! Hold! whither art flying? Canst not bide still an instant? Went they toward Southwark?”

“hendon followed after him.”

“Even so, your worship—for, as I said before, as to that detestableⒶhistorical collation Ⓐemendation joint, the babe unborn is no whit more blameless than—”

“Art here yetⒶalteration in the MS! And prating still? Vanish, lest I throttle thee!” The [begin page 153] servitor vanished. Hendon followed after him, passed him, and plunged down the stairs two steps at a stride, muttering,Ⓐalteration in the MS “’Tis that scurvy villain that claimed he was his son. I have lost thee, my poorⒶalteration in the MS little mad master—it isⒶalteration in the MS a bitter thought—and I had come to love thee so! No! by book and bell,Ⓐalteration in the MS not Ⓐalteration in the MS lost! Not lost, for I will ransack the land till I find thee again. Poor child, yonderⒶalteration in the MS is his breakfast—and mine, but I have no hunger now—Ⓐalteration in the MSso, letⒶalteration in the MS the rats have it—speed, speed! that is the word!” As he wormed his swift way through the noisy multitudes upon the BridgeⒶemendation, he several times said to himself—Ⓐalteration in the MSclinging to the thought as if it were a particularly pleasing one—“He grumbled, but he went—he went, yes, because he thought Miles Hendon asked it, sweet lad—he would ne’er have done it for another, I know it well.”

[begin page 154]

[blank verso]

Historical Collation CHAPTER 13

Ⓐ I (MS, A, Ea, Ec, C) ● not in (Eb)

Ⓐ he loved she (A, E, C) ● twice as well (MS)

Ⓐ detestable (A, E, C) ● misbegotten (MS)

Editorial Emendations CHAPTER 13

Ⓐ thou’lt (A) ● thoul’t

Ⓐ he loved she (A) ● twice as well

Ⓐ thou’rt (A) ● thour’t

Ⓐ worship (A) ● worship?

Ⓐ detestable (A) ● misbegotten

Ⓐ Bridge (A) ● bridge

Alterations in the Manuscript CHAPTER 13

Ⓐ CHAPTER 13] the MS reads ‘Chap. 13.’; ‘13.’ added in ink 3 in a space originally left blank.

Ⓐ comrades.] the period mended from a semicolon.

Ⓐ rags”—] originally ‘rags.” ’; the dash squeezed in, canceling the period.

Ⓐ remark, tucked] the comma mended from a semicolon; ‘tucked’ interlined above canceled ‘covered’.

Ⓐ rose,] originally followed by ‘took the boy's measure with a string, and slipped softly out.’; ‘took’ written at the bottom of the MS page and ‘the boy's . . . out.’ written on a new MS page; the comma after ‘string’ mended to a period and ‘and . . . out.’ canceled; then ‘took . . . string.’ canceled; the verso of the MS page upon which ‘the boy's . . . out.’ was written then used to continue the MS.

Ⓐ ward— . . . time,—] the dashes interlined.

Ⓐ complained] follows canceled ‘and’.

Ⓐ thirty or forty] originally ‘twenty or thirty’; ‘twenty or’ canceled and ‘or forty’ interlined.

Ⓐ wear;] the semicolon added in ink 3.

Ⓐ less thunderous] interlined in ink 3 above canceled ‘milder’.

Ⓐ two] interlined in ink 3 above canceled ‘twain’.

Ⓐ dry—] followed by canceled ‘w’.

Ⓐ since he has] interlined in ink 3 above canceled ‘sith he hath’.

Ⓐ getteth] mended from ‘gets’.

Ⓐ sufficiency] follows canceled ‘supp’.

Ⓐ needle] followed by canceled ‘for’.

Ⓐ thread it!] the exclamation point apparently replaces a period.

Ⓐ held] follows canceled ‘en’.

Ⓐ way.] followed by canceled ‘The thread missed the’.

