In that portion of the book devoted to the trip up the river Styx the
legends surpass any of the Rhine stories in dramatic interest, because,
according to Commodore Charon's excursion system, the tourist can step
ashore and see the chief actors in them, who for a consideration will
give a full-dress rehearsal of the legendary acts for which they have
been famous. The sirens of the Stygian Lorelei, for instance, sit on an
eminence not far above the city of Cimmeria, and make a profession of
luring people ashore and giving away at so much per head locks of their
hair for remembrance' sake, all of which makes of the Stygian trip a
thing of far greater interest than that of the Rhine.
It had been my intention to make a few extracts from this portion of the
volume showing later developments in the legends of the Drachenfels,
and others of more than ordinary interest, but I find that with the
departure of Boswell for the night the treasured hand-book disappeared
with him; but, as I have already stated, if I can secure his consent
to do so I will some day have the book copied off on more material
substance than that employed in the original manuscript, so that the
useful little tome may be printed and scattered broadcast over a waiting
and appreciative world. I may as well state here, too, that I have taken
the precaution to have the title “Baedeker's Hades” and its contents
copyrighted, so that any pirate who recognizes the value of the scheme
will attempt to pirate the work at his peril.
Hardly had I finished the chapter on the legends of the Styx when
Boswell broke in upon me with: “Well, how do you like it?”
“It's great,” I said. “May I keep it?”
“You may if you can,” he laughed. “But I fancy it can't withstand the
rigors of this climate any more than an unfireproof copy of one of your
books could stand the caniculars of ours.”
His words were soon to be verified, for as soon as he left me the book
vanished, but whether it went off into thin air or was repocketed by the
departing Boswell I am not entirely certain.
“What was it you asked me about Samson and Goliath?” Boswell observed,
as he gathered up his manuscript from the floor beside the Enchanted
Typewriter. “Whether they'd ever been in Honolulu?”
“No,” I replied. “I got a letter from Hawaii the other day asking for
the result of the prize-fight the day Kidd ran off with the house-boat.”
“Oh,” replied Boswell. “That? Why, ah, Samson won hands down, but only
because they played according to latter-day rules. If it had been a
regular knock-out fight, like the contests in the old days of the ring
when it was in its prime, Goliath could have managed him with one hand;
but the Samson backers played a sharp game on the Philistine by having
the most recently amended Queensbury rules adopted, and Goliath wasn't
in it five minutes after Samson opened his mouth.”
“I don't think I understand,” said I.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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