Chapter XX: Love’s Young Dream in Barbadoes

Old Silas beamed all over as he and Kit tucked the robes around Mr. Silburn in the Huntington stage, once more on runners. It seemed to the young supercargo that the very horses had a pleased look.

“Well, sir, I didn’t expect to see this again!” Silas declared. “Many a time I’ve took Kit up to Hunt’n’ton, this last year or two. Why, Mr. Silburn, the first time he went up with me he didn’t have no overcoat to put on, an’ I had to wrap him in the hoss blanket. But next time he come home, bless you, his clo’es was good as anybody’s. I says to myself, says I, ‘That there boy’s a makin’ his way, he is.’ An’ then he comes with gold braid on his cap; an’ look at him now, will you! But I swan to goodness, I didn’t expect to see him ridin’ up alongside of his father any more. We’d all give you up, Mr. Silburn.”

“No, not quite all!” Mr. Silburn laughed. “Here’s one fellow didn’t give me up, or I wouldn’t be taking a ride with you to-day, Silas. If he hadn’t stuck to me through thick and thin” (and he gave Kit a clap on the shoulder), “I’d still be out in New Zealand eating stewed mutton in that hospital.”

“I wasn’t the only one who didn’t give him up,” Kit protested. “We always kept his chair and slippers ready for him.”

“And you ain’t brought no baggage, Mr. Silburn?” Silas asked.

“Baggage?” Mr. Silburn repeated; “this little satchel here, that Kit got me. The rest of my baggage is pretty well scattered, Silas. Let me see; I have a chest of clothes somewhere off Hatteras, but they’ve been on the bottom of the ocean for two years, so I’m afraid they must be damp. Then there’s a quarter interest in a flag pole on some island in the Pacific, but I had to leave that behind. And there’s a suit of gray clothes in the Wellington hospital. I never want to see them again, whatever happens, though they were very kind to me out there.

“That’s a pretty good team you have there, Silas,” he went on; “look as if they could take these Fairfield County hills without losing their wind. Suppose you let them out once, and show us what they can do.”

“Ah, you’re in a hurry to see the folks!” Silas declared. “An’ no wonder, Mr. Silburn. I’ll git you out to Hunt’n’ton jist as quick as ever the trip was made, if nothin’ don’t give ’way.”

Kit had a nice little plan arranged to introduce his father as “Mr. John Doe, of New Zealand,” when they reached the gate; but it fell through most ingloriously. The truth is there was very little said at first when they reached the house. Mrs. Silburn and Vieve had hold of the wanderer before he was out of the sleigh, and in the excitement his satchel would have been carried away if Silas had not come running in with it.

There was not only the joy of seeing him sitting in his own chair again by the fire, but of seeing him almost as well as ever, only a little older and grayer. Kit had had no chance to write them from the steamer of his father’s steady improvement, so it was a fresh pleasure to find that his memory was fully restored, except that he never could quite realize that he had been months, instead of days, in the Wellington hospital.

They wanted him all to themselves that day, but that was impossible. The news soon flew through Huntington that Mr. Silburn had returned, and the neighbors began to pour in at such a rate that Vieve and Kit had to fly around and start a fire in the parlor stove, to give their mother a chance to set her grandest dinner table in the sitting-room. And every visitor had so much to say about Kit that he began to wish himself a cabin boy on the _North Cape_ again.

“I’ll have to look out for myself here,” Mr. Silburn laughed, “or I’ll be of no account in my own house. Everything’s ‘Kit,’ ‘Kit,’ ‘Kit.’ Well, I must say there ain’t many boys--”

“Oh, look here, father!” Kit cried; “are you going to begin on that too! Look at Vieve; nobody stuck to you tighter than Vieve. You don’t know how she used to encourage us when we were inclined to give you up.” And he told for the first time how Vieve had sent him one of her two dollars when he went to New York, and how he had been robbed of the stamps.

“Genevieve, come here to your father!” Mr. Silburn said, in a tone of mock severity. And he put his arm around her to lift her to his knee as he used to do, but found that was a task that required both hands. Fathers are so slow to see it when their daughters grow into young women; it takes the sons of other fathers to make that discovery.

