March 20 Friday – Sam and Carlyle G. Smythe traveled 174 miles to Rawalpindi. Livy and Clara likely stayed behind, as the men returned to Lahore the next day. Parsons calls Rawalpindi the “most heavily garrisoned of British Indian military stations” [“MT India” 92]. Sam’s notebook:

Lectured at Rawal Pindi. Dead Man, Plug, Poem, German, Golden Arm, Whistling — 1.15 [hrs] Supper-guest of Club. Left for Lahore at 12.45 [NB 36 TS 57]. Note: 12:45 p.m. on Mar. 21

Parsons writes,

He had intended to penetrate the North-West Frontier as far as Peshawar, only a few miles from the Khyber Pass, portal of Afghanistan, but sickness had dislocated his schedule and two more days were lopped off by a message that his ship was sailing from Calcutta ahead of time. As The Englishman commented, “he most disappointed person is Mark Twain himself” [“MT India” 92].

H.H. Rogers wrote to Sam:

I have nothing from you since my letter of Mar. 20th [he must have meant Feb. 20]. I have from Mrs. Clemens enclosing draft on London for 101/12. Since my last of the 5th inst. [6th?] I have a letter from Harper & Brothers in which they express themselves in a general way as not unfavorable to the scheme proposed. They have asked me some questions which I am not able to answer until I can see the Blisses, which I hope to do on Monday next, when they are coming down to the city. Gen’l Langdon was here a day or two since, and he approved of the Harper scheme, taken as a whole, without, however going into the details, which we have not yet come to. Gen’l Langdon had a talk with that miserable man, Payne of the bank, and I think they had quite an animated time, at any rate the Gen’l. left Mr. Payne in a very pleasant sort of way, so that no harm was done.

Note: Charles J. Langdon was appointed as Commissary General in 1880 by Governor Cornell of N.Y.; William H. Payne was president of the hated Mount Morris Bank.

Rogers was looking into a possible lecture manager for Sam should he want to lecture again in America, and had been recommended to John Warner, under Abbey & Co. as a possible man for the job. What terms could Sam offer? Also, Rogers had been concerned about Sam’s condition and had cabled Major Comfort at Bombay on Mar. 15 [MTHHR 199-201].