John Evans wrote: > > Dear Members: I have a question that goes beyond trivia into some > unnamed realm, but I have a nagging curiosity about this. If there is > an answer to be found, I am sure it will be here on the Forum. > > Whenever I read the whitewashing scene in _The Adventures of Tom > Sawyer_, I am always struck by the clause: > > “Sighing he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost > plank....” > > This suggests to me that the boards of the fence run horizontally with > the “topmost plank” being the one farthest from the ground. Yet every > illustration of this scene, as well as the fence at the Mark Twain > Boyhood Home, has the boards of the fence running vertically. And so I > ask: > > 1. Is every representation of this famous scene in error? > > 2. Did Twain violate one of his own principles of writing: an author > shall "say what he is proposing to say..."? > > 3. Are Twain’s words a regional turn of phrase unfamiliar to my > eastern ear? > > 4. Should I go get a life? > > Any thoughts on the matter beyond complete agreement with #4? > > John John: "4." is probably at least a partial answer to your question (just kidding!). I think this is an interesting question. It is possible that the detail of the fence Twain had in mind has the vertical fence boards (the type now made w/ dog-eared tops) we've all seen in the illustrations <and> a top rail. This wouldn't be an uncommon detail in the rather fussy repertoire of Victorian Gothic carpentry. I suppose it is also possible that Twain had in mind a much more open horizontal plank type fence, or maybe he's describing the rail on the "back" side of the vertical plank type. This is the best I can do... Tim