MARK TWAIN
It will be seen from the foregoing that the
present writer was by this time on the scene.
Early in January I had become Mark Twain's
biographer and he had begun daily dictation—
notes for my use, later to become his Autobiog-
raphy. He seldom made entries now in his note-
books, using a pad of paper for such memoranda
as he wished to jot down between dictations.
When it was possible I saved these things, but I
have not been able always to keep them nor the
few remaining notebook entries in chronological
order. He made notes in any book or on any pad
that came handy.
SOME  WASHINGTON   NOTES
Early in December (1906) I accompanied Mark Twain
on a copyright lobbying expedition to Washington, an
account of which is elsewhere set down and need not be
repeated here. Looking through the notes of that journey,
however, I find one or two that may be added, now.
We arrived in the evening and went to the New Wil-
lard, a hotel boasting certain "latest improvements." For
one thing, you were sure of getting boiling water from the
"Hot" faucet almost instantly—it wasn't necessary to feel
of it. Early next morning he was in the bathroom. I heard
the water turned into the tub, followed by a wild blast of
profanity: "God-damn the God-damned son-of-a-bitch
that invented that faucet! I hope he'll roast in hell for a
million years!" It appeared that he had sampled the tem-
perature of the flow, as was his custom at home—ordi-
narily singing a little at such a moment.
It was not much of a start for the day. When coffee
came up his tray was placed on a little table by his bed,
which he had got back into as soon as possible. The hot
milk was in a good-sized pitcher—of narrow-neck, wide-
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