Sheesh, I wanted to make a reputation for myself among Mark Twain folks, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind! Leave it to two friends to get you back. Mark Twain, of course, would be amused, both over the idea of indiscretions and indiscreet tippling. In his later years, didn't he take a belt of Scotch upon awaking in the morning? And I for one give great credence to the theory that his pen-name came in part from his habit of taking two drinks "on the cuff" (on credit)--it would be very in character for him to have two ways of viewing of name. He has many excellent drinking passages in his writing, from the ridiculous (one Siamese twin who is a drunk, the other a teetotaler), to the sublime (the great description of Jim Blaine being "serenely, symmetrically drunk") to the satirical (Pap claiming he was going to vote "if he warn't too drunk") to the frightening (Pap's dt's and visions of snakes and ghosts in the cabin). In honor of this, I'll buy a drink for any Mark Twain Forum member at any gathering, academic or otherwise, if you only ask. Even including those who took so much umbrage! Cheers . . .