Larry: For what it is worth, I did a phrase search on my Twain's World CD-ROM, and did not locate the quote. There are multiple references to "fish-hooks" (hyphenated) in: The Esquimau Maiden's Romance Roughing It: Volume II: Chapter 27 Tom Sawyer Abroad: Chapter 8 The Mysterious Stranger, Part 8 but none as in your quote. Suspiciously, (yes, fishy) Twain always used the hyphenated "fish-hooks" in all these quotes. Your quote did not have the hyphenation. Can we draw conclusions from this? Probably not. Michael