Chapter 19

CONCLUSION

Will’s first visit, after arriving in London, was to Dulwich. He had visited the house with Mr. Palethorpe when it was in progress of building, and had been favourably impressed with it, but now that it was complete he thought it was one of the prettiest houses that he had ever seen. The great conservatory was full of plants and shrubs, which he recognized as natives of Jamaica, and the garden was brilliant with bright flowers.

“I am delighted to see you again, Will,” Mr. Palethorpe said, as he was shown in. “Alice is out at present, but she will be back before long. I must congratulate you on your promotion, which I saw in the _Gazette_ this morning.”

“Yes, sir, my good fortune sticks to me, except for this wound, and it is nothing serious and will soon be right again.”

“Don’t say good fortune, lad. You have won your way by conduct and courage, and you have a right to be proud of your position. I believe you are the youngest captain in the service, and that without a shadow of private interest to push you on. I am very glad to hear that your wound is so slight.”

“You are not looking well, sir,” Will said, after they had chatted for a time.

“No, I have had a shock which, I am ashamed to say, I have allowed to annoy me. I came home with £70,000. Of that I invested £40,000 in good securities, and allowed the rest to remain in my agent’s hands until he came upon some good and safe security. Well, I was away with Alice in the country when he wrote to me to say that he strongly recommended me to buy a South Sea stock which everyone was running after, and which was rising rapidly. I must own that it seemed a good thing, so I told him to buy. Well, it went up like wildfire, and I could have sold out at four times the price at which I bought. At last I wrote to him to realize, and he replied that it had suddenly fallen a bit, and recommending me to wait till it went up again, which it was sure to do. I didn’t see a London paper for some days, and when I did get one I found, to my horror, that the bubble had burst, and that the stock was virtually not worth the paper on which it was printed. The blow has affected me a good deal. I admit now that it was foolish, and feel it so; but when a man has been working all his life, it is hard to see nearly half of the fortune he has gained swept away at a blow.”

“It is hard, sir, very hard. Still, it was fortunate that you had already invested £40,000 in good securities. After all, with this house and £40,000 you will really not so very much miss the sum you have lost.”

“That is exactly what I tell myself, Will. Still, you know, a dog with two bones in his mouth will growl if he loses one of them. Nevertheless £40,000 is not to be despised by any means, and I shall have plenty to give my little Alice a good portion when she marries.”

“That will be comfortable for her, sir, but I should say that the man would be lucky if he got her without a shilling.”

“Well, well, we’ll see, we’ll see. I have no desire to part with her yet.”

“That I can well understand, sir.”

“Ah, here she is!”

A rosy colour spread over the girl’s face when she saw who her father’s visitor was.

“I expected you in a day or two,” she said, “but not so soon as this. When we saw your name in the _Gazette_ we made sure that it would not be long before you paid us a visit. I am glad to see that your wound has not pulled you down much.”

“No indeed. I am all right; but it was certain that I should come here first of all.”

“And what are your plans now?” Mr. Palethorpe asked.

“I am going to set to work at once to discover my family. I have not been to my lawyer yet, so I don’t know how much he has done, but I certainly mean to go into the business in earnest.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter to you much now, Will, whether your family are dukes or beggars. You can stand on your own feet as a captain in the royal navy with a magnificent record of services.”

“Yes, I see that, sir; but still I certainly do wish to be able to prove that I come of at least a respectable family. I have not the least desire to obtain any rank or anything of that kind, only to know that I have people of my own.”

“I do not say that it is not a laudable ambition, but I don’t believe that anyone would think one scrap better or worse of you were you to find that you were heir to a dukedom.”

Will slept there that night, and the next morning drove into the city to his lawyer’s office. “Well, Captain Gilmore?” said that gentleman as Will entered his private room. “I am glad to see you. I have been quietly at work making enquiries since you were last here. I sent a man down to Scarcombe some months ago. He learned as much as he could there, and since then has been going from village to village and has traced your father’s journeyings for some months. Now that you are home I should suggest employing two or three men to continue the search and to find out if possible the point from which your father started his wanderings. Assuming, as I do, that he was the son of Sir Ralph Gilmore, I imagine that he must have quarrelled with his father at or about the time of his marriage. In that case he would probably come up to London. I have observed that most men who quarrel with their parents take that step first. There, perhaps, he endeavoured to obtain employment. The struggle would probably last two, or three, or four years. I take the last to be the most likely period, for by that time you would be about three years old. I say that because he could hardly have taken you with him had you been younger.

“It is evident that he had either no hope of being reconciled to his father or that he was himself too angry to make advances. I therefore propose to send men north from London to enquire upon all the principal roads. A man with a violin and a little child cannot have been altogether forgotten in the villages in which he stopped, and I hope to be able to trace his way up to Yorkshire. Again, I should employ one of the Bow Street runners to make enquiries in London for a man with his wife and child who lived here so many years ago, and whose name was Gilmore. I am supposing, you see, that that was his real name, and not one that he had assumed. I confess I have my doubts about it. A man who quits his home for ever after a desperate quarrel is as likely as not to change his name. That of course we must risk. While these enquiries are being made I should like you to go back to your old home; it is possible that other mementoes of his stay there may have escaped the memory of the old people with whom you lived. Anything of that kind would be of inestimable value.”

“I will go down,” Will said. “I am afraid there is little chance of my finding them both alive now. I fancy they were about fifty-five when I went to live with them, which would make them near eighty now. One or other of them, however, may be alive. I have not been to my agent yet, and therefore do not know whether he still sends them the allowance I made them.”

After leaving the lawyer he went to his agent and found that the allowance was still paid, and regularly acknowledged by a receipt from the clergyman. He supposed, therefore, that certainly one, if not both, of the old people were still alive. He went back to Dulwich and said that he had taken a seat on the north coach for that day week. “I could not bring myself to leave before,” he said, “and I knew you would keep me.”

“Certainly, my boy. I don’t think either Alice or myself would forgive you were you to run away the moment you returned.”

When the time came Will started for the north, though he felt much reluctance to leave Alice. He acknowledged now to himself that he was deeply in love with her. Though from her father’s manner he felt that when he asked for her hand he would not be refused, about Alice herself he felt far less confident. She was so perfectly open and natural with him that he feared lest she might regard him rather as a brother than as a lover, and yet the blush which he had noticed when he first met her on his return gave him considerable hope.

On arriving at Scarborough he stopped for the night at the house of his old friend Mrs. Archer. She and her husband listened with surprise and pleasure to his stories of his adventures in spite of his assurances that these were very ordinary matters, and that it was chiefly by luck that he had got on. He was a little surprised when, in reply to this, Mrs. Archer used the very words Mr. Palethorpe had uttered. “It is of no use your talking in that way, Will,” she said. “No doubt you have had very good fortune, but your rapid promotion can only be due to your conduct and courage.”

“I may have conducted myself well,” he said warmly, “but not one bit better than other officers in the service. I really owe my success to the fortunate suggestion of mine as to the best method of attacking that pirate hold. As a reward for this the admiral gave me the command of _L’Agile_, and so, piece by piece, it has grown. But it was to my good fortune in making that suggestion, which really was not made in earnest, but only in reply to the challenge of another midshipman, that it has all come about. Above all, Mrs. Archer, I shall never forget that it was the kindness you showed me, and the pains you took in my education, that gave me my start in life.”

The next day he drove over to Scarcombe, and to his pleasure, on entering the cottage, found John and his wife both sitting just where he had last seen them. They both rose to greet him.

“Thank God, Will,” John said, “that we have been spared to see you alive again! I was afraid that our call might come before you returned.”

“Why, father, I don’t think you look a year older than you did when I last saw you. Both you and mother look good for another ten years yet.”

“If we do, Will, it will be thanks to the good food you have provided for us. We live like lords; meat every day for dinner, and fish for breakfast and supper. I should not feel right if I didn’t have a snack of fish every day. Then we have ale for dinner and supper. There is no one in the village who lives as we do. When we first began we both felt downright fat. Then we agreed that if we went on like that we never could live till you came back, so we did with a little less, and as you see we both fill out our clothes a long way better than we did when you were here last.”

“Well you certainly do both look uncommonly well, father.”

“And you ain’t married yet, Will?”

“No, I’ve not done anything about that yet, though perhaps it won’t be very long before I find a wife. I am not going to apply to go on service again for a time, so I’ll have a chance to look round, though I really have one in my mind’s eye.”

“Tell us all about it, Will,” the old woman said eagerly; “you know how interested we must be in anything that affects you.”

“Well, mother, among the many adventures I have been through I must tell you the one connected with this young lady.”

He then told her of his first meeting, of his stay at her father’s house, and of the hurricane which they experienced together.

“Well, mother, I met her again unexpectedly more than two and a half years ago in London. Her father had come over here to live, and has a fine house at Dulwich. I have just been staying there for a week, and I have some hope that when I ask her she will consent to be my wife.”

“Of course she will,” the old woman said quite indignantly. “How could she do otherwise? Why, if you were to ask the king’s daughter I am sure she would take you. Here you are, one of the king’s captains, have done all sorts of wonderful things, and have beaten his enemies all over the world, and you are as straight and good-looking a young gentleman as anyone wants to see. No one, who was not out of her mind, could think of saying ‘No’ to you.”

“Ah, mother, you are prejudiced! To you I am a sort of swan that has come out of a duck’s egg.”

They chatted for some time, and then Will said:

“Are you quite sure, John, that the bundle the clergyman handed over to me contained every single thing my father left behind him?”

“Well, now I think of it, Will, there is something else. I never remembered it at the time, but when my old woman was sweeping a cobweb off the rafters the other day she said: ‘Why, here is Will’s father’s fiddle’, and, sure enough, there it was. It had been up there from the day you came into the house, and if we noticed it none of us ever gave it a thought.”

“I remember it now,” Will exclaimed. “When I was a young boy I used to think I should like to learn to play on it, and I spoke to Miss Warden about it. But she said I had better stick to my lessons, and then as I grew up I could learn it if I still had a fancy to do so.”

