Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. Though he had little school education, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clements, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname. Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother's tender care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble to his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn't like to go to school, and he ran away from home from time to time. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He was nearly drowned  nine times. After his father's death in 1847, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner, during this period, he started to write short stories.  Afterwards he became a full-time writer. In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including in 1876, and in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him a great fortune .Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments  and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died and then three of their children passed away. He died on April 21, 1910 at the age of 70. Mark Twain began to write short stories when he    _   .
was at school was in the army worked for a printer was a miner