Page:Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field.djvu/74

 "PA USED TO BE A TERRIBLE MAN"

With Mark's daughter Susie, I was walking in the Berlin Thiergarten one afternoon when we encountered a very rough specimen of the genus tramp.

"Look at him," said Susie. "You know, Pa, too, was an awful man before Mamma took him in hand and married him." And with added seriousness, she continued: "He used to swear and swear, and then swear again, and the only thing that he didn't do that was bad was to let cards and liquor alone—some kinds of liquor."

It is too bad that I forget Mark's comment on the above when I told him. 70