He got on to a chair, and took it from the rafter on which it had so long lain. Then he carefully wiped the dust off it.

“It looks a very old thing, but that makes no difference in its value to me. I don’t see in the least how this can be any clue whatever to my father’s identity. Still, I will take it away with me and show it to my lawyer, who is endeavouring to trace for me who my father was.”

“And do you think that he will succeed, Will?”

“I rather believe he will. At any rate he has found a gentleman, a baronet, who has the same name and bears the same coat of arms as is on the seal which was in my father’s bundle. We are trying now to trace how my father came down here, and where he lived before he started. You see I must get as clear a story as I can before I go to see this gentleman. Mind, I don’t want anything from him. He may be as rich as a lord for anything I care, and may refuse to have anything to do with me, but I want to find out to what family I really belong.”

“He must be a bad lot,” John said, “to allow your father to tramp about the country with a fiddle.”

“I would not say that,” Will said; “there are always two sides to a story, and we know nothing of my father’s reasons for leaving home. It may have been his fault more than his father’s, so until I know the rights and wrongs of the case I will form no judgment whatever.”

“That is right, my boy,” the old woman said. “I have noticed that when a boy runs away from home and goes to sea it is as often his fault as his father’s. Sometimes it is six of one and half a dozen of the other; sometimes the father is a brute, but more often the son is a scamp, a worthless fellow, who will settle down to nothing, and brings discredit on his family. So you are quite right, Will, not to form any hard judgment on your grandfather till you know how it all came about.”

“I certainly don’t mean to, mother. Of course I have so little recollection of my father that it would not worry me much if I found that it were his fault, though of course I would rather know that he was not to blame. Still, I should wish to like my grandfather if I could, and if I heard that my poor father was really entirely to blame I should not grieve much over it.”

“I can’t help thinking that he was to blame, Will. He was a curious-looking man, with a very bitter expression at times on his face, as if he didn’t care for anyone in the world, except perhaps yourself, and he often left you alone in the village when he went and wandered about by himself on the moor.”

“Well, well,” Will said, “it matters very little to me which way it is. It is a very old story now, and I dare say that there were faults on both sides.”

Will spent a long day with the old people and then returned to Scarborough, taking the violin with him. When he told how he had found it Mr. Archer took the instrument and examined it carefully.

“I think really,” he said at last, “that this violin may prove a valuable clue, as valuable almost as that coat of arms. That might very well have been picked up or bought for a trifle at a pawnshop, or come into the hands of its possessor in some accidental way. But this is different; this, unless I am greatly mistaken, is a real Amati, and therefore worth at least a couple of hundred guineas. That could hardly have come accidentally into the hands of a wandering musician; it must be a relic of a time when he was in very different circumstances, and may well have been his before he left the home of his childhood.”

“Thank you very much for the information, Mr. Archer! I see at once that it may very well be a strong link in the chain.”

Two days later he returned to London. Mr. Palethorpe was greatly pleased to hear that he had found so valuable a clue.

“I don’t care a rap for family,” he said, “but at the same time I suppose every man would like his daughter—” Here he stopped abruptly. “I mean to say,” he said, “would like to have for his son-in-law a man of good family. I grant that it is a very stupid prejudice, still I suppose it is a general one. You told me, I think, that your lawyer had found out that this Sir Ralph Gilmore had only two sons, and that one of them had died suddenly and unmarried.”

“That is so, sir.”

“Then in that case, you see, if you prove your identity you would certainly be heir to the baronetcy.”

“I suppose so, sir. I have never given the matter any thought. It is not rank I want, but family. Still, I might not be heir to the baronetcy, for even supposing that my father was really the other son, he might have had children older than I am who remained with their grandfather.”

“That is possible,” Mr. Palethorpe said, “though unlikely. Why should he have left them behind him when he went out into the world?”

“He might not have wished to bother himself with them; he might have intended to claim them later. No one can say.”

“Well, on the whole, I should say that your chance of coming into the baronetcy is distinctly good. It would look well, you know—Captain Sir William Gilmore, R.N.”

“We mustn’t count our chickens too soon, Mr. Palethorpe,” Will laughed; “but nevertheless I do think that the prospects are favourable. Still, I must wait the result of the search that my lawyer has been carrying on.”

“Well, you know my house is your home as long as you like to use it.”

“Thank you, sir! but I don’t like to intrude upon your kindness too much, and I think that I will take a lodging somewhere in the West End, so that I may be within easy reach of you here.”

“Well, it must be as you like, lad. In some respects, perhaps, it will be best so. I may remind you, my boy, that it is not always wise for two young people to be constantly in each other’s society.” And he laughed.

Will made no answer; he had decided to defer putting the question until his claim was settled one way or the other.

In a few days he again called upon his lawyer.

“I have found out enough,” the latter said, “to be certain that your father started from London with his violin and you, a child of three. I have considerable hopes that we shall, ere long, get a clue to the place where he lived while in London. The runner has met a woman who remembers distinctly such a man and a sick wife and child lodging in the house of a friend of hers. The friend has moved away and she has lost sight of her, but she knows some people with whom the woman was intimate, and through them we hope to find out where she lives.”

“That is good news indeed,” Will said. “I had hardly hoped that you would be so successful.”

“It is a great piece of luck,” the lawyer said. “I have written to my other agents to come home. It will be quite sufficient to prove that he journeyed as a wandering musician for at least fifty miles from London. Of course if further evidence is necessary they can resume their search.”

“I have found a clue too, sir,” Will said; and he then related the discovery of the Amati, the possession of which showed that the minstrel must at one time have been in wealthy circumstances.

“That is important indeed,” the lawyer said, rubbing his hands. “Now, sir, if we can but find out where the man lived in London I think the chain will be complete, especially if he was in comparatively good circumstances when he went there. The woman will also, doubtless, be able to give a description of his wife as well of himself, and with these various proofs in your hand I think you may safely go down and see Sir Ralph Gilmore, whom I shall, of course, prepare by letter for your visit.”

Four days afterwards Will received a letter by an office-boy from his lawyer asking him to call.

“My dear sir,” he said as Will entered, “I congratulate you most heartily. I think we have the chain complete now. The day before yesterday the Bow Street runner came in to say that he had found the woman, and that she was now living out at Highgate. Yesterday I sent my clerk up to see her, and this is his report. I may tell you that nothing could possibly be more satisfactory.”

The document was as follows:

“I called on Mrs. Giles. She is a respectable person who lets her house in lodgings. Twenty-five years ago she had a house in Westminster, and let the drawing-room floor to a gentleman of the name of Gilmore. He was rather tall and dark, and very variable in his temper. He had his wife with him, and two months afterwards a child was born. It was christened at St. Matthew’s. I was its god-mother, as they seemed to have very few friends in the town. Mr. Gilmore was out a good deal looking for employment. He used to write of an evening, and I think made money by it. He was very fond of his violin. Sometimes it was soft music he played, but if he was in a bad temper he would make it shriek and cry out, and I used to think there was a devil shut up in it. It was awful! When he came to me he had plenty of money, but it was not long before it began to run short, and they lived very plain. He had all sorts of things, whips and books and dressing-cases. These gradually went, and a year after the child was born they moved upstairs, the rooms being cheaper for them. A year later they occupied one room. The wife fell ill, and the rent was often in arrears. He was getting very shabby in his dress too. The child was three years old when its mother died. He sold all he had left to bury her decently, and as he had no money to pay his arrears of rent, he gave me a silver-mounted looking-glass, which I understood his mother had given him, and he said: ‘Don’t you sell this, but keep it, and one day or other I will come back and redeem it.’ ”

“This is the glass, sir,” the lawyer said. “My clerk redeemed it after telling her that her lodger had died long ago. He went round to St. Matthew’s Church and obtained the certificate of the child’s baptism. So I think now, Mr. Gilmore, that we have all the evidence that can be required. Mrs. Giles, on hearing that the child was alive, said she would be happy to come forward and repeat what she had said to my clerk. She seemed very interested in the affair, and is evidently a kindly good-hearted woman. I fancy the silver frame is of Italian workmanship, and will probably be recognized by your grandfather. At any rate, someone there is sure to know it. Now I think you are in a position to go down and see him, and if you wish I will write to him to-day. I shall not go into matters at all, and shall merely say that the son of his son, Mr. William Gilmore, is coming down to have an interview with him, and is provided with all necessary proofs of his birth.”

The next morning Will took the coach and went down to Radstock, in Somersetshire. He put up at the inn on his arrival, and next morning hired a gig and drove to the house of Sir Ralph Gilmore. It was a very fine mansion standing in an extensive park.

“Not a bad place by any means,” Will said to himself; “I should certainly be proud to bring Alice down here.”

He alighted at the entrance and sent in his name, and was immediately shown into the library, where a tall old man was sitting.

“I understand, sir,” he said stiffly, “that you claim to be the son of my son, William Gilmore?”

“I do, sir, and I think the proofs I shall give you will satisfy you. You will understand, sir, please, before I do so, that I have no desire whatever to make any claim upon you; I simply wished to be recognized as a member of your family.”

The old man looked him up and down, and then motioned him to take a seat.

“And what has become of your father, supposing him to be your father?” he asked with an evident effort.

“He died, sir, nearly twenty years ago.”

The old man was silent for some little time, and then he said: “And you, sir, what have you been doing since then? But first, in what circumstances did he die?”

“In the very poorest. For the last two years of his life he earned his living and mine as a wandering fiddler.”

“And what became of you?”

“I was brought up, sir, by a fisherman in the village in Yorkshire in which my father died.”

“Your manner of speech does not at all agree with that, sir,” the old man said sharply.

“No, sir,” Will said quietly. “I had the good fortune to attract the interest of the clergyman’s daughter, and she was good enough to assist me in my education and urge me on to study.”

“And what is your trade or profession, sir?”

“I have the honour, sir, to be post-captain in His Majesty’s navy.”

