Even the boy's name (Alfred Temple) could conceivably have been a derivation/permutation of the name "Bret Harte" - since Twain said that the only heart Bret had was his name, yet admitted in a roundabout way that he had a "head", he may have changed the surname "Harte" to "Temple" for that reason. - B. Clay Shannon

      From: Clay Shannon <[log in to unmask]>
 To: [log in to unmask] 
 Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 6:41 AM
 Subject: Re: Was the St. Louis smarty Bret Harte?
   
If any are unaware of the "necktie" connection, this is from http://www.old=
magazinearticles.com/pdf/Twain%20-%20Harte.pdf:
"...his necktie. Always it was of a single color, and intense. Most frequen=
tly, perhaps, it was crimson--a flash of flame under his chin; or it was in=
digo-blue, and as hot and vivid as if one of those splendid and luminous Br=
azilian butterflies had lighted there."=C2=A0- B. Clay Shannon

      From: Clay Shannon <[log in to unmask]>
 To: [log in to unmask]
 Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 6:05 AM
 Subject: Was the St. Louis smarty Bret Harte?
  =20
I started re-reading Tom Sawyer (in Spanish) last night; I noticed somethin=
=3D
g for the first time: the way the new kid in town, the citified dandy (the =
=3D
"St. Louis smarty") makes me wonder if Bret Harte was Twain's mental image =
=3D
for this irritating adversary, particularly where he mentions his colorful =
=3D
tie:
This boy was well dressed, too=3DE2=3D80=3D94well dressed on a week-day. Th=
is was=3D
 simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue clo=
=3D
th roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes o=
=3D
n=3DE2=3D80=3D94and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bi=
t of r=3D
ibbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom=3DE2=3D80=3D99s vi=
tals.

Was this boy conjured up by a mental image of Bret Harteless?=3DC2=3DA0- B.=
 Cla=3D
y Shannon


  =20