On the afterdeck of the _Vigilant_--very handsome ship--a temporary
cabin had been constructed for the sole and special use of the Shah,
temporary but charmingly substantial and graceful and pretty. It was
about thirty feet long and twelve wide, beautifully gilded, decorated
and painted within and without. Among its colors was a shade of light
green, which reminds me of an anecdote about the Persian party, which I
will speak of in to-morrow’s letter.
It was getting along toward the time for the Shah to arrive from
Brussels, so I ranged up alongside my own ship. I do not know when I
ever felt so ill at ease and undecided. It was a sealed letter which I
had brought from the Admiralty, and I could not guess what the purport
of it might be. I supposed I was intended to command the ship--that is,
I had supposed it at first, but, after seeing all those splendid
officers, I had discarded that idea. I cogitated a good deal, but to no
purpose. Presently a regiment of Belgian troops arrived and formed in
line along the pier. Then a number of people began to spread down
carpets for fifty yards along the pier, by the railway track, and other
carpets were laid from these to the ships. The gangway leading on board
my ship was now carpeted and its railings were draped with
bright-colored signal flags. It began to look as if I was expected; so I
walked on board. A sailor immediately ran and stopped me, and made
another sailor bring a mop for me to wipe my feet on, lest I might soil
the deck, which was wonderfully clean and nice. Evidently I was not the
person expected, after all. I pointed to the group of officers and asked
the sailor what the naval law would do to a man if he were to go and
speak to some of those admirals--for there was an awful air of etiquette
and punctilio about the premises; but just then one of those officers
came forward and said that if his instinct was correct an Admiralty
order had been received giving me a passage in the ship; and he also
said that he was the first lieutenant, and that I was very welcome and
he would take pains to make me feel at home, and furthermore there was
champagne and soda waiting down below; and furthermore still, all the
London correspondents, to the number of six or seven, would arrive from
Brussels with the Shah, and would go in our ship, and if our passage
were not a lively one, and a jolly and enjoyable one, it would be a very
strange thing indeed. I could have jumped for joy if I had not been
afraid of breaking some rule of naval etiquette and getting hanged for
it.
Now the train was signaled, and everybody got ready for the great event.
The Belgian regiment straightened itself up, and some two hundred
Flounders arrived and took conspicuous position on a little mound. I was
a little afraid that this would impress the Shah; but I was soon
occupied with other interests. The train of thirteen cars came tearing
in, and stopped abreast the ships. Music and guns began an uproar.
Odd-looking Persian faces and felt hats (brimless stovepipes) appeared
at the car windows.
Some gorgeous English officials fled down the carpet from the
_Vigilant_. They stopped at a long car with the royal arms upon it,
uncovered their heads, and unlocked the car door. Then the Shah stood up
in it and gave us a good view. He was a handsome, strong-featured man,
with a rather European fairness of complexion; had a mustache, wore
spectacles, seemed of a good height and graceful build and carriage, and
looked about forty or a shade less. He was very simply dressed--brimless
stovepipe and close-buttoned dark-green military suit, without ornament.
No, not wholly without ornament, for he had a band two inches wide worn
over his shoulder and down across his breast, scarf fashion, which band
was one solid glory of fine diamonds.
A Persian official appeared in the Shah’s rear and enveloped him in an
ample quilt--or cloak, if you please--which was lined with fur. The
outside of it was of a whitish color and elaborately needle-worked in
Persian patterns like an India shawl. The Shah stepped out and the
official procession formed about him and marched him down the carpet and
on board the _Vigilant_ to slow music. Not a Flounder raised a cheer.
All the small fry swarmed out of the train now.
The Shah walked back alongside his fine cabin, looking at the assemblage
of silent, solemn Flounders; the correspondent of the London _Telegraph_
was hurrying along the pier and took off his hat and bowed to the “King
of Kings,” and the King of Kings gave a polite military salute in
return. This was the commencement of the excitement. The success of the
breathless _Telegraph_ man made all the other London correspondents mad,
every man of whom flourished his stovepipe recklessly and cheered
lustily, some of the more enthusiastic varying the exercise by lowering
their heads and elevating their coat tails. Seeing all this, and feeling
that if I was to “impress the Shah” at all, now was my time, I ventured
a little squeaky yell, quite distinct from the other shouts, but just as
hearty. His Shahship heard and saw and saluted me in a manner that was,
I considered, an acknowledgment of my superior importance. I do not know
that I ever felt so ostentatious and absurd before. All the
correspondents came aboard, and then the Persian baggage came also, and
was carried across to the ship alongside of ours. When she could hold no
more we took somewhere about a hundred trunks and boxes on board our
vessel. Two boxes fell into the water, and several sailors jumped in and
saved one, but the other was lost. However, it probably contained
nothing but a few hundred pounds of diamonds and things.
At last we got under way and steamed out through a long slip, the piers
on either side being crowded with Flounders; but never a cheer. A
battery of three guns on the starboard pier boomed a royal salute, and
we swept out to sea, the _Vigilant_ in the lead, we right in her wake,
and the baggage ship in ours. Within fifteen minutes everybody was well
acquainted; a general jollification set in, and I was thoroughly glad I
had come over to fetch the Shah.
II
MARK TWAIN EXECUTES HIS CONTRACT AND DELIVERS
THE SHAH IN LONDON
LONDON, _June 19, 1873_.