Page:Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field.djvu/100

 AMERICAN HUMORISTS

They were talking about humorists in Mr. Jackson's office. Jackson was the first secretary of legation, blessed with a very beautiful wife and money. After a lot of talk, Twain was asked for his opinion.

"Well," he said, "the greatest American humorist I know of is Mr. Fox of the 'Police Gazette'—the fellow who put full evening dress on sluggers. John L. Sullivan and some of the hard-boiled boys he licked were, of course, familiar to the American eye in trunks and undershirts. Reflect on the giant mind that conceived the original idea of making them look like Kyrle Bellew or Augustin Daly. Fox with that picture beat us Knights of the Quill easily." 96