The context seems to imply that Soldier Boy is claiming that his dam was not an Arabian (alkali =~ desert?). Beyond that maybe this is something along the lines of the "solitary oesphagus" /swallow pun? Leslie On Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 3:51 PM Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In A MARK TWAIN LEXICON, edited by Ramsay and Emerson (1963), they give > “alkali-spider” an AB1 designation which indicates “Mark Twain is the sole > authority for a word or meaning that is not found in OXFORD at all ...” p. > xii. They go on to state that the word “Alkali” itself in OEDS 1907 refers > to “One who lives in or frequents an alkali region.” > > A further search of historical newspaper databases did not turn up any > other stories, writers, or editors using the phrase. > > Barb >