Ⓐ lap,] the comma apparently mended from a period.

Ⓐ inn] interlined above canceled ‘landlord’.

Ⓐ included] follows canceled ‘likewise—’.

Ⓐ awaits] interlined in ink 3 above canceled ‘awaiteth’.

Ⓐ likewise] interlined.

Ⓐ he loved she,—] the MS reads ‘twice as well,—’ (emended); the comma and dash replace what was either a period or a semicolon following ‘well’.

Ⓐ moment;] the semicolon mended in ink 3 from a comma.

Ⓐ also] interlined.

Ⓐ hither;] the semicolon mended in ink 3 from a comma.

Ⓐ message,] the comma added in ink 3.

Ⓐ fool!] the exclamation point added in ink 3.

Ⓐ hurt] interlined above canceled ‘harm’.

Ⓐ Possibly] follows canceled ‘I will’.

Ⓐ Hark ye!] originally ‘Harkye!’; ‘ye!’ follows canceled ‘ye!’.

Ⓐ “Sure, your worship.”] squeezed in with a caret and marked with a paragraph sign.

Ⓐ two . . . ruffian-] interlined in ink 3 to replace canceled ‘two joined the throng of the bridge, a ruffian-’; ‘throng’ in the cancellation follows ‘moving’ canceled earlier in ink 3.

Ⓐ joining them—”] originally ‘laying his hand upon the smaller boy—” ’, which was tentatively canceled in pencil and followed by ‘joining them—” ’ in pencil; then ‘joining them—” ’ interlined in ink 3, and ‘laying . . . boy—” ’ and the penciled ‘joining them—” ’ canceled in ink 3.

Ⓐ then] ‘then’ underlined in ink 3.

Ⓐ I] followed by a canceled comma.

Ⓐ scrivener] followed by canceled ‘ord’.

Ⓐ yet] ‘yet’ underlined in ink 3.

Ⓐ servitor vanished. Hendon . . . muttering,] ‘Hendon . . . muttering,’ added on the verso of the MS page with instructions to turn over; another instruction to turn over canceled following ‘vanished.’; ‘Hend’ interlined without a caret above ‘servitor’ and then canceled.

Ⓐ poor] followed by canceled ‘poor’.

Ⓐ it is] interlined in ink 3 to replace canceled ‘ 'tis’.

Ⓐ by book and bell,] interlined in ink 3 above canceled ‘by the mass,’; ‘by’ in the interlineation written over what may be ‘in’.

Ⓐ not] ‘not’ underlined in ink 3.

Ⓐ yonder] interlined above canceled ‘there’.

Ⓐ now—] followed by canceled ‘neither time to spare for eating, if I had it.” ’

Ⓐ let] originally ‘lets’. ‘s’ canceled.

Ⓐ himself—] followed by what appears to be canceled ‘then’.

Explanatory Notes CHAPTER 13

Ⓔ There was a woman] Clemens was decidedly partial to this ballad, singing it, rather inappropriately, during his wedding trip in 1870. The author included it in the raftsmen chapter from Huckleberry Finn published in chapter 3 of Life on the Mississippi. The ballad, originally a British folk song, survives in the United States from the Southern Appalachians to the Southwest under various titles—“There Was an Old Woman in Our Town,” “She Loved Her Husband Dearly,” and “The Rich Old Lady.” A version of the same ballad, called “The Old Woman of Wexford,” has been recorded in recent years by the Clancy Brothers. The ballad and Mark Twain's use of it are further discussed in MTHL (p. 874). The revision of the last line at William Dean Howells' suggestion is described in the textual introduction (pp. 395–396).

Ⓔ He did . . . woman's way.] Mark Twain was apparently as bewildered as Hendon about the intricacies of threading a needle for he gave precisely the opposite information in chapter 11 of Huckleberry Finn—“hold the needle still and poke the thread at it—that's the way a woman most always does; but a man always does 'tother way.”

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