otes--two notes
of five thousand dollars each in a few days when due. Mr. Rogers was
immediately notified, of course, and said he would sleep on it and
advise them next day. He did not believe that the bank would really push
them to the wall. The next day was spent in seeing what could be done,
and by evening it was clear that unless a considerable sum of money was
raised a voluntary assignment was the proper course. The end of the long
struggle had come. Clemens hesitated less on his own than on his wife's
account. He knew that to her the word failure would be associated with
disgrace. She had pinched herself with a hundred economies to keep the
business afloat, and was willing to go on economizing to avert this
final disaster. Mr. Rogers said:

"Mr. Clemens, assure her from me that there is not even a tinge of
disgrace in making this assignment. By doing it you will relieve
yourself of a fearful load of dread, and in time will be able to pay
everything and stand clear before the world. If you don't do it you will
probably never be free from debt, and it will kill you and Mrs. Clemens
both. If there is any disgrace it would be in not taking the course that
will give you and her your freedom and your creditors a better chance
for their claims. Most of them will be glad enough to help you."

It was on the afternoon of the next day, April 18, 1894, that the firm
of Charles L. Webster & Co. executed assignment papers and closed its
doors. A meeting of the creditors was called, at which H. H. Rogers
was present, representing Clemens. For the most part the creditors were
liberal and willing to agree to any equitable arrangement. But there
were a few who were grumpy and fussy. They declared that Mark Twain
should turn over his copyrights, his Hartford home, and whatever other
odds and ends could be discovered. Mr. Rogers, discussing the matter in
1908, said:

"They were bent on devouring every pound of flesh in sight and picking
the bones afterward, as Clemens and his wife were perfectly willing they
should do. I was getting a little warm all the time at the highhanded
way in which these few men were conducting the thing, and presently
I got on my feet and said, 'Gentlemen, you are not going to have this
thing all your way. I have something to say about Mr. Clemens's affairs.
Mrs. Clemens is the chief creditor of this firm. Out of her own personal
fortune she has lent it more than sixty thousand dollars. She will be a
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