“Why!” he exclaimed, “you’re as heavy as a kedge anchor, and bigger than your mother. And you sent one of your dollars to Kit, did you? Now if I was half a father, I’d have handfuls of gold to shower over you on coming back from the sea, wouldn’t I? And the fact is I haven’t a cent but a little money that Kit made me put in my clothes--the clothes that he bought me, too. He--”

“Oh, Vieve has turned miser since you went away,” Kit interrupted, fearing that his father might go back to the old subject. “She wouldn’t spend a cent for fear we might not have enough money to get you home. She wants a rich husband, too. She has her eye on a cardinal that I met over in--”

Of course Vieve would not let him finish the sentence; and in the midst of the playful quarrel she was called to help her mother with dinner; and if any one should ask just how the reunited family spent that first day, not one of them could give anything like an exact account.

After a few days Vieve declared that the family reminded her of three kittens, so pleased with everything that they sat around the fire purring.

“You’d better enjoy it while you can,” her father answered. “Kit will soon have to be going back to his ship; and for my part, I’m not going to sit here the rest of my life doing nothing. You needn’t think it. It’s just the time for a man to go to sea again, after being shipwrecked; lightning don’t strike twice in the same place, you know.”

“Oh, Christopher!” Mrs. Silburn exclaimed. “You wouldn’t think of going to sea again, would you?”

“I’ve got to do something,” he answered, “and navigation don’t go very well on shore. But no more long voyages, likely. Maybe you’ve forgotten what I told you before I went away about a firm in Bridgeport that wanted me to take charge of a schooner line between there and New York? You see my memory works all smooth now, don’t it? Well, if they’re still of the same mind, I may do some business with them. You’re not going to lay me away on the shelf yet awhile, anyhow.”

“Oh, then I’d have a chance to go to New York with you some time!” Vieve cried. “You know I’ve never been there yet.”

“That’s just where I shall have to go to-morrow,” Kit announced. “I see by the paper that the _Trinidad_ is due this afternoon, and it’s not fair to stay away too long. I’ll be back again for a few days, you know, but I must be on hand for the next voyage.”

It was purely by accident that he mentioned it just as Vieve showed how anxious she was to see the metropolis; but the coincidence set him to thinking. Here he had been half over the world, and Vieve had never been further than Bridgeport. Why shouldn’t he give her a trip to New York?

“How would you like to go along with me, Vieve?” he asked. “I’ll show you my ship, and bring you back in two or three days.”

“Oh, Kit!” his mother exclaimed; “that’s just like a boy. How can the child go to New York without any clothes fit to wear?”

“Bother the clothes,” Kit retorted, still just like a boy. “She’s not going to set the fashions, is she? I’ll lend her one of my blue suits.”

It was so quickly settled that Vieve was to go, that Mr. Silburn was led to exclaim:--

“There’s no parental discipline at all in this family, is there?”

“Well, there’s none needed, that’s one thing,” Mrs. Silburn answered; and she sat up half the night getting Vieve ready. She was relieved to find that they would not have to go to a hotel, for there would be any number of vacant staterooms on the _Trinidad_.

That trip to New York with Vieve was one of the greatest pleasures that Kit had ever enjoyed, next to finding his father. Everything was so new to her. She had never even been in a railway train before. And Mr. Clark was so kind to her, and took her all over the ship, and she was so delighted with everything. And in the evening he had a talk with the purser in their office that must have been very satisfactory, for next morning he said to Vieve:--

“Vieve, do they have tailor shops for girls? I mean places where a girl can buy things all ready to put on, the way a man can?”

“Oh, do they!” Vieve answered. “To think that anybody shouldn’t know that! Why, dozens of them.”

“Well,” he went on, “I heard a great piece of news last night, and feel like celebrating a little to-day. We’ll get the stewardess directly and go out and see whether you can find anything to fit you. You can buy the whole business, can you? Hat, coat, dress, shoes, and all?”

“Yes, when you have money enough,” Vieve laughed. “But what is it, Kit? What is this great piece of news? Ah, now, Kit, you ought to tell me; I always tell you everything.”

“Not till we get home, Miss Curiosity,” he answered. “When we get home I’ll tell you all about it.”

Kit wisely declined to go further than the door of any of the big bazaars that the stewardess led them to. But Vieve’s first experiment in “shopping” must have been successful, for when Kit took her over the Brooklyn Bridge toward evening to see Captain Griffith and the _North Cape_, her appearance was so changed that her mother would hardly have known her.

