refoot boy, often in
mischief, and only excelling in two things at school. He won the weekly
medal for spelling, and his compositions were so funny that the teachers
and pupils used to laugh till the tears came, when they were read aloud.
His teachers said he ought to train himself for a writer, but it did not
seem to him that there was anything so noble or desirable in this world
as being a pilot. And he loved the great Mississippi River better than
any place he had known or could imagine.

Sam's father died, whispering: "Don't sell the Tennessee land! Hold on
to it, and you will all be rich!"

After his death Sam learned the printer's trade. He was very quick in
setting type and accurate, so that he soon helped his older brother
start a newspaper. He worked with his brother until he was eighteen, and
then he told his mother that he wanted to start out for himself in the
world. Jane Clemens loved him dearly and hated to part with him, but
when she saw his heart was set on going, she took up a testament and
said: "Well, Sam, you may try it, but I want you to take hold of this
book and make me a promise. I want you to repeat after me these
words--'I do solemnly swear that I will not throw a card or drink a drop
of liquor while I am gone!'"

He repeated these words after her, bade her good-by, and went to St.
Louis. He meant to travel, and as he earned enough by newspaper work, he
visited New York, Philadelphia, and was on his way to South America when
he got a chance to be a pilot on the Mississippi River. While he was
learning this trade, he was happier than he had ever been in his life.
If you want to know what happened to him at this time you must read a
book he wrote, _Life on the Mississippi River_. He wrote a great many
books and signed whatever he wrote with a queer name--MARK TWAIN. This
was an old term used by pilots to show how deep the water is where they
throw the lead. His writings, like his boyish compositions, made people
laugh. So that now, although he has been dead several years, whenever
the name of Mark Twain is mentioned, a smile goes around. If you want to
know more about the actual doings of Sam and his chums, Will Bowen and
John Briggs, read _Tom Sawyer_ and _Huckleberry Finn_, for in those
books Sam has set down a pretty fair account of their escapades.

Mr. Clemens had a wife and children of whom he was very fond. As he made
much money from his books and lectures, they were all able to travel