“You a post-captain in His Majesty’s navy!” the old man said scornfully. “Do you think to take me in with such a tale as that? You might possibly be a very junior lieutenant.”

“I am not surprised that you think so, sir. Nevertheless I am indeed what I say. My name appeared in the _Gazette_ a month ago.”

“I remember now,” the baronet said, “there was a William Gilmore appointed to that rank. The name struck me as I glanced through the _Gazette_. I had noticed it before on several occasions, and I sighed as I thought to myself how different must have been his career from that of my unfortunate son. Now, sir, I beg that you will let me see your proofs.”

“In the first place, sir, there is this seal with your armorial bearings, which was found upon him after his death. This is a looking-glass, one which I believe was given to him by his mother. This is the violin with which he earned his living.”

The old man stretched his hand out for the violin, with tears in his eyes.

“I gave it to him,” he said, “when he was eighteen. I thought it a great piece of extravagance at the time, but he had such a taste for music that I thought he deserved the best instrument I could get. The looking-glass I also recognize, and of course the seal. Is there anything more, sir?”

“This, sir, is the certificate of my baptism at St. Matthew’s Church, Westminster. This is a statement of my lawyer’s clerk, who interviewed the woman in whose house my father and mother lived, and my mother died.”

The baronet took it and read it in silence.

“I can produce also,” Will went on, as the old man laid it down with a sigh, “the evidence of the lady who educated me, and to whom I owe all the good fortune that has befallen me. The old fisherman and his wife who brought me up are still alive, though very old. I have means of obtaining abundant evidence from my shipmates in the various vessels in which I have sailed that I am the boy who left that village at the age of fifteen, and entered as a ship’s boy in one of His Majesty’s vessels.”

“And you are now—?” the baronet asked.

“I am now twenty-three, sir.”

“And a captain?”

“That is so, sir. I was made a midshipman before I had been three months on board, partly because I saved the first lieutenant’s life, and partly because I understood enough mathematics to take an observation. Of course I served my time as a midshipman, and a year after passing I was made a second lieutenant. By the death of my first lieutenant at the battle of St. Vincent I succeeded to his post, and obtained the rank of captain for my share in the battle of Camperdown. I received post rank the other day when, in command of the _Ethalion_, I brought the _Bellone_, a frigate of Admiral Bompart’s fleet, a prize to Portsmouth.”

“Well, sir, your career has indeed been creditable and successful, and I am proud to acknowledge, as my grandson and heir to my title, a young gentleman who has so greatly distinguished himself. For I do acknowledge you. The proofs you have given me leave no doubt in my mind whatever that you are the son of my second son. You were, of course, too young to remember whether he ever spoke to you of me.”

“Yes, sir. I was but five at the time of his death, and have but a very faint recollection of him.”

“Of course, of course,” the baronet said; “it was a sad affair. Perhaps I was to blame to some extent, though I have never thought so. Your father was, as doubtless you know, a second son. Although somewhat eccentric in disposition, and given to fits of passion, I had no serious occasion to complain of him until he went up to Oxford. There he got into a wild and dissipated set, and became the wildest and most dissipated among them. His great talent for music was his bane. He was continually asked out. After being two years up there, and costing me very large sums in paying his debts, he was sent down from the university. He would not turn his hands to anything, and went up to London with the idea of making his way somehow. He made nothing but debts, got into various scandalous affairs, and dragged our name through the dust. At last he came home one day and calmly informed me that he had married a woman in a rank of life beneath him. She was, I believe, the daughter of a horse-dealer of very doubtful character. He also said that he wanted £1200 to enable him to start fair. I lost my temper and said that he should not have another pound from me. We had a desperate quarrel, and he left the house, taking with him all his belongings. It was four years before I took any steps to bring him back. Then his elder brother died, and on that I took every means to find him out. That he would ever be a credit to me I did not even dare to hope, but at least he could not be allowed to live in poverty. I advertised widely and employed detectives for months, but all without result. I have long since given up any hopes of ever seeing him again. I am glad, indeed, to find that the title, at my death, will not go to a distant cousin, but to my grandson, a gentleman in every way worthy of it. You are not married, I hope?”

“I am not married, sir; but I think, if you had asked the question, I should have replied that I was engaged, or rather had hopes of being engaged soon.”

“Who is she?” the baronet asked quickly.

“She is the only daughter of a successful West Indian planter, a man of the highest standing in the colony, who has now returned and settled here.”

The baronet heaved a sigh of relief.

“That is well,” he said; “and considering that you have been all your life at sea, and have had no opportunity of making the acquaintance of ladies of titled families, it is better than I could have expected. As I do not know the procedure in these matters I had better consult my lawyer as to the best way of using these relics and the proofs you have given me that you are my grandson. It may be that my recognition of you is sufficient, but it would be as well to make sure that at my death there will be no opposition to your succession. You will stop here for a day or two, I hope, before going up to town to arrange the little affair you spoke of, and I think if your chances were good before, they will be still better now that you are recognized as heir to a baronetcy and one of the finest estates in England.”

“I have never thought of that, sir. I have my profession and nearly £40,000 of prize-money, which will enable us to live in great comfort; and indeed I anticipate that her father will wish us to reside with him, or, at any rate, that she shall do so while I am away on service.”

“I hope you will not think of remaining at sea. It would be monstrous for a man heir to £10,000 a year, besides very large accumulations, to be knocking about the world and running the risk of having his head taken off with a round-shot every day. I earnestly entreat you not to dream of such a thing.”

“I will think it over. I am fond of the sea, but shall certainly be fonder of my wife, and I feel that your wishes in the matter should weigh with me.”

“Well, I hope you will at least spend a portion of your time here. It will be your future home, and it is well that you should acquaint yourself with your duties. Besides, remember the years that I have been a lonely man.”

“I would rather not give a promise, but I shall certainly take your wishes into consideration.”

“Well, I am content with that, my boy. You will stay here now a few days, I hope. I have so much to hear of your life, and of course I wish to become better acquainted with you.”

Will remained a week, during which time he made a great advance in the baronet’s affections, and the old man seemed to gain some years of life as he walked in the garden and drove through the country with his young heir, whom he was delighted to introduce to everyone.

When he returned to London he at once drove over to Dulwich.

“Well, Will, what is the result of it all?” Mr. Palethorpe asked, for Will had purposely abstained from going to their house after his last interview with his lawyer. “Alice has been imagining all sorts of things: that you had been run over, or had run away with some girl.”

“Father! I never thought that for a moment,” his daughter said indignantly, “though I have been very anxious, for it is nearly a fortnight since he was here.”

“I have done a good deal in the time,” Will said. “I did not write to you, because I wanted to tell you. I am acknowledged as the grandson and heir to the title and estates of Sir Ralph Gilmore.”

Both gave an exclamation of pleasure.

“And now,” he said, taking her hand, “I only need one thing to complete my happiness, and that is, that you will share my good fortune with me. May I hope that it will be so?”

“Certainly you may, Will. I think I have loved you ever since I was a little girl, and acknowledge that my principal reason for inducing father to come to live in England was that I believed I should have more chance of meeting you again here than in Jamaica.”

“I am heartily glad, too, that it is all settled,” Mr. Palethorpe said. “I have seen it coming on ever since you met us the first time in London, and I may say that I have seen it with pleasure, for there is no one to whom I would sooner trust her happiness than you. Now I will leave you to yourselves.”

It need hardly be said that Alice was as anxious as Sir Ralph Gilmore that Will should quit the navy, and he consequently yielded to their entreaties. He wrote to his grandfather to tell him of his engagement, and the baronet wrote back by return of post to Mr. Palethorpe, begging him to come down with his daughter and Will for a time.

“I only half know him at present,” he said, “and as I understand that just at present he will not want to leave the young lady of his choice, you will gladden an old man if you will all three come down to stay with me.”

Three months later the marriage took place from the house at Dulwich. Sir Ralph Gilmore came up for the ceremony, and the change that the three months had effected in him was extraordinary. He was the gayest of the party.

Among those present at the ceremony were also Will’s two devoted friends, Dimchurch and Tom Stevens. The baronet was greatly pleased with their affection and pride in Will, and offered both good posts on the estate. So none of the comrades went to sea again.

The baronet gave into Will’s hands the entire management of the estate and house, so his death, seven years later, made practically no difference to Will’s position. Will took to country pursuits, and became one of the most popular landlords in Somersetshire, while his wife was quite one of the most popular ladies in the county. Her father, up to the time of his death, spent most of his time down there, and they used the house at Dulwich as their abode when they stayed in London during the season. Mrs. Archer came more than once to stay with them, as their most honoured guest. Stevens and Dimchurch both married. The former became head-gamekeeper on the estate, a post in which he showed great talent. The latter took a small cottage with a bit of land just outside the park gates, for he was able to live very comfortably on the interest of his prize-money. He had no children of his own, and his great pleasure was to wander about with Will’s, telling them of their father’s adventures in the great war.

It was not till well on in the sixties that Sir William Gilmore, captain, R.N., departed this life, a few weeks after the death of his wife, leaving behind him a large family to carry on the old name.

THE END

“English boys owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Henty.”—_Athenæum_.

Blackie & Son’s Illustrated Story Books

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_HISTORICAL TALES BY_

G. A. HENTY

With the Allies to Pekin: A story of the Relief of the Legations. Illustrated by WAL PAGET. With a Map. 6_s._

On the outbreak of the Boxer movement Rex Bateman, by a daring stratagem, rescues some relatives from an outlying village, and conducts them into Pekin. Then he makes his way down to Tien-tsin and joins Admiral Seymour’s column. When the advance of this force is checked he pushes on alone to the capital, where his courage and ready invention are invaluable to the defenders. On the declaration of an armistice, however, he again succeeds in eluding the Boxer bands, goes through the storming of Tien-tsin, and marches with the allied army to Pekin.

“The hero contrives and performs all kinds of exciting undertakings, and a clever story is woven into an accurate account of the various expeditions.”—_School Guardian_.

