Mark Twain was a reader so he knew all about balloon trips and detective stories. Twain used the balloon trip idea in "Tom Sawyer Abroad," and off Tom, Jim, and Huck go up in the air. As usual, Twain makes a few side trips, and today Ruth reads the opening of Chapter 1 telling the travlin' story of Postmaster Nat Parsons. Nat goes to Washington to see the President about a letter to someone unknown with postage due.
