There was nothing to do
after that but wait results.
Mark Twain had lost faith--he did not believe anybody in New York would
come to hear him even on a free ticket. When the night arrived, he drove
with Fuller to the Cooper Union half an hour before the lecture was to
begin. Forty years later he said:
"I couldn't keep away. I wanted to see that vast Mammoth Cave, and
die. But when we got near the building, I saw all the streets were
blocked with people and that traffic had stopped. I couldn't
believe that these people were trying to get to the Cooper
Institute--but they were; and when I got to the stage, at last, the
house was jammed full--packed; there wasn't room enough left for a
child.
"I was happy and I was excited beyond expression. I poured the
Sandwich Islands out on those people, and they laughed and shouted
to my entire content. For an hour and fifteen minutes I was in
paradise."
So in its way this venture was a success. It brought Mark Twain a good
deal of a reputation in New York, even if no financial profit, though, in
spite of the flood of complimentaries, there was a cash return of
something like three hundred dollars. This went a good way toward paying
the expenses, while Fuller, in his royal way, insisted on making up the
deficit, declaring he had been paid for everything in the fun and joy of
the game.
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