been transformed into "Mike Swain"!

When Mark returned to San Francisco, he resolved to follow the example
of Stoddard and Mulford, and "enter the lecture field." The "extraneous
matter" in his letters to the Sacramento Union had made him "notorious";
and, as he put it, "San Francisco invited me to lecture." The historic
account of that lecture, in 'Roughing It', is found elsewhere in this
book. Noah Brooks, editor of the Alta California, who was present at
this lecture, has written the following graphic piece of description
"Mark Twain's method as a lecturer was distinctly unique and novel. His
slow, deliberate drawl, the anxious and perturbed expression of his
visage, the apparently painful effort with which he framed his
sentences, and, above all, the surprise that spread over his face when
the audience roared with delight or rapturously applauded the finer
passages of his word-painting, were unlike anything of the kind they had
ever known. All this was original; it was Mark Twain." Employing D. E.
McCarthy as his agent, Mark gave a number of lectures at various places
on the Pacific Coast. From this time forward we recognize in Mark Twain
one of the supreme masters of the art of lecturing in our time.

In December, 1866, he set out for New York, preparatory to the grand
tour around the world. His own account of the circular describing the
projected trip is famous. He had proposed, for twelve hundred dollars
in gold,--at the rate of twenty dollars apiece, to write a series of
letters for the 'Alta California'. Brooks, the editor, fortified the
grave misgivings of the proprietors over this proposition; but Colonel
John McComb (then on the editorial staff) argued vehemently for Mark,
and turned the scale in his favour. While Mark was in New York, he was
urged by Frank Fuller, whom he had known as Territorial Governor of
Utah, to deliver a lecture--in order to establish his reputation on the