“A boy could have no better guide to that story of British pluck and energy.”—_Spectator_.

Through Three Campaigns: A Story of Chitral, the Tirah, and Ashanti. Illustrated by WAL PAGET. With 3 Maps. 6_s._

The hero of this story, the son of an officer, joins the Chitral expedition secretly as a private soldier, but the enormous difficulties which have to be overcome in the course of the march soon call forth his noble qualities, and before the end of the campaign he qualifies for a commission. His subsequent career is a series of brilliant successes. He takes part in the storming of the Dargai heights, is more than once captured by the enemy, and by a heroic sacrifice wins the V.C.

“Every true boy will enjoy this story of plucky adventure.”—_Educational News_.

“Gives animation to recent history, and its confident art and abundant spirit will greatly satisfy the intelligent and spirited boy.”—_Dundee Advertiser_.

For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. Illustrated by SOLOMON J. SOLOMON, A.R.A. With a Map. 3_s._ 6_d._

Mr. Henty weaves into the record of Josephus an admirable and attractive plot. The troubles in the district of Tiberias, the marches of the legions, the sieges of Jotapata, of Gamala, and of Jerusalem, form an impressive historic setting to the figure of the lad who passes from the vineyard to the service of Josephus, becomes the leader of a guerrilla band of patriots, fights bravely for the Temple, and after a brief term of slavery at Alexandria returns to his Galilean home with the favour of Titus.

“A good tale of early Bible times, told with a verve and vigour that keeps the interest sustained to the very end.”—_Academy_.

—With Kitchener in the Soudan: A Tale of Atbara and Omdurman. With 10 Illustrations by W. RAINEY, R.I., and 3 Maps. 6_s._

In carrying out various special missions with which he is entrusted the hero displays so much dash and enterprise that he soon attains an exceptionally high rank for his age. In all the operations he takes a distinguished part, and adventure follows so close on adventure that the end of the story is reached all too soon.

“Mr. Henty has collected a vast amount of information about the reconquest of the Soudan, and he succeeds in impressing it upon his reader’s mind at the very time when he is interesting him most.”—_Literary World_.

—With the British Legion: A Story of the Carlist Wars. With 10 Illustrations by WAL PAGET. 6_s._

The hero joins the British Legion, which was raised by Sir de Lacy Evans to support the cause of Queen Christina and the Infant Queen Isabella, and as soon as he sets foot on Spanish soil his adventures begin. Arthur is one of Mr. Henty’s most brilliant heroes, and the tale of his experiences is thrilling and breathless from first to last.

“It is a rattling story told with verve and spirit.”—_Pall Mall Gazette_.

—The Treasure of the Incas: A Tale of Adventure in Peru. With 8 Illustrations by WAL PAGET, and a Map. 5_s._

The heroes of this powerful story go to Peru to look for the treasure which the Incas hid when the Spaniards invaded the country. Their task is both arduous and dangerous, but though they are often disappointed, their courage and perseverance are at last amply rewarded.

“The interest never flags for one moment, and the story is told with vigour.”—_World_.

With Roberts to Pretoria: A Tale of the South African War. With 12 Illustrations by WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I., and a Map. 6_s._

The hero takes part in the series of battles that end in the disaster at Magersfontein, is captured and imprisoned in the race-course at Pretoria, but escapes in time to fight at Paardeberg and march with the victorious army to Bloemfontein. He rides with Colonel Mahon’s column to the relief of Mafeking, and accomplishes the return journey with such despatch as to be able to join in the triumphant advance to Pretoria.

“In this story of the South African war Mr. Henty proves once more his incontestable pre-eminence as a writer for boys.”—_Standard_.

—Both Sides the Border: A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower. With 12 page Illustrations by RALPH PEACOCK. 6_s._

The hero casts in his lot with the Percys, and becomes esquire to Sir Henry, the gallant Hotspur. He is sent on several dangerous and important missions in which he acquits himself with great valour.

“With boys the story should rank among Mr. Henty’s best.”—_Standard_.

“A vivid picture of that strange past ... when England and Scotland ... were torn by faction and civil war.”—_Onward_.

—Through Russian Snows: or, Napoleon’s Retreat from Moscow. With 8 page Illustrations by W. H. OVEREND. 5_s._

Julian Wyatt becomes, quite innocently, mixed up with smugglers, who carry him to France, and hand him over as a prisoner to the French. He subsequently regains his freedom by joining Napoleon’s army in the campaign against Russia.

“The story of the campaign is very graphically told.”—_St. James’s Gazette_.

“One of Mr. Henty’s best books, which will be hailed with joy by his many eager readers.”—_Journal of Education_.

“Is full of life and action.”—_Journal of Education_.

—Out with Garibaldi: A Story of the Liberation of Italy. With 8 page Illustrations by W. RAINEY, R.I., and two Maps. 5_s._

Mr. Henty makes the liberation of Italy by Garibaldi the groundwork of an exciting tale of adventure. The hero is an English lad who joins the expedition and takes a prominent part in the extraordinary series of operations that ended in the fall of the Neapolitan kingdom.

“A first-rate story of stirring deeds.”—_Daily Chronicle_.

“Full of hard fighting, gallant rescues, and narrow escapes.”—_Graphic_.

At the Point of the Bayonet: A Tale of the Mahratta War. With 12 Illustrations by WAL PAGET, and 2 Maps. 6_s._

Harry Lindsay is carried off to the hills and brought up as a Mahratta. At the age of sixteen he becomes an officer in the service of the Mahratta prince at Poona, and afterwards receives a commission in the army of the East India Company. His courage and enterprise are rewarded by quick promotion, and at the end of the war he sails for England, where he succeeds in establishing his right to the family estates.

“A brisk, dashing narrative.”—_Bookman_.

—Under Wellington’s Command: A Tale of the Peninsular War. With 12 page Illustrations by WAL PAGET. 6_s._

In this stirring romance Mr. Henty gives us the further adventures of Terence O’Connor, the hero of _With Moore at Corunna_. We are told how, in alliance with a small force of Spanish guerrillas, the gallant regiment of Portuguese levies commanded by Terence keeps the whole of the French army in check at a critical period of the war, rendering invaluable service to the Iron Duke and his handful of British troops.

“An admirable exposition of Mr. Henty’s masterly method of combining instruction with amusement.”—_World_.

—To Herat and Cabul: A Story of the first Afghan War. With 8 full-page Illustrations by C. M. SHELDON, and Map. 5_s._

The hero takes a distinguished part in the defence of Herat, and subsequently obtains invaluable information for the British army during the first Afghan war. He is fortunately spared the horrors of the retreat from Cabul, and shares in the series of operations by which that most disastrous blunder was retrieved.

“We can heartily commend it to boys, old and young.”—_Spectator_.

—With Cochrane the Dauntless: A Tale of his Exploits. With 12 page Illustrations by W. H. MARGETSON. 6_s._

It would be hard to find, even in sensational fiction, a more daring leader than Lord Cochrane, or a career which supplies so many thrilling exploits. The manner in which, almost single-handed, he scattered the French fleet in the Basque Roads is one of the greatest feats in English naval history.

“As rousing and interesting a book as boys could wish for.”—_Saturday Review_.

“This tale we specially recommend.”—_St. James’s Gazette_.

Redskin and Cow-Boy: A Tale Of the Western Plains. With 12 page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE. 6_s._

Hugh Tunstall accompanies a frontiersman on a hunting expedition on the Plains, and then seeks employment as a cow-boy on a cattle ranch. His experiences during a “round up” present in picturesque form the toilsome, exciting, adventurous life of a cow-boy; while the perils of a frontier settlement are vividly set forth. Subsequently, the hero joins a wagon-team, and the interest is sustained in a fight with, and capture of, brigands.

“A strong interest of open-air life and movement pervades the whole book.”—_Scotsman_.

—With Buller in Natal: or, A Born Leader. With 10 page Illustrations by W. RAINEY, R.I., and a Map. 6_s._

The heroic story of the relief of Ladysmith forms the theme of one of the most powerful romances that have come from Mr. Henty’s pen. When the war breaks out, the hero, Chris King, and his friends band themselves together under the title of the Maritzburg Scouts. From first to last the boy scouts are constantly engaged in perilous and exciting enterprises, from which they always emerge triumphant, thanks to their own skill and courage, and the dash and ingenuity of their leader.

“Just the sort of book to inspire an enterprising boy.”—_Army and Navy Gazette_.

—By England’s Aid: or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585–1604). With 10 page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE, and 4 Maps. 6_s._ & 3_s._ 6_d._

Two English lads go to Holland in the service of one of “the fighting Veres”. After many adventures one of the lads finds himself on board a Spanish ship at the defeat of the Armada, and escapes from Spain only to fall into the hands of the Corsairs. He is successful, however, in getting back to Spain, and regains his native country after the capture of Cadiz.

“Boys know and love Mr. Henty’s books of adventure, and will welcome his tale of the freeing of the Netherlands.”—_Athenæum_.

—Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from Siberia. With 8 page Illustrations by WAL PAGET. 5_s._

Godfrey Bullen, a young Englishman resident in St. Petersburg, becomes involved in various political plots, resulting in his seizure and exile to Siberia. After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, he gives himself up to the Russian authorities. Eventually he escapes, and reaches home, having safely accomplished a perilous journey which lasts nearly two years.

“The escape from Siberia is well told and the description of prison life is very graphic.”—_Academy_.

The Lion of St. Mark: A Tale of Venice, with 6 page Illustrations. Cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

A story of Venice at a period when intrigue, crime, and bloodshed were rife. The hero, the son of an English trader, displays a fine manliness, and is successful in extricating his friends from imminent dangers. Finally he contributes to the victories of the Venetians at Porto d’Anzo and Chioggia.

“Every boy should read The Lion of St. Mark.”—_Saturday Review_.

—The Dragon and the Raven: or, The Days of King Alfred. With 8 page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND. 5_s._

In this story the author gives an account of the desperate struggle between Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England. The hero, a young Saxon, takes part in all the battles fought by King Alfred, and the incidents in his career are unusually varied and exciting.

