I suppose we'll never uncover all the jokes that carried special meaning for Twain's family and friends, but I can think of two that surely refer to his own hair color: --HUCKLEBERRY FINN, ch. XXV. "When we got to the house, the street in front of it was packed, and the three girls was standing in the door. Mary Jane was red-headed, but that don't make no difference, she was most awful beautiful . . ." --A CONNECTICUT YANKEE, ch. XVIII. Hank has just described a complex and horrible punishment dished out by Morgan le Fay to a prisoner in her dungeons: "Morgan le Fay hated him with her whole heart, and she never would have softened toward him. And yet his crime was committed more in thoughtlessness than deliberate depravity. He had said she had red hair. Well, she had; but that was no way to speak of it. When red-headed people are above a certain social grade, their hair is auburn." Can anyone think of other examples? I'm a new kid on the forum. I'm happy to have joined, and am having a great time reading through the forum archive. --Mark Coburn Durango, Colorado