And to tell the good news about his father to Captain Griffith was almost equal to telling it at home, the Captain took such an interest. He had to go over the whole story of his voyage to Melbourne and then across to Wellington, and describe his first meeting with his father, and everything that happened afterwards.

“Well, Miss Silburn,” the Captain said, when Kit concluded--“or I think I’ll have to call you Miss Vieve,--I’m almost one of the family, you know, and one of the first things I did when I got hold of Christopher was to read a letter you wrote him--”

“Oh, yes, sir, I hope you’ll call me Vieve,” Vieve interrupted; “I shouldn’t know who you meant if you called me Miss Silburn.”

“Well, I was going to say,” the Captain went on, “that I took an interest in you all from the time Christopher read me those letters from home on the first evening I knew him. And when I heard about the dollar’s worth of stamps you sent him, and the way he was robbed of them, I came very near handing him a greenback to send in his letter to you. But I was afraid it might spoil him. Boys are very easily spoiled; specially cabin boys. I don’t suppose he’s ever told you about how I had to train him in, in the first voyage or two.”

“Don’t you believe it, Vieve!” Kit laughed; “the Captain wouldn’t hurt a cat.”

“I gave him plenty of work to do, at any rate,” the Captain went on. “I don’t want to make him conceited by saying he did it well; but he seems to have turned out pretty well, like most of my boys. The great point about your brother was that he made up his mind to do his work well, and push his way ahead. Boys who start with that idea generally succeed, even when they have no great brains to begin with.”

“Ahem!” Kit interrupted. “Can’t we find something more interesting to talk about than me? Where do you go next time, Captain?”

“To Barbadoes again,” the Captain answered. “We went there last voyage. You fellows in the big mail steamers mustn’t think you are the only ones to go to the West Indies. And I saw a friend of yours there, too. Do you remember any one named Outerbridge, in Barbadoes?”

Kit began to blush so hard that the Captain immediately added:--

“Oh, not the young lady. It was her father that I saw. He wanted to be remembered to you, and hoped to see you next time you visited the island.”

“Ah!” Vieve exclaimed, “he never told us anything about a young lady in Barbadoes, Captain. You’re getting so you don’t tell me anything, any more, Kit. Do you know, Captain, he heard some great piece of news last night, and he won’t tell me what it was.”

“No, I won’t tell even Captain Griffith what it was, not at present,” Kit retorted. “And he will say that I’m right not to tell the business affairs of the company I work for.”

“It would be very unlike you to do it, I’ll say that,” the Captain assented; “and very improper besides. But you are going right back to the _Trinidad_, of course? and I may expect to see you while we are lying at Barbadoes?”

“I’m off in her next Saturday, sir,” Kit answered. “That’s the reason I have to start for home to-morrow morning, and can’t make you a longer visit. But my sister was anxious to come over and see Harry Leonard, and--”

“Why, _Kit_!” Vieve cried, with a blush that made her look prettier than ever; “I never mentioned his name, or thought of him.”

“Of course you both want to see Henry,” the Captain laughed; and in answer to his bell Harry soon appeared, and Kit had to retell his latest adventures in brief. But it was growing late, and they could not prolong their stay, and they crossed the East River on a Fulton ferryboat to give Vieve a view of the big bridge by night.

Such a trip was like delving into an Arabian Nights palace for the young Huntington girl, and for weeks afterward she could talk of little but the wonderful things she had seen. And from what Kit heard while he was home, he imagined that the most wonderful things of all, the most beautiful, most lovely and enchanting, were not the busy streets or tall buildings, not the big ships, the great bridge, or the crowds, but the fascinating things she saw in the big bazaars, which she described with more technical terms than he thought she had ever heard of.

But Kit’s great news had to be told before they could let him go. He intended to tell it in the home circle, but he would have been more than human if he had not let Vieve tease him a little for it just after seeing how anxious she was.

“It is not to be mentioned outside of the family,” he said, “because I mustn’t be telling office secrets; but Mr. Clark told me I could tell it at home. You must know, then, that--ahem--ahem--”

“Oh, Kit, do go on!” Vieve burst out. “I’ll tell all about that Barbadoes girl if you don’t.”

