The Boys' Life of Mark Twain

ide. There were the Robards boys-George, the best Latin scholar, and John, who always won the good-conduct medal, and would

le Helen Kercheval, and Jimmy MacDaniel, whom it was well to know because h

of girls. Bettie Ormsle

the girls he remembered

double his age and br

a thing he had no

ins. The Clemens and Hawkins families lived opposite, and the children were early acquainted. The "Black Avenger of the Spanish Main" was very gentle

the farm in a basket, and it always had a place by him at the table. He loved flowers-not as a boy botanist or gardener, but as a companion who understood their thoughts. He pitied dead leaves and dry weeds because thei

ow. More than anything in the world Sam detested school, and he made any excuse to get out of g

limbed trees, and swung in the vines. It was a happy place enough, only-it was school. To Sam Clemens, the spelling-bee every Friday afternoon was the one thing that made it worth while. Sam was a l

ame and Cro

d over an I

t, and urged the author to write it on

John, "I wouldn't

u to do it

ine couplet. The teacher returned and called the school to order. He looked at

hat?" he aske

time fo

ir," sa

cted that the author would be called for next; but perhaps Mr. Cross had exhausted himself

Laura Hawkins was on the floor against him, and he was a gallant boy. If it had only been Huck Brown he would have spelled that and all the other

and was obliged to pay it. Once more all his property was taken away. Only a few scanty furnishings were rescued from the wreck. A St. Louis cous

vas of the district, regardless of the weather, probably undermining his health. He was elected by a large majority, and rejoiced that his worries were now at an end. They were, indeed, over. At the end of February he rode to the county seat to take t

the land and wait. Let noth

presently he beckoned to Pamela, now a lovely girl of nineteen, and, p

die,"

A little more, and his w

upright, impractical m

7. John Clemens had li

ar

his wildness and disobedience-a thousand things trifling enough at the time, but heartbreaking now. Boy and man, Samuel Clemens was never s

ng: "I will promise anything, if you

eed not go to school any more. Only promise me to

a promise was a serious matter, and Sam Clemens, underneath all, was a serious lad.

, gave music lessons, and so helped the family fund. Pamela Clemens, the original of Cousin Mary, in "Tom Sawyer," was a sweet and noble girl. Henry was too young to work, but Sam was apprenticed to a printer named Ament, who ha