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“I sent one to the president of Ole Miss one ti You o to the real president, in the White House, up in Washington?”

“That’s the one,” I said

I would have to tell Abraha to McComb for anonymity had failed I wondered whether there was anyplace in the state of Mississippi from which you could dispatch a wire to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue without causing a fuss

“Yes, sir,” the , “one time I sent one to Governor Vardaman, and there was this other time a felloanted to send one—”

“I’ether,” I said “Could you send it right away?”

“Soon as the station agent comes back from his break,” he said

I forcedoperated on Mississippi time, a slower pace than in other places After the h

I hurried out to Elizabeth’s carriage, where she sat surveying the panorama of McComb

Half the town had burned to the ground just a few years before, but a sturdy nen had already been put up to replace it At one end of the business district stood a fine new depot and the famous McComb Ice Plant, which iced down thousands of train cars full of southern fruits and vegetables for the trip north

All the way at the other end of don, on Broadway Street, stood the only other building that really interested ht

First we repaired to Saumbo and Elizabeth ordered—what else?—turtle soup We chatted and relived old tihout the Pompano en Papillote and the Snapper Al custard It was the finestto the South

With a rare sense of satisfaction, Elizabeth and I strolled down the new sidewalks of Front Street to the theater Men in waistcoats and wo about the entrance, and I couldn’t wait to go in

“You look like a child on Christhed merrily

I lifted ed to water our horse and keep an eye on the carriage “It’s better than that,” I said “Christmas comes once a year But Mark Twain comes once in a lifetime”

Chapter 56