“You can’t,” Kit retorted; “you don’t know anything about her. But to come back to business, the company is building a fine new steamer, larger and better than any of the others, to be called the _Maida_. She is under way now, and when she is finished, Captain Fraser is to command her, because he is the senior captain of the line; and Mr. Clark is to be her purser, because he is the senior purser. That, as you can see, will leave the _Trinidad_ without a purser; or _would_, rather. But if the present arrangements are carried out, the new purser of the _Trinidad_ will be--”

“Oh, Kit!” Mrs. Silburn cried.

“I see you’ve guessed it, mother,” he went on. “His name is Kit Silburn. But I only said _if_ present arrangements are carried out, mind you. There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip. The company may change its mind, or--or lots of other things may happen meanwhile. A purser gets exactly fifty per cent more pay than an assistant purser, and that part I should be very well satisfied with. But the _Trinidad_ would seem strange without Captain Fraser or Mr. Clark.”

“Lots of other things,” as Kit predicted, did happen in the ten or eleven months that passed before the new _Maida_ was ready for sea. The Silburn residence, for one thing, grew from a little story and a half cottage into a pretty two-story house, one of the best in Huntington. The new line of schooners between Bridgeport and New York, of which Mr. Silburn was manager and one of the stockholders, proved a profitable venture. Harry Leonard became a supercargo himself, and felt six inches taller from that minute. And it happened in the strangest way that the dinner-parties given at Sea View plantation, in Barbadoes, always fell upon the days when the _Trinidad_ was in port.

Kit did not hesitate to speak at home about Miss Blanche Outerbridge, and for a time Vieve was inclined to be jealous of “that Barbadoes girl,” as she insisted upon calling her. But after a while Mr. Outerbridge brought his family to America for a visit, and upon becoming well acquainted with her, she had to say that Barbadoes produced some very pretty and companionable young ladies.

It was not till long after Kit became purser of the _Trinidad_, however,--not till the day came when there was neither need nor excuse for his spending any more of his earnings in Huntington,--that in one of his confidential talks with Vieve he told her how good the prospect was that she might in course of time be suitably provided with a sister-in-law.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

War of the Revolution Series.

By Everett T. Tomlinson.

_THREE COLONIAL BOYS._ A Story of the Times of ’76. 368 pp.
Cloth, $1.50.

It is a story of three boys who were drawn into the events of
the times, is patriotic, exciting, clean, and healthful, and
instructs without appearing to. The heroes are manly boys,
and no objectionable language or character is introduced.
The lessons of courage and patriotism especially will be
appreciated in this day.--_Boston Transcript._

_THREE YOUNG CONTINENTALS._ A Story of the American
Revolution. 364 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

This story is historically true. It is the best kind of a
story either for boys or girls, and is an attractive method of
teaching history.--_Journal of Education, Boston._

_WASHINGTON’S YOUNG AIDS._ A Story of the New Jersey Campaign,
1776-1777. 391 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

The book has enough history and description to give
value to the story which ought to captivate enterprising
boys.--_Quarterly Book Review._

The historical details of the story are taken from old records.
These include accounts of the life on the prison ships and
prison houses of New York, the raids of the pine robbers,
the tempting of the Hessians, the end of Fagan and his band,
etc.--_Publisher’s Weekly._

Few boys’ stories of this class show so close a study of
history combined with such genial story-telling power.--_The
Outlook._

_TWO YOUNG PATRIOTS._ A Story of Burgoyne’s Invasion. 366 pp.
Cloth, $1.50.

The crucial campaign in the American struggle for independence
came in the summer of 1777, when Gen. John Burgoyne marched
from Canada to cut the rebellious colonies asunder and join
another British army which was to proceed up the valley of the
Hudson. The American forces were brave, hard fighters, and they
worried and harassed the British and finally defeated them. The
history of this campaign is one of great interest and is well
brought out in the part which the “two young patriots” took in
the events which led up to the surrender of General Burgoyne
and his army.

The set of four volumes in a box, $6.00.

* * * * *

_SUCCESS_. BY ORISON SWETT MARDEN. Author of “Pushing
to the Front,” “Architects of Fate,” etc. 317 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

It is doubtful whether any success books for the young have
appeared in modern times which are so thoroughly packed from
lid to lid with stimulating, uplifting, and inspiring material
as the self-help books written by Orison Swett Marden. There is
not a dry paragraph nor a single line of useless moralizing in
any of his books.

