300 LIPS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
began her introduction of me. The man's eyes opened slowly, and
glittered wickedly out from the twilight of their caverns; he frowned
a black frown ; he lifted his lean hand and waved us peremptorily
away. But the widow kept straight on, till she had got out the fact
that I was a stranger and an American. The man's face changed at
once ; brightened, became even eager—and the next moment he and
I were alone together.
I opened up in cast-iron German; he responded in quite flexible
Epglish; thereafter we gave the German language a permanent rest.
This consumptive and I became good friends. I visited him every
day, and we talked about everything. At least, about everything
but wives and children. Let anybody's wife or anybody's child be
mentioned, and three things always followed : the most gracious and
loving and tender light glimmered in the man's eyes for a moment;
faded out the next, and in its place came that deadly look which had
flamed there the first time I ever saw his lids unclose; thirdly, he
ceased from speech, there and then for that day; lay silent, abstracted,
and absorbed; apparently heard nothing that I said; took no notice
of my good-byes, and plainly did not know, by either sight or hearing,
when I left the room.
When I had been this Karl Bitter's daily and sole intimate during
two months, he one day said, abruptly—
* I will tell you my story.1
A DYING MAN'S CONFESSION.
Then he went on as follows :—
I have never given up, until now. But now I have given up. I
am going to die* 1 made up my mind last night that it must be, and
very soon, too. You say you are going to revisit your river, by-and-
bye, when you fed opportunity. Very well; that, together with a
certain strange experience which fell to my lot last night, determines
me to tell you my history—for you will see Napoleon, Arlra^gas $ and
fear my sake you will stop there, and do a certain thing for me—a
thing which you will willingly undertake after you shall have heard
my narrative*
Let us shorten the story wherever we can, for it will need it, being