“We have nothing but praise for this story, which is excellently written, and will make the history of the period to which it relates a reality to its readers.”—_School Guardian_.

—The Bravest of the Brave: or, with Peterborough in Spain. With 8 page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 5_s._

There are few great leaders whose life and actions have so completely fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. He showed a genius for warfare which has never been surpassed. Round the fortunes of Jack Stilwell, the hero, and of Peterborough, Mr. Henty has woven a brilliant narrative of the War of the Spanish Succession (1705–6).

“The adventures of the aide-de-camp, Jack, will probably be found to be no less interesting than the marvellous operations of the General himself, in which he takes a leading part.”—_Spectator_.

—For Name and Fame: or, To Cabul with Roberts. With 8 page Illustrations. 5_s._

After being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures among the Malays, the hero of this story finds his way to Calcutta, and enlists in a regiment proceeding to the Afghan Passes. He accompanies the force under General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, is wounded, taken prisoner, and carried to Cabul, whence he is transferred to Candahar, and takes part in the final defeat of the army of Ayoub Khan.

“The book teems with spirited scenes and stirring adventures, and the boy who reads it attentively will acquire a sound knowledge on subjects that are of vital importance to our Indian Empire.”—_School Guardian_.

—Maori and Settler: A Story of the New Zealand War. With 8 page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE. 5_s._

The Renshaws lose their property and emigrate to New Zealand. Wilfrid, a strong, self-reliant lad, is the mainstay of the household. The odds seem hopelessly against the party, but they succeed in establishing themselves happily in one of the pleasantest of the New Zealand valleys.

“A book which all young people, but especially boys, will read with avidity.”—_Athenæum_.

—Beric the Briton: A Story of the Roman Invasion of Britain. With 12 page Illustrations by W. PARKINSON. 6_s._

Beric is a boy-chief of a British tribe which takes a prominent part in the insurrection under Boadicea: and after the defeat of that heroic queen he continues the struggle in the fen-country. Ultimately Beric is defeated and carried captive to Rome, where he succeeds in saving a Christian maid by slaying a lion in the arena, and is rewarded by being made the personal protector of Nero. Finally, he escapes and returns to Britain, where he becomes a wise ruler of his own people.

“He is a hero of the most attractive kind.... One of the most spirited and well-imagined stories Mr. Henty has written.”—_Saturday Review_.

“His conflict with a lion in the arena is a thrilling chapter.”—_School Board Chronicle_.

“Full of every form of heroism and pluck.”—_Christian World_.

—The Dash for Khartoum: A Tale of the Nile Expedition. With 10 page Illustrations by JOHN SCHÖNBERG and J. NASH. 6_s._

In the record of recent British history there is no more captivating page for boys than the story of the Nile campaign, and the attempt to rescue General Gordon. For, in the difficulties which the expedition encountered, and in the perils which it overpassed, are found all the excitement of romance, as well as the fascination which belongs to real events.

“The Dash for Khartoum is your ideal boys’ book.”—_Tablet_.

“It is literally true that the narrative never flags a moment.”—_Academy_.

“The Dash for Khartoum will be appreciated even by those who don’t ordinarily care a dash for anything.”—_Punch_.

—With Wolfe in Canada: or, The Winning of a Continent. With 12 page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 6_s._

Mr. Henty tells the story of the struggle between Britain and France for supremacy on the North American continent. The fall of Quebec decided that the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New World; that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the nations.

“A moving tale of military exploit and thrilling adventure.”—_Daily News_.

—Held Fast for England: A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar. With 8 page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 5_s._

The story deals with one of the most memorable sieges in history. The hero, a young Englishman resident in Gibraltar, takes a brave and worthy part in the long defence, and we learn with what bravery, resourcefulness, and tenacity the Rock was held for England.

“There is no cessation of exciting incident throughout the story.”—_Athenæum_.

—In the Irish Brigade: A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain. With 12 page Illustrations by CHARLES M. SHELDON. 6_s._

The hero is a young officer in the Irish Brigade, which for many years after the siege of Limerick formed the backbone of the French army. He goes through many stirring adventures, successfully carries out dangerous missions in Spain, saves a large portion of the French army at Oudenarde, and even has the audacity to kidnap the Prime Minister of England.

“A stirring book of military adventure.”—_Scotsman_.

—At Agincourt: A Tale of the White Hoods of Paris. With 12 page Illustrations by WAL PAGET. 6_s._

Sir Eustace de Villeroy, in journeying from Hampshire to his castle in France, made young Guy Aylmer one of his escort. Soon thereafter the castle was attacked, and the English youth displayed such valour that his liege-lord made him commander of a special mission to Paris. This he accomplished, returning in time to take part in the campaign against the French which ended in the glorious victory for England at Agincourt.

“Cannot fail to commend itself to boys of all ages.”—_Manchester Courier_.

—A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. With 8 page Illustrations by W. B. WOLLEN. 5_s._

The hero, a young Englishman, emigrates to Australia, where he gets employment as an officer in the mounted police. A few years of active work gain him promotion to a captaincy. In that post he greatly distinguishes himself, and finally leaves the service and settles down as a squatter.

“A stirring story capitally told.”—_Guardian_.

“Young reader have no better friends than Blackie & Son.”—_Westminster Gazette_.

Blackie & Son’s Story Books for Boys

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G. MANVILLE FENN

Quicksilver! or, The Boy with no Skid to his Wheel. With 6 page Illustrations by F. DADD. 3_s._ 6_d._

Dr. Grayson has a theory that any boy, if rightly trained, can be made into a gentleman. He chooses a boy from the workhouse, with a bad reputation but with excellent instincts, and adopts him, the story narrating the adventures of the mercurial lad. The restless boyish nature, with its inevitable tendency to get into scrapes, is sympathetically and humorously drawn.

“Quicksilver is little short of an inspiration. In it that prince of story-writers for boys—George Manville Fenn—has surpassed himself. It is an ideal book for a boy’s library.”—_Practical Teacher_.

“Not only a most engrossing story, but full of noble impulses and lessons.”—_Newcastle Journal_.

—In the King’s Name. Illustrated. 3_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

A spirited story of the Jacobite times, concerning the adventures of Hilary Leigh, a young naval officer on board the _Kestrel_, in the preventive service off the coast of Sussex. Leigh is taken prisoner by the adherents of the Pretender, amongst whom is an early friend and patron, who desires to spare his life, but will not release him. The narrative is full of exciting and often humorous incident.

“Mr. Fenn has won a foremost place among writers for boys. This is, we think, the best of all his productions in this field.”—_Daily News_.

—The Golden Magnet: A Tale of the Land of the Incas. With 12 page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 3_s._

The tale is of a romantic youth, who leaves home to seek his fortune in South America. He is accompanied by a faithful companion, who, in the capacity both of comrade and henchman, does true service, and shows the dogged courage of an English lad during their strange adventures.

“There could be no more welcome present for a boy. There is not a dull page, and many will be read with breathless interest.”—_Journal of Education_.

Capt. F. S. BRERETON, R.A.M.C.

Foes of the Red Cockade: A Story of the French Revolution. Illustrated by WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I. 6_s._

Two English lads, wrecked at St. Malo, are persecuted as Aristocrats. They see the Reign of Terror in all its horror, but fortunately escape to the château of an uncle in La Vendée. A quarrel with a cousin ensues, and fighting occurs at the same time with the Republicans. As a scout the elder does gallant service till captured and taken to Paris, where he confronts Robespierre and falls into his cousin’s hands. Again, however, he escapes, and after many exciting experiences finally reaches safety and friends.

“Cannot fail to give great enjoyment to many boys and girls, and not a little profit.”—_Literary World_.

—In the Grip of the Mullah: A Tale of Adventure in Somaliland. Illustrated by CHARLES M. SHELDON. With a Map. 5_s._

The hero organizes a search-party and advances into Somaliland to rescue his father, who has fallen into the hands of the Mullah. The little force is opposed from the outset, but undaunted they push forward, and in spite of many difficulties and dangers succeed in accomplishing their object. The interest increases as the story advances, and becomes intense when the hero penetrates alone into the heart of the Mullah’s camp.

“A fresher, more exciting, and more spirited tale could not be wished for.”—_British Weekly_.

—One of the Fighting Scouts: A Tale of Guerilla Warfare in South Africa. Illustrated by STANLEY L. WOOD. With a Map. 5_s._

This story deals with the guerrilla aspect of the Boer War, and shows how George Ransome is compelled to leave his father’s farm and take service with the British. He is given the command of a band of scouts as a reward for gallantry, and with these he punishes certain rebels for a piece of rascality, and successfully attacks Botha’s commando. Thanks to his knowledge of the veldt he is of signal service to his country, and even outwits the redoubtable De Wet.

“Altogether an unusually good story.”—_Yorkshire Post_.

—Under the Spangled Banner: A Tale of the Spanish-American War. With 8 Illustrations by PAUL HARDY. 5_s._

Hal Marchant is in Cuba before the commencement of hostilities. A Spaniard who has been frustrated in an attempt to rob Hal’s employer attacks the hacienda and is defeated, but turns the tables by denouncing Hal as a spy. The hero makes good his escape from Santiago, and afterwards fights for America both on land and at sea. The story gives a vivid and at the same time accurate account of this memorable struggle.

“Just the kind of book that a boy would delight in.”—_Schoolmaster_.

HERBERT STRANG

Tom Burnaby: A Story of Uganda and the Great Congo Forest. Illustrated by CHARLES M. SHELDON. With 3 Plans. 5_s._

Field-Marshal Lord Wolseley writes:—“It is just the sort of book I would give to any school-boy, for I know he would enjoy every page of it.”

The Rev. Dr. Wood, Head-master of Harrow, writes:—“I have read it through with interest. It is an excellent book for boys, full of vigour and romance.”

