>From MT ENCYCLOPEDIA ed by Jim Wilson
1st pub. in the Atl. Month. in Aug. 1880, & reprinted in The $30,000
Bequest(1906), this short story carries on Twain's sardonic criticism of
sentimental women; simple-minded religion, including Sunday School stories
and glib aphorisms, including the work ethic, as guides to the conduct of
life. The title characters are foster brothers, adopted by a couple who
teach th
   em
"Be pure, honest, sober, industrious, considerate, and you will never lack
friends."

Ed Mills follows their precept and is killed by his brother. G.B. breaks
laws, enjoys himself and dies on the gallows, with crowds of women begging
for a

pardon and his family dutifully by a charitable org. This story has received
virtuallly no crit. commentary, being a more complicated joke on the heroes
than earlier stories but still undeveloped in plot & character.

Also see Jim Wilson's _A Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of MT_

Alan C. Reese