Chapters 38-40 Summary

The next several essays concern the girl who is clearly Twain's favorite child, his daughter Suzy. He recalls how Suzy's temper caused her much grief, before she learned to govern it. He recalls with pain how she once sentenced herself to missing a much-anticipated hayride, because she had hit her sister with a stick or shovel handle.

He also reminisces upon many clever insights and childhood sayings. Because literate people frequented their home, Suzy's vocabulary was quite impressive from a very young age. There were many words she misused as she learned them, and this delighted and entertained her family.

When Suzy was 13, she began secretly to write a biography of her father, and Twain shares some excerpts of it. No other compliment before or since has meant so much to him. Thinking of the biography brings joy, although it also...