“The fierce struggles between the Bahima and the Arabs, with their Manyema allies, are told with a vigour and enthusiasm that will stir the heart of any boy.... When we add that Mr. Strang gives us a really graphic and thrilling impression of travel in the forests of Africa, and an almost living acquaintance with Arab and Negro, it is scarcely necessary to recommend it to boys as a delightful story of African adventure.”—_Spectator_.

Dr. GORDON STABLES, R.N.

In the Great White Land: A Tale of the Antarctic Ocean. With 6 Illustrations by J. A. WALTON. 3_s._ 6_d._

This is a most fascinating story from beginning to end. It is a true picture of what daring healthful British men and boys can do, written by an author whose name is a household word wherever the English language is spoken. All is described with a master’s hand, and the plot is just such as boys love.

“The narrative goes with a swing and a dash from start to finish.”—_Public Opinion_.

ERNEST GLANVILLE

In search of the Okapi: A Story of Adventure in Central Africa. Illustrated by WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I. 6_s._

Two school chums join an expedition into the unexplored reaches of the vast central forest which the Okapi inhabits. The search for the strange animal, however, serves merely as an excuse for the journey, and once the little party is afloat on the Congo they go whither fortune leads them, and many and exciting are their adventures in the unknown wilds.

“A story to make a boy’s heart throb with eager interest.”—_Birmingham Gazette_.

The Diamond Seekers: A Story of Adventure in South Africa. With 8 Illustrations by WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I. 6_s._

The discovery of the plan of the diamond mine, the dangers incurred in reaching the wild, remote spot in an armoured wagon, and the many incidents of farm and veldt life, are vividly described by an author who knows the country well.

“We have seldom seen a better story for boys.”—_Guardian_.

FREDERICK HARRISON

The Boys of Wynport College. With 6 Illustrations by HAROLD COPPING. 3_s._ _New Edition._

The hero and his chums differ as widely in character as in personal appearance. We have Patrick O’Flahertie, the good-natured Irish boy; Jack Brookes, the irrepressible humorist; Davie Jackson, the true-hearted little lad, on whose haps and mishaps the plot to a great extent turns; and the hero himself, who finds in his experiences at Wynport College a wholesome corrective of a somewhat lax home training.

“A book which no well-regulated school-boy should be without.”—_Whitehall Review_.

LÉON GOLSCHMANN

Boy Crusoes: A Story of the Siberian Forest. Adapted from the Russian by LÉON GOLSCHMANN. With 6 page Illustrations by J. FINNEMORE, R.I. 3_s._ 6_d._

Two Russian lads are so deeply impressed by reading _Robinson Crusoe_ that they run away from home. They lose their way in a huge trackless forest, and for two years are kept busy hunting for food, fighting against wolves and other enemies, and labouring to increase their comforts, before they are rescued.

“This is a story after a boy’s own heart.”—_Nottingham Guardian_.

MEREDITH FLETCHER

Every Inch a Briton: A School Story. With 6 page Illustrations by SYDNEY COWELL. 3_s._ 6_d._

This story is written from the point of view of an ordinary boy, who gives an animated account of a young public-schoolboy’s life. No moral is drawn; yet the story indicates a kind of training that goes to promote veracity, endurance, and enterprise; and of each of several of the characters it might be truly said, he is worthy to be called, “Every Inch a Briton”.

“In Every Inch a Briton Mr. Meredith Fletcher has scored a success.”—_Manchester Guardian_.

EDGAR PICKERING

In Press-Gang Days. With 4 Illustrations by W. S. STACEY. 2_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

In this story Harry Waring is caught by the Press-gang and carried on board His Majesty’s ship _Sandwich_. He takes part in the mutiny of the Nore, and shares in some hard fighting on board the _Phœnix_. He is with Nelson, also, at the storming of Santa Cruz, and the battle of the Nile.

“It is of Marryat, that friend of our boyhood, we think as we read this delightful story; for it is not only a story of adventure, with incidents well-conceived and arranged, but the characters are interesting and well-distinguished.”—_Academy_.

FRED SMITH

The Boyhood of a Naturalist. With 6 page Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

Few lovers of Nature have given to the world a series of recollections so entertaining, so vigorous, and so instinct with life as these delightful reminiscences. The author takes the reader with him in the rambles in which he spent the happiest hours of his boyhood, a humble observer of the myriad forms of life in field and copse, by stream and hedgerow.

“We cannot too highly recommend the book to all readers.”—_Guardian_.

—The World of Animal Life. Edited by FRED SMITH. Profusely Illustrated with Engravings after F. SPECHT and other eminent artists. 5_s._

The aim of _The World of Animal Life_ is to give in non-scientific language an account of those inhabitants of the land, sea, and sky with whose names we are all familiar, but concerning whose manner of life the majority of us have only the haziest conceptions.

“An admirable volume for the young mind enquiring after Nature.”—_Birmingham Gazette_.

J. CHALMERS

Fighting the Matabele: A story of Adventure in Rhodesia. Illustrated by STANLEY L. WOOD. 3_s._ _New Edition._

A story of the great Matabele rising in 1896. The hero and his friends are surprised by the revolted natives in the heart of the Matopo mountains, and after many stirring adventures make their way back to Buluwayo. The hero subsequently joins the Africander Corps, and distinguishes himself in the operations by which the insurrection is crushed.

“The stormy times of the recent insurrection in Matabeleland are described with a piquantness which will ensure the book becoming a favourite.”—_Liverpool Courier_.

CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY

Gold, Gold in Cariboo: A Story of Adventure in British Columbia. With 4 Illustrations by G. C. HINDLEY. 2_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

Ned Corbett, a young Englishman, and his companion set out with a pack-train in order to obtain gold on the upper reaches of the Fraser River. After innumerable adventures, and a life-and-death struggle with the Arctic weather of that wild region, they find the secret gold-mines for which they have toilsomely searched.

“It would be difficult to say too much in favour of _Gold, Gold in Cariboo_. We have seldom read a more exciting tale of wild mining adventure in a singularly inaccessible country. There is a capital plot, and the interest is sustained to the last page.”—_The Times_.

ROBERT LEIGHTON

The Wreck of the Golden Fleece. Illustrated by FRANK BRANGWYN. 3_s._ _New Edition._

The hero is apprenticed on board a Lowestoft fishing lugger, where he has to suffer many buffets from his shipmates. The storms and dangers which he braved are set forth with intense power. The narrative deals with a highway robbery, the trial of the accused fisherman, his escape, and the mad chase after the criminal out upon the high seas.

“Excellent in every respect, it contains every variety of incident. The plot is very cleverly devised, and the types of the North Sea sailors are capital.”—_The Times_.

S. BARING-GOULD

Grettir the Outlaw: A Story of Iceland in the days of the Vikings. With 6 page Illustrations by M. ZENO DIEMER. 3_s._

A narrative of adventure of the most romantic kind. No boy will be able to withstand the magic of such scenes as the fight of Grettir with the twelve bearserks, the wrestle with Karr the Old in the chamber of the dead, the combat with the spirit of Glam the thrall, and the defence of the dying Grettir by his younger brother.

“Has a freshness, a freedom, a sense of sun and wind and the open air, which make it irresistible.”—_National Observer_.

C. J. CUTCLIFFE HYNE

The Captured Cruiser: or, Two Years from Land. With 6 page Illustrations by F. BRANGWYN. 3_s._ 6_d._

The central incidents deal with the capture, during the war between Chili and Peru, of an armed cruiser. The heroes and their companions break from prison in Valparaiso, board this warship in the night, overpower the watch, escape to sea under the fire of the forts, and finally, after marvellous adventures, lose the cruiser among the icebergs near Cape Horn.

“The two lads and the two skippers are admirably drawn. Mr. Hyne has now secured a position in the first rank of writers of fiction for boys.”—_Spectator_.

—Stimson’s Reef: With 4 Page Illustrations by W. S. STACEY. 2_s._ 6_d._

This is the extended log of a cutter which sailed from the Clyde to the Amazon in search of a gold reef. It relates how they discovered the buccaneer’s treasure in the Spanish Main, fought the Indians, turned aside the river Jamary by blasting, and so laid bare the gold of _Stimson’s Reef_.

“Few stories come within hailing distance of _Stimson’s Reef_ in startling incidents and hairbreadth ’scapes. It may almost vie with Mr. R. L. Stevenson’s _Treasure Island_.”—_Guardian_.

PAUL DANBY

The Red Army Book. With many Illustrations in colour and in black-and-white. 6_s._

This book includes chapters on the various branches of the regular army, and also on such attractive subjects as “Boys who have won the V.C.”, “Pets of the Regiment”, “The Colours”, “Famous War Horses”, &c. Each chapter, besides dealing generally with its subject, is full of capital anecdotes, and the book as a whole is excellently illustrated with colour and black-and-white illustrations.

“Every boy would glory in the keeping and reading of such a prize.”—_Daily Telegraph_.

FREDERICK P. GIBBON

The Disputed V.C. Illustrated by STANLEY L. WOOD. 5_s._

“A tale of the Great Mutiny which should stir a boy’s blood, and will tell him all he cares to know of that memorable death-struggle for our supremacy.... Even Lord Roberts scarcely gives a more spirited account of the defence of Delhi, of the difficulties to be overcome, and of the good service of the gallant little army which so long held stubbornly to the Ridge.”—_Times_.

A. J. CHURCH

Two Thousand Years Ago. Illustrated. 3_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

Lucius Marius, a Roman boy, has a very chequered career, being now a captive in the hands of Spartacus, again an officer on board a vessel detailed for the suppression of the pirates, and anon a captive once more on a pirate ship. He escapes to Tarsus, is taken prisoner in the war with Mithridates, and detained in Pontus for a number of years.

“Adventures well worth the telling. The book is extremely entertaining as well as useful, and there is a wonderful freshness in the Roman scenes and characters.”—_Times_.