To stimulate, inspire, and guide is the mission of his latest
book, “Success,” and helpfulness is its keynote. Its object
is to spur the perplexed youth to act the Columbus to his own
undiscovered possibilities; to urge him not to wait for great
opportunities, but to seize common occasions and make them
great, for he cannot tell when fate may take his measure for a
higher place.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

Brain and Brawn Series.

By William Drysdale.

_THE YOUNG REPORTER._ A Story of Printing House Square.
300 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

I commend the book unreservedly.--_Golden Rule._

“The Young Reporter” is a rattling book for boys.--_New York
Recorder._

The best boys’ book I ever read.--_Mr. Phillips, Critic for New
York Times._

_THE FAST MAIL._ A Story of a Train Boy. 328 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

“The Fast Mail” is one of the very best American books for
boys brought out this season. Perhaps there could be no better
confirmation of this assertion than the fact that the little
sons of the present writer have greedily devoured the contents
of the volume, and are anxious to know how soon they are to get
a sequel.--_The Art Amateur, New York._

_THE BEACH PATROL._ A Story of the Life-Saving Service. 318
pp. Cloth, $1.50.

The style of narrative is excellent, the lesson inculcated of
the best, and, above all, the boys and girls are real.--_New
York Times._

A book of adventure and daring, which should delight as well as
stimulate to higher ideals of life every boy who is so happy as
to possess it.--_Examiner._

It is a strong book for boys and young men.--_Buffalo
Commercial._

_THE YOUNG SUPERCARGO._ A Story of the Merchant Marine. 352
pp. Cloth, $1.50.

Kit Silburn is a real “Brain and Brawn” boy, full of sense
and grit and sound good qualities. Determined to make his way
in life, and with no influential friends to give him a start,
he does a deal of hard work between the evening when he first
meets the stanch Captain Griffith, and the proud day when he
becomes purser of a great ocean steamship. His sea adventures
are mostly on shore; but whether he is cleaning the cabin of
the _North Cape_, or landing cargo in Yucatan, or hurrying the
spongers and fruitmen of Nassau, or exploring London, or sight
seeing with a disguised prince in Marseilles, he is always the
same busy, thoroughgoing, manly Kit. Whether or not he has a
father alive is a question of deep interest throughout the
story; but that he has a loving and loyal sister is plain from
the start.

The set of four volumes in a box, $6.00.

_SERAPH, THE LITTLE VIOLINISTE._ BY MRS. C. V. JAMIESON. 300 pp.
Cloth, $1.50.

The scene of the story is the French quarter of New
Orleans, and charming bits of local color add to its
attractiveness.--_The Boston Journal._

Perhaps the most charming story she has ever written is that
which describes Seraph, the little violiniste.--_Transcript,
Boston._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

Travel-Adventure Series.

_IN WILD AFRICA._ Adventures of Two Boys in the Sahara Desert,
etc. BY THOS. W. KNOX. 325 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

A story of absorbing interest.--_Boston Journal._

Our young people will pronounce it unusually good.--_Albany
Argus._

Col. Knox has struck a popular note in his latest
volume.--_Springfield Republican._

_THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO._ BY THOS. W. KNOX. Adventures of Two
Boys in the Great Island Continent. 318 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

His descriptions of the natural history and botany of the
country are very interesting.--_Detroit Free Press._

The actual truthfulness of the book needs no gloss to add to
its absorbing interest.--_The Book Buyer, New York._

_OVER THE ANDES; or, Our Boys in New South America._ BY
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH. 368 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

No writer of the present century has done more and better
service than Hezekiah Butterworth in the production of helpful
literature for the young. In this volume he writes, in his own
fascinating way, of a country too little known by American
readers.--_Christian Work._

Mr. Butterworth is careful of his historic facts, and then
he charmingly interweaves his quaint stories, legends, and
patriotic adventures as few writers can.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

The subject is an inspiring one, and Mr. Butterworth has done
full justice to the high ideals which have inspired the men of
South America.--_Religious Telescope._

_LOST IN NICARAGUA; or, The Lands of the Great Canal._ BY
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH. 295 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

The book pictures the wonderful land of Nicaragua and continues
the story of the travelers whose adventures in South America
are related in “Over the Andes.” In this companion book to
“Over the Andes,” one of the boy travelers who goes into the
Nicaraguan forests in search of a quetzal, or the royal bird of
the Aztecs, falls into an ancient idol cave, and is rescued in
a remarkable way by an old Mosquito Indian. The narrative is
told in such a way as to give the ancient legends of Guatemala,
the story of the chieftain, Nicaragua, the history of the
Central American Republics, and the natural history of the
wonderlands of the ocelot, the conger, parrots, and monkeys.

