given to critical polishing. In some instances he
changed an entire line or a phrase of two lines. The copy read:

"Till at last he led off the right bower,
That Nye had just hid on his knee."

As changed on the proof it read:

"Till at last he put down a right bower,
Which the same Nye had dealt unto me."

It was a happy second thought that suggested the most quoted line in
this famous poem. The fifth line of the seventh verse originally read:

"Or is civilization a failure?"

On the margin of the proof-sheet he substituted the ringing line:

"We are ruined by Chinese cheap labor,"

--an immense improvement--the verse reading:

"Then I looked up at Nye,
And he gazed unto me,
And he rose with a sigh,
And said, 'Can this be?
We are ruined by Chinese cheap labor!'
And he went for that heathen Chinee."

The corrected proof, one of the treasures of the University of
California, with which Harte was for a time nominally connected, bears
convincing testimony to the painstaking methods by which he sought the
highest degree of literary perfection. This poem was not intended as a
serious addition to contemporary verse. Harte disclaimed any purpose
whatever; but there seems just a touch of political satire. "The Chinese
must go" was becoming the popular political slogan, and he always
enjoyed rowing against the tide. The poem greatly extended his name and
fame. It was reprinted in _Punch_, it was liberally quoted on the floors
of Congress, and it "caught on" everywhere. Perhaps it is today the one
thing by which Harte is best known.

One of the most amusing typographical errors on record occurred in the
printing of this poem. In explanation of the manner of the duplicity of
_Ah Sin, Truthful James_ was made to say:

"In his sleeves, which were long,
He had twenty-one packs:"

and that was the accepted reading for many years, in spite of the
physical impossibility of concealing six hundred and ninety-three cards
and one arm in even a Chinaman's sleeve. The game they played was
euchre, where bowers are supreme, and what Harte wrote was "jacks," not
"packs." Probably the same pious proofreader who was shocked at the
"Luck" did not know the game, and, as the rhyme was perfect, let it
slip. Later editions corrected the error, though it is still often seen.

Harte gave nearly three years to the _Overland_. His success had
naturally brought him flattering offers, and the tempt