OLIPHANT SMEATON

A Mystery of the Pacific. Illustrated by WAL PAGET. 3_s._ _New Edition._

The _Fitzroy_, a small sailing vessel, discovers an extraordinary island in the South Seas, that has been hidden for ages behind a wide belt of sea-weed. The country is peopled by descendants of colonists from Imperial Rome, and by a yet older race who trace their origin to the long-lost Atlantis. In graphic language the author describes the strange experiences that befell the crew of the _Fitzroy_ among these remarkable people.

“A tale of unprecedented adventure in unknown lands.... Boys will revel in the book.”—_Birmingham Gazette_.

R. STEAD

Grit will Tell: The Adventures of a Barge-boy. With 4 Illustrations by D. CARLETON SMYTH. Cloth, 2_s._ 6_d._

A lad whose name has been lost amidst early buffetings by hard fortune suffers many hardships at the hands of a bargeman, his master, and runs away. The various adventures and experiences with which he meets on the road to success, the bear-hunt in which he takes part, and the battle at which he acts as war correspondent, form a story of absorbing interest and after a boy’s own heart.

“A thoroughly wholesome and attractive book.”—_Graphic_.

HARRY COLLINGWOOD

The Pirate Island. With 6 page Illustrations by C. J. STANILAND and J. R. WELLS. 3_s._ _New Edition._

By a deed of true gallantry the hero’s whole destiny is changed, and, going to sea, he forms one of a party who, after being burned out of their ship in the South Pacific, are picked up by a pirate brig and taken to the “Pirate Island”. After many thrilling adventures, they ultimately succeed in effecting their escape.

“A capital story of the sea; indeed in our opinion the author is superior in some respects as a marine novelist to the better-known Mr. Clark Russell.”—_Times_.

FLORENCE COOMBE

Boys of the Priory School. With 4 page Illustrations by HAROLD COPPING. 2_s._ 6_d._

The interest centres in the relations of Raymond and Hal Wentworth, and the process by which Raymond, the hero of the school, learns that in the person of his ridiculed cousin there beats a heart more heroic than his own.

“It is an excellent work of its class, cleverly illustrated with ‘real boys’ by Mr. Harold Copping.”—_Literature_.

JOHN C. HUTCHESON

Afloat at Last: A Sailor Boy’s Log. With 6 page Illustrations by W. H. OVEREND. 3_s._ 6_d._

From the stowing of the vessel in the Thames to her recovery from the Pratas Reef on which she is stranded, everything is described with the accuracy of perfect practical knowledge of ships and sailors; and the incidents of the story range from the broad humours of the fo’c’s’le to the perils of flight from, and fight with, the pirates of the China Seas.

“As healthy and breezy a book as one could wish.”—_Academy_.

Blackie & Son’s Story Books for Girls

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KATHARINE TYNAN

A Girl of Galway. With 8 full-page Illustrations by JOHN H. BACON. 6_s._

When Bertha Grace is on the threshold of young womanhood, she goes to stay with her grandfather in Ireland, with the trust from her mother of reconciling him and his son, Bertha’s father. Bertha finds her grandfather a recluse and a miser, and in the hands of an underling, who is his evil genius. How she keeps faith with her mother and finds her own fate, through many strange adventures, is the subject of the story.

“Full of the poetic charm we are accustomed to find in the works of that gifted writer.”—_World_.

—The Handsome Brandons. Illustrated by G. D. HAMMOND, R.I. 3_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

A delightful story of an ancient Irish family. Every one of the nine young Brandons was handsome, and every one was spirited and lovable. The shadows in the picture hang ominously over Castle Angry and its inmate, the vindictive Sir Rupert de Lacy. The story ends happily for “The Handsome Brandons” with the re-establishment of the family fortunes.

“A really excellent piece of work, ... the literary quality of Miss Tynan’s work is its chief distinction.”—_Spectator_.

CAROLINE AUSTIN

Cousin Geoffrey and I. With 6 full-page Illustrations by W. PARKINSON. 3_s._

The only daughter of a country gentleman finds herself unprovided for at her father’s death, and for some time lives as a dependant upon her kinsman. Life is saved from being unbearable to her by her young cousin Geoffrey, who at length meets with a serious accident for which she is held responsible. She makes a brave attempt to earn her own livelihood, until a startling event brings her cousin Geoffrey and herself together again.

“Miss Austin’s story is bright, clever, and well developed.”—_Saturday Review_.

ELLINOR DAVENPORT ADAMS

A Queen among Girls. With 6 Illustrations by HAROLD COPPING. Cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._

Augusta Pembroke is the head of her school, the favourite of her teachers and fellow-pupils, who are attracted by her fearless and independent nature and her queenly bearing. She dreams of a distinguished professional career; but the course of her life is changed suddenly by pity for her timid little brother Adrian, the victim of his guardian-uncle’s harshness. The story describes the daring means adopted by Augusta for Adrian’s relief.

“An interesting and well-written narrative, in which humour and a keen eye for character unite to produce a book happily adapted for modern maidens.”—_Globe_.

—A Girl of To-Day. With 6 page Illustrations by G. D. HAMMOND, R.I. 3_s._ 6_d._

“What are Altruists?” humbly asks a small boy. “They are only people who try to help others,” replies the Girl of To-Day. To help their poorer neighbours, the boys and girls of Woodend band themselves together into the _Society of Altruists_. That they have plenty of fun is seen in the shopping expedition and in the successful Christmas entertainment.

“It is a spirited story. The characters are true to nature and carefully developed. Such a book as this is exactly what is needed to give a school-girl an interest in the development of character.”—_Educational Times_.

FRANCES ARMSTRONG

A Girl’s Loyalty. With 6 Illustrations by JOHN H. BACON. Cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

When she was still but a child, Helen Grant received from her grandfather, on his death-bed, a secret message. The brief words remained fast in her memory, and dominated her whole career. She was loyal to her trust, however, and to her friends in the hour of their need. For the girl was possessed of that quick courage which leaps up in a shy nature when evil-doers have to be unmasked, and wrongs made right.

“The one book for girls that stands out this year is Miss Frances Armstrong’s A Girl’s Loyalty.”—_Review of Reviews_.

MRS. HERBERT MARTIN

The Two Dorothys: A Tale for Girls. Illustrated. 2_s._ 6_d._

In this story the shy, dreamy, unselfish Dorothy Heriot comes to live with her great-aunt, the other Dorothy. This old lady is kind enough, but her discipline is unsympathetic. But the younger Dorothy’s loving, unselfish nature wins upon the proud old lady, and the end is happiness.

“Will not only interest and please all girls, but will also stimulate and encourage to better and higher things, youthful hopes and ambitions.”—_The Lady_.

ETHEL F. HEDDLE

Strangers in the Land. Illustrated by HAROLD COPPING. 6_s._

Two old maiden ladies and their charming young friend, Elspeth Macdonald, voyage to the beautiful island of Java on a quest that involves a story of uncommon interest. In the course of a series of exciting adventures, Elspeth unwittingly makes a discovery which seriously affects her friends. Towards the close the narrative is darkened by tragedy, but a flood of sunshine is thrown on the final chapter by the happy ending of a pleasant love-story.

“Apart from providing the best of entertainment, this book is noteworthy as stimulating high ideals of life and action, and renewing faith in lofty and chivalrous sentiment as a factor in human service.”—_Dundee Advertiser_.

—An Original Girl. With 8 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 6_s._

Christobel Beauchamp makes her living by typewriting in an office till chance throws her across the path of Lady Anne Prideaux, her grandmother. Her mother had made a _mésalliance_ by marrying an actor. Lady Anne desires to adopt Christobel, but the girl prefers to help her father. The story tells how the poor actor at last receives his “call”, and ends with the promise of good fortune for Christobel and her devoted lover.

“A very clever, well-constructed tale is this, and we wish it success.”—_British Weekly_.

—A Mystery of St. Rule’s. With 8 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN HAMMOND, R.I. 6_s._

“The author has been amazingly successful in keeping her secret almost to the end. Yet the mystery attending a stolen diamond of great value is so skilfully handled that several perfectly innocent persons seem all but hopelessly identified with the disappearance of the gem. Cleverly, however, as this aspect of the story has been managed, it has other sources of strength.”—_Scotsman_.

“The chief interest ... lies in the fascinating young adventuress, who finds a temporary nest in the old professor’s family, and wins all hearts in St. Rule’s by her beauty and her sweetness.”—_Morning Leader_.

SARAH DOUDNEY

Under False Colours. With 6 Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._

A story which will attract readers of all ages and of either sex. The incidents of the plot, arising from the thoughtless indulgence of a deceptive freak, are exceedingly natural, and the keen interest of the narrative is sustained from beginning to end. _Under False Colours_ is a book which will rivet the attention, amuse the fancy, and touch the heart.

“This is a charming story, abounding in delicate touches of sentiment and pathos. Its plot is skilfully contrived. It will be read with a warm interest by every girl who takes it up.”—_Scotsman_.

ROSA MULHOLLAND (LADY GILBERT)

Cynthia’s Bonnet Shop. With 8 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN HAMMOND, R.I. 5_s._

Cynthia, one of three charming lively sisters of an impoverished Connaught family, desires to make money for the sake of her delicate mother. Cynthia and her star-struck sister Befind go to London, the former to open a bonnet shop, which becomes a great success, and the other to pursue the study of astronomy. How both girls find new interests in life, more important even than bonnet shop or star-gazing, is described with mingled humour and pathos.

“Just of the kind to please and fascinate a host of girl readers.”—_Liverpool Mercury_.

—The Girls of Banshee Castle. With 6 Illustrations by JOHN H. BACON. 3_s._ 6_d._ _New Edition._

Three girls, with an old governess, migrate from Kensington to the West of Ireland. Belonging as they do to “the ould family”, the girls are made heartily welcome in the cabins of the peasantry, where they learn many weird and curious tales from the folk-lore of the district. An interesting plot runs through the narrative, but the charm of the story lies in its happy mingling of Irish humour and pathos.

“Is told with grace, and brightened by a knowledge of Irish folk-lore, making it a perfect present for a girl in her teens.”—_Truth_.

