While I'm posting this semi-administrative message, allow me to remind
subscribers how to sign off the Mark Twain Forum.  Just send a message
to <[log in to unmask]> containing the single line:

SIGNOFF TWAIN-L

If you have difficulties, please send a message directly to me, not to
<[log in to unmask]>.

For those who wish to remain on the Forum, I'm pleased to announce
that two new files are available on TwainWeb.

John D. Evans <[log in to unmask]> has kindly contributed a short story
that generated interest among Forum members when he posted a message
about it last week (8 February 1997).  "Getting the Bugs out of Tom
Sawyer: An Entomologist's View of a Classic," is now available under
the "Files" link on the Forum's home page, at the following URL:

     http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/www/forum/twainweb.html

I hope you'll enjoy the story, and I'm sure the author would
appreciate hearing your comments about it.  Many thanks to him for
sharing it with us, and big thanks also to TwainWeb editor John W.
Young <http://home.fia.net/~jwyoung> for converting this electronic
text to web-friendly HTML format.

The second file is from John W. Young, titled "Mark Twain, William
Dean Howells, and 'Old Times on the Mississippi'".  The author also
solicits your comments, so please feel free to stop by and read this
essay.

If there are other such stories or essays lurking out there, I
encourage you to share them with your colleagues on the Forum.  Just
address them directly to me at the address below--not to
<[log in to unmask]>--and I'll install them on the web page.

Enjoy!

Taylor Roberts <[log in to unmask]>