Since the voyage of the _Oregon_, of 13,000 miles to reach Key
West the American people have seen what would be the value of
the Nicaragua Canal. The book gives the history of the projects
for the canal, and facts about Central America, and a part of
it was written in Costa Rica. It enters a new field.

The set of four volumes in a box, $6.00.

_QUARTERDECK AND FOK’SLE._ BY MOLLY ELLIOTT SEAWELL.
272 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

Miss Seawell has done a notable work for the young people of
our country in her excellent stories of naval exploits. They
are of the kind that causes the reader, no matter whether young
or old, to thrill with pride and patriotism at the deeds of
daring of the heroes of our navy.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

Fighting for the Flag Series.

By Chas. Ledyard Norton.

_JACK BENSON’S LOG; or, Afloat with the Flag in ’61._ 281 pp.
Cloth, $1.25.

An unusually interesting historical story, and one that will
arouse the loyal impulses of every American boy and girl. The
story is distinctly superior to anything ever attempted along
this line before.--_The Independent._

A story that will arouse the loyal impulses of every American
boy and girl.--_The Press._

_A MEDAL OF HONOR MAN; or, Cruising Among Blockade Runners._
280 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

A bright, breezy sequel to “Jack Benson’s Log.” The book has
unusual literary excellence.--_The Book Buyer, New York._

A stirring story for boys.--_The Journal, Indianapolis._

_MIDSHIPMAN JACK._ 290 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

Jack is a delightful hero, and the author has made his
experiences and adventures seem very real.--_Congregationalist._

It is true historically and full of exciting war scenes and
adventures.--_Outlook._

A stirring story of naval service in the Confederate waters
during the late war.--_Presbyterian._

The set of three volumes in a box, $3.75.

_A GIRL OF ’76._ BY AMY E. BLANCHARD. 331 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

“A Girl of ’76” lays its scene in and around Boston where the
principal events of the early period of the Revolution were
enacted. Elizabeth Hall, the heroine, is the daughter of a
patriot who is active in the defense of his country. The story
opens with a scene in Charlestown, where Elizabeth Hall and her
parents live. The emptying of the tea in Boston Harbor is the
means of giving the little girl her first strong impression
as to the seriousness of her father’s opinions, and causes a
quarrel between herself and her schoolmate and playfellow, Amos
Dwight.

_A SOLDIER OF THE LEGION._ BY CHAS. LEDYARD NORTON. 300 pp.
Cloth, $1.50.

Two boys, a Carolinian and a Virginian, born a few years apart
during the last half of the eighteenth century, afford the
groundwork for the incidents of this tale.

The younger of the two was William Henry Harrison, sometime
President of the United States, and the elder, his companion
and faithful attendant through life, was Carolinus Bassett,
Sergeant of the old First Infantry, and in an irregular sort of
a way Captain of Virginian Horse. He it is who tells the story
a few years after President Harrison’s death, his granddaughter
acting as critic and amanuensis.

The story has to do with the early days of the Republic, when
the great, wild, unknown West was beset by dangers on every
hand, and the Government at Washington was at its wits’ end
to provide ways and means to meet the perplexing problems of
national existence.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

_THE ORCUTT GIRLS; or, One Term at the Academy._ BY CHARLOTTE M.
VAILE. 316 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

A well-told story of school life which will interest its
readers deeply, and hold before them a high standard of living.
The heroines are charming girls and their adventures are
described in an entertaining way.--_Pilgrim Teacher._

Mrs. Vaile gives us a story here which will become famous as a
description of a phase of New England educational history which
has now become a thing of the past, with an exception here and
there.--_Boston Transcript._

_SUE ORCUTT._ A Sequel to “The Orcutt Girls.” BY CHARLOTTE M.
VAILE. 330 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

