In this selection from the Spencer Library of Literary Classics, we’ve selected a story by Mark Twain that is not one of his best known but is without question one of his most imaginative. Born Samuel L. Clemens in 1835, he decided 27 years later that he would be better served with a pseudonym. Having spent several years as a river pilot listening to the yell of the leadsman calling out the measured depths they navigated, Clemens decided on the 2-fathom designation; Mark Twain.

Ironically, his lifetime body of work would prove he had immeasurable depth as a writer. In the story we present here, Twain creates a character who casually utters a secret wish which shortly thereafter becomes a reality. The encounter that follows is Twain at his best… and also at his worst as you will learn as you listen to The Facts Concerning a Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut.