Born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, Samuel L. Clemens wrote under the pen name Mark Twain and went on to pen several novels, including two major classics of American literature, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor. It is unknown whether it was Mark Twain's actual intention for little girls to read this humorous short story published in 1867. What is clear is that he did not talk down to children, but rather expected them to stretch themselves in order to grasp sophisticated and perhaps even adult meanings.