"The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" by Mark Twain: The town of Hadleyburg is known far and wide for its remarkable character, sterling integrity, and unmatched moral conscience. Of course, it's easy to claim a life of rectitude, actually living one is an altogether different matter.

When a stranger passing through town learns firsthand of Hadleyburg's hypocrisy, he secretly vows revenge, plotting to expose the town's true nature for all the world to see. He bides his time, patiently waiting for just the right moment to spring his trap. His opportunity finally comes with the death of Barclay Goodson, an ornery old cur whose gruff demeanor cast him an outsider amongst his fellow citizens but whose singular character made him perhaps the lone honorable soul in Hadleyburg.

The stranger shows up late one night at the door of Edward Richards, a respected banker and a fixture of the Hadleyburg community. Mr. Richards is still at the office, so he sets things in motion with the man's wife, telling her a most unusual tale. He informs the woman that he was once down on his luck, a penniless drunkard with no direction, when a kindly denizen of Hadleyburg gave him $20 and some words of wisdom that changed his life. With the generous advice lifting his spirit, the stranger says he parlayed the $20 into a fortune and has now returned to repay the benevolent act. Unfortunately, he doesn't know the name of the person who helped him. All he can remember are the words he spoke. The stranger says he can't stay in town any longer, but he knows he can trust the honest people of Hadleyburg to find the right man. He leaves with the woman a sack containing 160 pounds of gold coin and two envelopes. In order to confirm the rightful owner, the first envelope contains the words this wonderful Hadleyburger shared that fateful night. The second holds a letter not to be opened until after his benefactor is found. Before he departs, he instructs Mrs. Richards to publish his story in the local paper, allowing a period of two weeks for people to submit claims. At the end of the two weeks, a town meeting is to be held, overseen by the Reverend Burgess, in which all claims will be reviewed and the gold awarded.

See, the stranger knows that everyone will immediately suspect the deceased Barclay Goodson as being the man who lent the money, since he was the only person in town crazy enough to give $20 to a complete stranger. So Goodson's death will have all of Hadleyburg thinking, "Oh, if only I knew what old Barclay could have told the stranger!" That sets the table for part two of the plan. The stranger waits a few days for the story to spread, giving it a chance to throw the whole town into a frenzy, and then he sends identical letters to 19 of Hadleyburg's most prominent citizens, including Mr. and Mrs Richards. The letter is supposedly written by someone who was with the stranger when he was given the $20. The letter confirms that it was, indeed, Barclay Goodson who gave the man the money, even going so far as to share the secret phrase spoken by Goodson on the storied occasion. Nineteen proud Hadleyburg inhabitants are now given a stamped passport to temptation.

After reading a collection of his writings, it seems Mr. Twain spent a great deal of time pondering truth, both the telling of it and the stretching of it. The people of Hadleyburg are all taught a valuable lesson in honesty. Namely, that deceit breeds deceit. The moment one delves into dishonesty, it's impossible to view another with anything but suspicion. Let that be a lesson to you kids. Always tell the truth. Live a clean, honest life and you'll never go wrong. Besides, that way when you really need to lie everyone will believe you.

"The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" is an exceptional take on honesty, greed, and the importance of character. Mr. Twain's prose is effortless throughout, his clever, yet commanding, style is very reminiscent of Max Beerbohm and Oscar Wilde. It's an entertaining story with weight. What more could you want?

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"A Double-Barreled Detective Story" by Mark Twain: Apparently, Mr. Twain wasn't a big fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So infuriated was Twain after reading Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles," he set out to parody the great Sherlock Holmes, pulling few punches in his own "A Double-Barreled Detective Story."

Twain's answer to Holmes is Archie Stillman, a young man born with the instincts and senses of a bloodhound. Archie was the product of a rather unhappy marriage. Jacob Fuller, Archie's father, was incredibly cruel to his wife, punishing her in order to strike at her father, who had insulted Fuller during their courtship. The abuse culminated with Fuller tying his wife to a tree, turning his dogs loose on her to strip her naked, and then leaving her there for passers-by to find the next morning. Fuller skipped town before anyone could discover his crime. A few months later, Archie was born. And all things considered, he was fortunate to only be born with the senses of a bloodhound and not a tail and floppy ears.

Archie's mother raises him alone, carefully honing his unique abilities in the hopes that one day he'll be able to track down his father and exact revenge. When the boy turns 16, she turns him loose on the world, providing him with rumored details of his father's most recent whereabouts. Archie quickly takes to the trail, pursuing Jacob Fuller to the Californian mining town of Hope Canyon. Archie is quick to act, posting notices around town citing in great detail the mistreatment of his mother at the hands of Jacob Fuller. It was his mother's idea. The goal is to have Archie chase Fuller all over creation with reminders of his cruelty, never letting him settle in one place, ruining his life the way he ruined hers. Yeah, that's great. I reckon the only thing worse than being Fuller would be, well, being Archie.

Without giving away too much of the story, Archie's persecution of Fuller eventually leads him back to Hope Canyon and into the middle of a murder investigation. And it just so happens that Sherlock Holmes is visiting his nephew, who resides in the mining camp, when the crime is committed. Much to the delight of the star-struck miners, Holmes makes short work of the mystery with his trademark mixture of arcane knowledge and uncanny observation. Of course, Twain depicts Holmes as a pompous, arrogant buffoon who overlooks simple logic for convoluted theory. It's up to Archie to save the day and nab the real criminal.

Listen, I'm all for parodies of Sherlock Holmes. Hell, that's the reason why Honest John exists. But I think they should be clever, not vitriolic. Twain comes across as angry and jealous. Green isn't a good color for comedy. And the story's ending is weaker than 10 proof gin. It seems like it was tacked on as an afterthought. Archie's an endearing character, and the actual murder is ingeniously done, but even Twain's graceful prose can't make up for the bitterness that pervades the story.

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