It is a charming story from beginning to end and is written in
that easy flowing style which characterizes the best stories of
our best writers.--_Christian Work._

It is wholly a piece of good fortune for young folks that
brings this book to market in such ample season for the
selection of holiday gifts.--_Denver Republican._

The story teaches a good moral without any preaching, in fact
it is as good in a way as Miss Alcott’s books, which is high
but deserved praise.--_Chronicle._

_THE M. M. C._ A Story of the Great Rockies. BY CHARLOTTE M.
VAILE. 232 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

The pluck of the little school teacher, struggling against
adverse circumstances, to hold for her friend the promising
claim, which he has secured after years of misfortune in other
ventures, is well brought out. The almost resistless bad luck
which has made “Old Hopefull’s” nickname a hollow mockery
still followed him when a fortune was almost within his grasp.
The little school teacher was, however, a new element in “Old
Hopefull’s” experience, and the result, as the story shows, was
most satisfactory.

_THE ROMANCE OF DISCOVERY; or, a Thousand Years of Exploration,
etc._ BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS. 305 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

It is a book of profit and interest involving a variety of
correlated instances and influences which impart the flavor of
the unexpected.--_Philadelphia Presbyterian._

An intensely interesting narrative following well-authenticated
history.--_Telescope._

Boys will read it for the romance in it and be delighted, and
when they get through, behold! they have read a history of
America.--_Awakener._

_THE ROMANCE OF AMERICAN COLONIZATION; or, How the Foundations of
Our Country Were Laid._ BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS. 295 pp.
Cloth, $1.50.

To this continent, across a great ocean, came two distinct
streams of humanity and two rival civilizations,--the one
Latin, led and typified by the Spanish, with Portuguese and
French also, and the other Germanic, or Anglo-Saxon, led and
typified by the English and reinforced by Dutch, German, and
British people.

_A SON OF THE REVOLUTION._ An Historical Novel of the Days of
Aaron Burr. BY ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS. 301 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

The story of Tom Edwards, adventurer, as it is connected with
Aaron Burr, is in every way faithful to the facts of history.
As the story progresses the reader will wonder where the line
between fact and fiction is to be drawn. Among the characters
that figure in it are President Jefferson, Gen. Andrew Jackson,
General Wilkinson, and many other prominent government and army
officials.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

_MALVERN, A NEIGHBORHOOD STORY._ BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND. 341 pp.
Cloth, $1.50.

Her descriptions of boys and girls are so true, and her
knowledge of their ways is so accurate, that one must feel an
admiration for her complete mastery of her chosen field.--_The
Argus, Albany._

Miss Deland was accorded a place with Louisa M. Alcott and Nora
Perry as a successful writer of books for girls. We think this
praise none too high.--_The Post._

_A SUCCESSFUL VENTURE._ BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND. 340 pp. Cloth,
$1.50.

One of the many successful books that have come from her pen,
which is certainly the very best.--_Boston Herald._

It is a good piece of work and its blending of good sense and
entertainment will be appreciated.--_Congregationalist._

_KATRINA._ BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND. 340 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

“Katrina” is the story of a girl who was brought up by an aunt
in a remote village of Vermont. Her life is somewhat lonely
until a family from New York come there to board during the
summer. Katrina’s aunt, who is a reserved woman, has told her
little of her antecedents, and she supposes that she has no
other relatives. Her New York friends grow very fond of her and
finally persuade her to visit them during the winter. There new
pleasures and new temptations present themselves, and Katrina’s
character develops through them to new strength.

_ABOVE THE RANGE._ BY THEODORA R. JENNESS. 332 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

The quaintness of the characters described will be sure to make
the story very popular.--_Book News, Philadelphia._

A book of much interest and novelty.--_The Book Buyer, New
York._

_BIG CYPRESS._ BY KIRK MUNROE. 164 pp. Cloth, 1.00.

