The Haunted Mine
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THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.'S POPULAR JUVENILES.
HARRY CASTLEMON.
HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.
When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It wasour custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates,and we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subjectthe teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "Whata Man Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter,and before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled.The teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when theywere all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living bywriting one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. Idid not say so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good asthe best of them. By the way, there was another thing that came in myway just then. I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's workswhich I had drawn from the library, and I pondered upon it as much asI did upon what the teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to hisreaders he made use of this expression: "No visible change wasobservable in Swartboy's countenance." Now, it occurred to me that ifa man of his education could make such a blunder as that and stillwrite a book, I ought to be able to do it, too. I went home that veryday and began a story, "The Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent tothe _New York Weekly_, and came back, respectfully declined. It waswritten on both sides of the sheets but I didn't know that this wasagainst the rules. Nothing abashed, I began another, and receivingsome instruction, from a friend of mine who was a clerk in a bookstore, I wrote it on only one side of the paper. But mind you, hedidn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew it; but one day, after ahard Saturday's work--the other boys had been out skating on thebrick-pond--I shyly broached the subject to my mother. I felt the needof some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and then said: "Why, doyou think you could write a book like that?" That settled the matter,and from that day no one knew what I was up to until I sent the firstfour volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it work? Well, yes;it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction of seeing themanuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all complete.--_HarryCastlemon in the Writer._
GUNBOAT SERIES.
6 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $6.00
Frank the Young Naturalist. Frank on a Gunboat. Frank in the Woods. Frank before Vicksburg. Frank on the Lower Mississippi. Frank on the Prairie.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Frank Among the Rancheros. Frank in the Mountains. Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.
SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.75
The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle. The Sportsman's Club Afloat. The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.
FRANK NELSON SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.75
Snowed up. Frank in the Forecastle. The Boy Traders.
ROUGHING IT SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
George in Camp. George at the Fort. George at the Wheel.
ROD AND GUN SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Don Gordon's Shooting Box. The Young Wild Fowlers. Rod and Gun Club.
GO-AHEAD SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Tom Newcombe. Go-Ahead. No Moss.
WAR SERIES.
6 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $6.00
True to His Colors. Marcy the Blockade-Runner. Rodney the Partisan. Marcy the Refugee. Rodney the Overseer. Sailor Jack the Trader.
HOUSEBOAT SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
The Houseboat Boys. The Mystery of Lost River Canyon. The Young Game Warden.
AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.
3 vols. BY HARRY CASTLEMON. $3.00
Rebellion in Dixie. A Sailor in Spite of Himself. The Ten-Ton Cutter.
COMPLETE CATALOG OF BEST BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS MAILED ON APPLICATION TO THE PUBLISHERS THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., PHILADELPHIA