172 
THE STRAND MAGAZINE. 
us a young couple of whom he was very 
fond, and Mrs. H insisted that she 
had been told by an authority that a 
correct sentence could be made in which 
“ that ” was used four times consecutively. 
He thought a moment, 
and then wrote this 
sentence : — 
“ It is not that that that 
that refers to, but ” 
Another night, when 
these same young people 
had come to play hearts 
with us, he felt too tired 
to play, having had no 
sleep for twenty - four 
hours. So he asked us 
to bring the card - table 
into his room and play 
near his bed, where he 
could watch the game. 
He said he thought he 
might fall asleep in this 
way, and he made us 
promise not to leave until 
he was sound asleep, if 
he did. So we played 
there quietly, and pre- 
sently he fell asleep sitting 
there propped up in bed, 
with a cigar in his 
mouth. 
During the first week 
of April I took some 
pictures of him, and this 
was the last time he was 
ever able to dress, for he 
soon grew so weak that 
he was practically kept 
alive by the doctor’s con- 
stant care. 
And so ended his last 
visit, which will be a 
precious memory to us all, 
these last months of his 
life, spent in our home. 
The return journey was 
terrible for him ; he was 
so weak he could not be dressed, and, 
wearing only his coat and wrapped in 
rugs, he had to be carried in a chair to 
the private tender, in which we took him 
to the Oceana . But he . seemed to 
enjoy the sail up, and joked with Helen as 
usual, keeping her laughing most of the time. 
We had encouraging reports of him at 
first, and it was a great comfort to know his 
daughter was with him. We did not realize 
that he was peacefully slipping: away, just 
MARK TWAIN’S LAST VOYAOF. — A SNAPSHOT TAKEN ON IIIS JOURNEY 
HOME FROM BERMUDA. “HE WAS SO WEAK HE COULD NOT HE 
DRESSED, AND, WEAR! NO ONLY MIS COAT AND WRAPPED IN RtJOS, 
HE HAD TO BE CARRIED IN A CHAIR TO THE PRIVATE TENDER.” 
From a Photograph. 
as he would have planned to die. So the 
cable announcing his death came as a sudden 
blow. 
And while he lay there drifting he 
could think, among all his other cares, 
to ask that some books he wanted me to 
have should not fail to be sent. Tt was 
almost his last request. And so did 
this most characteristic point in his nature 
hold true to the last— his unfailing thought 
for other? 