If there is a man who understands writing a story for boys
better than another, it is Kirk Munroe.--_Springfield
Republican._

A capital writer of boys’ stories is Mr. Kirk Munroe.--_Outlook._

_FOREMAN JENNIE._ BY AMOS R. WELLS. A Young Woman of Business.
268 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

It is a delightful story.--_The Advance, Chicago._

It is full of action.--_The Standard, Chicago._

A story of decided merit.--_The Epworth Herald, Chicago._

_MYSTERIOUS VOYAGE OF THE DAPHNE._ BY LIEUT. H. P. WHITMARSH.
305 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

One of the best collections of short stories for boys and
girls that has been published in recent years. Such writers as
Hezekiah Butterworth, Wm. O. Stoddard, and Jane G. Austin have
contributed characteristic stories which add greatly to the
general interest of the book.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers._

_PHILLIP LEICESTER._ BY JESSIE E. WRIGHT. 264 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

The book ought to make any reader thankful for a good home, and
thoughtful for the homeless and neglected.--_Golden Rule._

The story is intensely interesting.--_Christian Inquirer._

_CAP’N THISTLETOP._ BY SOPHIE SWETT. 282 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

Sophie Swett knows how to please young folks as well as old;
for both she writes simple, unaffected, cheerful stories with
a judicious mingling of humor and plot. Such a story is “Cap’n
Thistletop.”--_The Outlook._

_LADY BETTY’S TWINS._ BY E. M. WATERWORTH. 117 pp. With 12
illustrations. 75 cents.

The story of a little boy and girl who did not know the meaning
of the word “obedience.” They learned the lesson, however,
after some trying experiences.

_THE MOONSTONE RING._ BY JENNIE CHAPPELL. 118 pp. With 6
illustrations. 75 cents.

A home story with the true ring to it. The happenings of the
story are somewhat out of the usual run of events.

_THE BEACON LIGHT SERIES._ Edited by NATALIE L. RICE. 5 vols.
Fully Illustrated. The Set, $2.50.

The stories contained in this set of books are all by
well-known writers, carefully selected and edited, and they
cannot, therefore, fail to be both helpful and instructive.

_THE ALLAN BOOKS._ Edited by MISS LUCY WHEELOCK. 10 vols. Over
400 illustrations. The set in a box, $2.50.

One of the best and most attractive sets of books for little
folks ever published. They are full of bright and pleasing
illustrations and charming little stories just adapted to young
children.

_THE MARJORIE BOOKS._ Edited by MISS LUCY WHEELOCK. 6 vols. Over
200 illustrations. The set, $1.50.

A very attractive set of books for the little folks, full of
pictures and good stories.

_DOTS LIBRARY._ Edited by MISS LUCY WHEELOCK. 10 vols. Over 400
illustrations. The set, $2.50.

In every way a most valuable set of books for the little
people. Miss Wheelock possesses rare skill in interesting and
entertaining the little ones.

_W. A. Wilde & Co., Boston and Chicago._

Transcriber’s Note:

Punctuation has been standardised. ~H~ has been used for the character used in the original publication to represent “diamond H”. Hyphenation has been retained as it appears in the original publication. There is perhaps confusion between the names “Harry” and “Henry” but these also have been retained as they appear in the original publication.

Changes have been made as follows:

Facing page 48
YOU ARE YOUNG FOR A SUPERCARGO, SENOR _changed to_
YOU ARE YOUNG FOR A SUPERCARGO, SEÑOR

Page 69
loquats, sappadillos, sour sops, _changed to_
loquats, sapadillos, sour sops,

Page 119
men were trying to lassoo _changed to_
men were trying to lasso

Page 142
_The Flower City_ _changed to_
The _Flower City_

Page 167
be done by the great num- _changed to_
be done by the great number

Page 173
advice it sure to be good _changed to_
advice is sure to be good

Page 196
some of our American millionnaires _changed to_
some of our American millionaires

Page 198
sighted the Belearic Isles _changed to_
sighted the Balearic Isles

Page 209
in a large store-paved courtyard _changed to_
in a large stone-paved courtyard

Page 226
Captain Grffith had always treated him _changed to_
Captain Griffith had always treated him

Page 269
treasures ever since Kit bought it home _changed to_
treasures ever since Kit brought it home

Page 305
his throat like a vice _changed to_
his throat like a vise

Page 317
not all millionnaires here _changed to_
not all millionaires here

Page 350
easily spoiled; sp cially cabin boys _changed to_
easily spoiled; specially cabin boys

Page v of the advertisements
Portugese and French also _changed to_
Portuguese and French also

Page vii of the advertisements
EDITED BY NATALIE L. RICE. _changed to_
Edited by NATALIE L. RICE.