Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Harte moved to California in 1853, and worked there in a number of capacities -- as a miner, a teacher, a messenger, and a journalist. His story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp," appearing in The Overland Monthly magazine, propelled Harte to nationwide fame. The Twins of Table Mountain are Rand and Ruth, sharing a cabin and working a mine. They are twins, not easily told apart, and a strain on the relationship occurs because of it. Ruth has been seeing Mornie, a local girl, the "daughter of a shyster and a drunk." Mornie has mistaken Rand for Ruth, and gone on about their meetings and their plans. Ruth is fond of Mornie, but Rand disapproves. Will brotherhood or love triumph?

Author Biography

Francis Bret Harte (1836 - 1902) was an American short story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, fiction, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted and admired.