To say that Ben loves Mark Twain is an understatement: The guy thinks Twain is just about the funniest, wittiest, smartest writer ever. So fortunately, at the event, Twain doesn't disappoint.
Every now and again, Ben looks over at Elizabeth to see if she's enjoying herself. Sure enough, she's laughing and nodding along just as much as he is.
Then things turn more serious, and Twain talks about lynching.
He says people don't actually want to watch a lynching—they do it because they're afraid of what will happen if they don't.
According to him, it takes a brave man to stop what's happening in the South, but there aren't 300 brave men in the whole country.