Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book, "Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." It was his first book for young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a writer then, and Mr. Alger's treatment of it at once caught the fancy of the boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since then it has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about 200,000 copies of the series have been sold.

—Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls.

A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He should be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He should learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written down to. A boy's heart opens to the man or writer who understands him.

—From Writing Stories for Boys, by Horatio Alger, Jr.

RAGGED DICK SERIES.

Ragged Dick. Fame and Fortune. Mark the Match Boy. Rough and Ready. Ben the Luggage Boy. Rufus and Rose.

TATTERED TOM SERIES—First Series.

Tattered Tom. Paul the Peddler. Phil the Fiddler. Slow and Sure.

TATTERED TOM SERIES—Second Series.

Julius. The Young Outlaw. Sam's Chance. The Telegraph Boy.

CAMPAIGN SERIES.

Frank's Campaign. Paul Prescott's Charge. Charlie Codman's Cruise.

LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES—First Series.

Luck and Pluck. Sink or Swim. Strong and Steady. Strive and Succeed.

LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES—Second Series.

Try and Trust. Bound to Rise. Risen from the Ranks. Herbert Carter's, Legacy.

BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.

Brave and Bold. Jack's Ward. Shifting for Himself. Wait and Hope.

NEW WORLD SERIES.

Digging for Gold. Facing the World. In a New World.

VICTORY SERIES.

Only an Irish Boy. Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary. Adrift in the City.

FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.

Frank Hunter's Peril. The Young Salesman. Frank and Fearless.

GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.

Walter Sherwood's Probation. The Young Bank Messenger. A Boy's Fortune.

RUPERT'S AMBITION.

JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.

* * * * *

HARRY CASTLEMON.

HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.

When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, and we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject the teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a 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 they were all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writing one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not say so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best of them. 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 drawn from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what the teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made use of this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy's countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his education could make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to be able to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "The Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the New York Weekly, and came back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of the sheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothing abashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friend of mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side of the paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew it; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work—the other boys had been out skating on the brick-pond—I shyly broached the subject to my mother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and then said: "Why, do you 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 first four 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 the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all complete.

—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 at Don Carlos' Rancho. Frank in the Mountains.

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 Wheel. George at the Fort.

ROD AND GUN SERIES.

Don Gordon's Shooting Box. Rod and Gun Club. The Young Wild Fowlers.

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 Young Game Warden. The Mystery of Lost River Canon.

AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.

Rebellion in Dixie. The Ten-Ton Cutter. A Sailor in Spite of Himself.

THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.

The Pony Express Rider. Carl, The Trailer. The White Beaver.

* * * * *

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 was a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits and those of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave the son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirring life of the early settlers on the frontier.

Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable from the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and he was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of the faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of the Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. By that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gave his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successful teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which met with high favor. For these and his historical productions, Princeton College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.

The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirable literary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on the other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarked some time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands of her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leading Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are in wide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons which render them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of his books published by Henry T. Coates & Co. are re-issued in London, and many have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of varied accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the author of historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and has made several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and physical powers, and great as have been the merits of his past achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliant productions 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 life and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances. He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of march of the great body of humanity.

The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late Our Young Folks, and continued in the first volume of St. Nicholas, under the title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their seniors, 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 successful manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to all young readers, they have great value on account of their portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable, Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his lesson in school.

On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, that easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to do.—Scribner's Monthly.

JACK HAZARD SERIES.

Jack Hazard and His Fortunes. Doing His Best. The Young Surveyor. A Chance for Himself. Fast Friends. Lawrence's Adventures.

THE END