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CCXCIVTHE LAST RITESIt is not often that a whole world mourns. Thebooks yielded always more than the guarantee; sometimes twice thatamount, as he had foreseen. CCLIVBILLIARD-ROOM NOTESThe billiard games went along pretty steadily that winter. Clemens was fond of affairs when they were going well; he liked the gameof business, especially when it was pretentious and showily prosperous.

Last night we stopped playing billiards while he reviewed, in the most vivid and picturesque phrasing, the reasons of Rome's decline. TO THE NEXT BURGLAR There is nothing but plated ware in this house now and henceforth. He'llbe just like a kitten. Reflecting on the matter, Clemens decided to make literature of it.