Howdy-- Some biographers of Twain assert that "Mark Twain" was chosen as a pseudonym by the author because, when a riverboat approached the shore of the Mississippi, the "depth-seeker" (I know there's a word for him, but I can't think of it at the moment) hollered "Mark twain!" meaning "We've approached two fathoms." What makes that a good interpretation of the pseudonym, of course, is that "Mark twain!" could mean either "We're in _deep_ water now" or "We're in _shallow_ water now," depending upon whether the riverboat was approaching or leaving the shore (a somewhat sly flagging of the never quite discernible depth/shallowness of Twain's own fiction). Others. however. argued that "mark twain. . ." was what the bartenders were asked to do when Samuel Clemens stopped in to drink: to mark on his tab two drinks at a time--thereby casting Clemens not only as a sturdy drinker, but also as someone who never had the money to pay for it. Gay Sibley Department of English University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI 96822