Blazing Arrow: A Tale of the Frontier
Page 35
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, andwe were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject theteacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a ManWould See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter, andbefore the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. Theteacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they wereall over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writingone of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not sayso out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best ofthem. By the way, there was another thing that came in my way just then.I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works which I had drawnfrom the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what theteacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made useof this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy'scountenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his educationcould make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to beable to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "TheOld Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the _New York Weekly_, andcame back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of thesheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothingabashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friendof mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side ofthe paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knewit; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work--the other boys had beenout skating on the brick-pond--I shyly broached the subject to mymother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, andthen said: "Why, do you think you could write a book like that?" Thatsettled the matter, and from that day no one knew what I was up to untilI sent the first four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was itwork? Well, yes; it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfactionof seeing the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was allcomplete.
--_Harry Castlemon in the Writer._
* * * * *
=GUNBOAT SERIES.=
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.=
Frank Among the Rancheros. Frank in the Mountains. Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.
=SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.=
The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle. The Sportsman's Club Afloat. The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.
=FRANK NELSON SERIES.=
Snowed up. Frank in the Forecastle. The Boy Traders.
=BOY TRAPPER SERIES.=
The Buried Treasure. The Boy Trapper. The Mail Carrier.
=ROUGHING IT SERIES.=
George in Camp. George at the Fort. George at the Wheel.
=ROD AND GUN SERIES.=
Don Gordon's Shooting Box. The Young Wild Fowlers. Rod and Gun Club.
=GO-AHEAD SERIES.=
Tom Newcombe. Go-Ahead. No Moss.
=WAR SERIES.=
True to His Colors. Rodney the Partisan. Rodney the Overseer. Marcy the Blockade-Runner. Marcy the Refugee. Sailor Jack the Trader.
=HOUSEBOAT SERIES.=
The Houseboat Boys. The Mystery of Lost River Canyon. The Young Game Warden.
=AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.=
Rebellion in Dixie. A Sailor in Spite of Himself. The Ten-Ton Cutter.
=THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.=
The Pony Express Rider. The White Beaver. Carl, The Trailer.
* * * * *
EDWARD S. ELLIS.
Edward S. Ellis the popular writer of boys' books, is a native of Ohio,where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His father wasa famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits andthose of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave theson his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirringlife of the early settlers on the frontier.
Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable fromthe first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and hewas graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of thefaculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of theTrenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. Bythat time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gavehis entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successfulteacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which metwith high favor. For these and his historical productions, PrincetonCollege conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.
The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirableliterary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on theother side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarkedsome time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands ofher boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leadingSunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are inwide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons whichrender them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of hisbooks published by Henry T. Coates & Co. are re-issued in London, andmany have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer ofvaried accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the authorof historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and hasmade several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of hismental and physical powers, and great as have been the merits of hispast achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliantproductions from his pen in the near future.
* * * * *
=DEERFOOT SERIES.=
Hunters of the Ozark. The Last War Trail. Camp in the Mountains.
=LOG CABIN SERIES.=
Lost Trail. Footprints in the Forest. Camp-Fire and Wigwam.
=BOY PIONEER SERIES.=
Ned in the Block-House. Ned on the River. Ned in the Woods.
=THE NORTHWEST SERIES.=
Two Boys in Wyoming. Cowmen and Rustlers. A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage.
=BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.=
Shod with Silence. In the Days of the Pioneers. Phantom of the River.
=IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.=
=THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.=
=THE BLAZING ARROW.=
* * * * *
J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of lifeand select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, andall that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line ofmarch of the great body of humanity.
The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late _Our YoungFolks_, and continued in the first volume of _St. Nicholas_, under thetitle of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place inthis class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of theirseniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successfulmanner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive toall young readers, they have great value on account of theirportraitures of American country life and character. The drawing iswonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will wefind anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. Thepicture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fictionis there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor littleStephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his nam
e in anunfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in hislesson in school.
On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the criticalreader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, thateasily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out todo.--_Scribner's Monthly._
=JACK HAZARD SERIES.=
Jack Hazard and His Fortunes. The Young Surveyor. Fast Friends. Doing His Best. A Chance for Himself. Lawrence's Adventures.
* * * * *
ROUNDABOUT LIBRARY.
For Boys and Girls.
(97 Volumes.)
The attention of Librarians and Bookbuyers generally is called to HENRYT. COATES & CO.'S ROUNDABOUT LIBRARY, by the popular authors.
EDWARD S. ELLIS, HORATIO ALGER, JR., C. A. STEPHENS, MARGARET VANDEGRIFT, HARRY CASTLEMON, G. A. HENTY, LUCY C. LILLIE and others.
No authors of the present day are greater favorites with boys and girls.
Every book is sure to meet with a hearty reception by young readers.
Librarians will find them to be among the most popular books on theirlists.
HENRY T. COATES & CO. 1222 CHESTNUT STREET PHILADELPHIA