—Giannetta: A Girl’s Story of Herself. With 6 full-page Illustrations by LOCKHART BOGLE. 3_s._

The story of a changeling who is suddenly transferred to the position of a rich English heiress. She develops into a good and accomplished woman, and has gained too much love and devotion to be a sufferer by the surrender of her estates.

ANNIE E. ARMSTRONG

Three Bright Girls. With 6 full-page Illustrations by W. PARKINSON. 3_s._ 6_d._

By a sudden turn of fortune’s wheel the three heroines are brought down from a household of lavish comfort to meet the incessant cares and worries of those who have to eke out a very limited income. The charm of the story lies in the cheery helpfulness of spirit developed in the girls by their changed circumstances.

“Ever bright and cheerful, they influence other lives, and at last they come out of their trials with honour to themselves and benefits to all about them.”—_Teachers’ Aid_.

ELIZA F. POLLARD

For the Red Rose. With 4 Illustrations by JAMES DURDEN. 2_s._ 6_d._

A gipsy finds a little girl in the forest of Wimbourne, after the sacking of the castle by the Yorkists. He carries her to the camp and she is adopted by the tribe. The story tells how, when some years later Margaret of Anjou and her son are wrecked on the coast of England, the gipsy girl follows the fortunes of the exiled queen, and by what curious chain of events her own origin is discovered.

“This is a good story, and of special interest to lovers of historical romance.”—_Court Circular_.

—The Doctor’s Niece. With 6 Illustrations by SYDNEY COWELL. 3_s._ 6_d._

The scene of this charming story is laid in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century. The heroine is educated considerably above her station. When she is about sixteen she becomes companion to a little girl at a neighbouring château. Her charge mysteriously disappears during a peasant rebellion, and she goes out into the woods to find her. The result of the adventure is that Rosette discovers her mother, who proves to be the rightful owner of the château, and the tale ends happily.

“Full of mystery, adventure, and a winning simplicity.”—_Bookman_.

—The King’s Signet: The Story of a Huguenot Family. With 6 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN HAMMOND, R.I. 3_s._ 6_d._

This story relates the adventures of a noble Huguenot family, driven out of their château by the dragoons after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. A friend of the family, Claudine Malot, who is also a Huguenot, but a protégée of Madame de Maintenon, possesses a talisman, by means of which she saves many lives; but this brings trouble upon her, and she has to leave France. The adventures lead to the battle of the Boyne, and to the happy reunion of the scattered family in Ireland.

“A stirring tale of the persecution of the Huguenots clearly and touchingly told.”—_Guardian_.

BESSIE MARCHANT

Three Girls on a Ranch: A Story of New Mexico. Illustrated. 2_s._ 6_d._

The Lovell family emigrate from England to New Mexico. Mr. Lovell is delicate and unfit for farming, but the three eldest girls take upon themselves the burden of working the ranch. They have adventures of a perilous kind, and the story of their mishaps and how they overcame them is throughout both exciting and stimulating.

“A story with a fresh, bright theme, well handled.”—_Nottingham Guardian_.

E. EVERETT-GREEN

Little Lady Clare. Illustrated. 2_s._ 6_d._

The little Lady Clare inherits the responsibilities of an ancestry and a family feud, but the estates and title of her father fall to the hated branch of the family. The child, however, works out for herself the problem of the divided house, which is at last united again in a romantic manner.

“Reminds us in its quaintness and tender pathos of Mrs. Ewing’s delightful tales. The characters are very real and lifelike. Is quite one of the best stories Miss Green has yet given us.”—_Literary World_.

SARAH TYTLER

A Loyal Little Maid. With 4 page Illustrations by PAUL HARDY. 2_s._ 6_d._

This pretty story is founded on a romantic episode of Mar’s rebellion. A little girl has information which concerns the safety of her father in hiding, and this she firmly refuses to divulge to a king’s officer. She is lodged in the Tolbooth, where she finds a boy champion, whom in future years she rescues in Paris from the _lettre de cachet_ which would bury him in the Bastille.

“Has evidently been a pleasure to write, and makes very enjoyable reading.”—_Literature_.

—Girl Neighbours. With 6 Illustrations. 3_s._

A story for girls, told in that quaint, delightful fashion which has made Miss Tytler’s books so popular and attractive. The introduction of the two young ladies from London, who represent the modern institutions of professional nursing and schools of cookery, is very happily effected.

“One of the most effective and quietly humorous of Miss Sarah Tytler’s stories. Very healthy, very agreeable, and very well written.”—_The Spectator_.

ALICE CORKRAN

Margery Merton’s Girlhood. With 6 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 2_s._ 6_d._

The experiences of an orphan girl who in infancy is left by her father—an officer in India—to the care of an elderly aunt residing near Paris. The accounts of the various persons who have an after influence on the story are singularly vivid.

“_Margery Merton’s Girlhood_ is a piece of true literature, as dainty as it is delicate, and as sweet as it is simple.”—_Woman’s World_.

GERALDINE MOCKLER

The Four Miss Whittingtons: A Story for Girls. With 8 full-page Illustrations by CHARLES M. SHELDON. 5_s._

This story tells how four sisters, left alone in the world, went to London to seek their fortunes. They had between them £400, and this they resolved to spend on training themselves for the different careers for which they were severally most fitted. On their limited means this was hard work, but their courageous experiment was on the whole very successful.

“A story of endeavour, industry, and independence of spirit.”—_World_.

ALICE STRONACH

A Newnham Friendship. With 6 full-page Illustrations by HAROLD COPPING. 3_s._ 6_d._

A sympathetic description of life at Newnham College. After the tripos excitements, some of the students leave their dream-world of study and talk of “cocoas” and debates and athletics to begin their work in the real world. Men students play their part in the story, and in the closing chapters it is suggested that marriage has its place in a girl graduate’s life.

“Foremost among all the gift-books suitable for school-girls this season stands Miss Alice Stronach’s A Newnham Friendship.”—_Daily Graphic_.

BESSIE MARCHANT

A Heroine of the Sea. Illustrated by A. M‘LELLAN. 3_s._ 6_d._

Maudie’s home was on the wild westerly shore of Vancouver Island, and she earned her living by fishing in the Inlet, heartily despising all merely feminine occupations, and not even knowing that she was beautiful. Then changes come, and Maudie awakes to the charm of a domestic life. Clouds gather about the home, and many troubles intervene before the mystery is at last happily cleared away.

“A genuine tale of adventure for girls, and girls will thoroughly enjoy it.”—_Academy_.

—Three Girls on a Ranch: A Story of New Mexico. With 4 page Illustrations by W. E. WEBSTER. 2_s._ 6_d._

The Lovell family emigrate from England to New Mexico, where they settle on a ranch. Mr. Lovell is delicate and unfit for farming, but the three eldest girls take upon themselves the burden of working the ranch. They have adventures of a perilous kind, and the story of their mishaps and how they overcame them is throughout both exciting and stimulating.

“A story with a fresh, bright theme, well handled.”—_Nottingham Guardian_.

“A rousing book for young people.”—_Queen_.

MRS. HENRY CLARKE

The Fairclough Family. With 6 Illustrations by G. D. HAMMOND, R.I. Cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._

It was matter for amazement when Ronald Hammersley fell in love with Kathy Fairclough, who was considered a blue-stocking, instead of with her younger sister Nell, whom Mrs. Hammersley had chosen for him. Why Mrs. Hammersley desired her wealthy stepson to marry one of Dr. Fairclough’s penniless daughters was a secret. How the secret became known, and nearly wrecked the happiness of Kathy and Ronald, is told in the story. But all ends well, and to the sound of marriage bells.

“One of those stories which all girls enjoy.”—_World_.

J. M. CALLWELL

A Little Irish Girl. Illustrated by H. COPPING. 2_s._ 6_d._

An orphaned family inherit a small property on the coast of Clare. The two youngest members of the party have some thrilling adventures in their western home. They encounter seals, smugglers, and a ghost, and lastly, by most startling means, they succeed in restoring their eldest brother to his rightful place as heir to the ancestral estates.

“Sure to prove of thrilling interest to both boys and girls.”—_Literary World_.

E. EVERETT-GREEN

Miriam’s Ambition. With Illustrations. 2_s._ 6_d._

Miriam’s ambition is to make someone happy, and her endeavour carries with it a train of incident, solving a mystery which had thrown a shadow over several lives. A charming foil to her grave elder sister is to be found in Miss Babs, a small coquette of five, whose humorous child-talk is so attractive.

“Miss Everett-Green’s children are real British boys and girls, not small men and women. Babs is a charming little one.”—_Liverpool Mercury_.

ELLINOR DAVENPORT ADAMS

Those Twins! With a Frontispiece and 28 Illustrations by S. B. PEARCE. 2_s._ 6_d._

Two little rogues are the twins, Horatio and Tommy; but loyal-hearted and generous to boot, and determined to resist the stern decree of their aunt that they shall forsake the company of their scapegrace grown-up cousin Algy. So they deliberately set to work to “reform” the scapegrace; and succeed so well that he wins back the love of his aunt.

Blackie & Son’s Illustrated Books for Children

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CHARLES ROBINSON—WALTER JERROLD

The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes. Selected and edited by WALTER JERROLD. With nearly 400 Illustrations in Colour or Black-and-White by CHARLES ROBINSON. Large 4to, cloth elegant, gilt edges, 7_s._ 6_d._ net.

This beautiful volume, in which Mr. Charles Robinson has interpreted with delightful humour and rare artistic skill the old familiar rhymes of the nursery, will be an unfailing source of pleasure to children of all ages. The pictures are bold, clear, and direct, as befits a book intended in the first place for little folk, but they exhibit at the same time a power of draughtsmanship that will give the volume a permanent artistic value.

“This is a really magnificent gift-book for quite little children.”—_Saturday Review_.

JOHN HASSALL—CLIFTON BINGHAM

Six and Twenty Boys and Girls. Pictures by JOHN HASSALL; Verses by CLIFTON BINGHAM. 25 pages in full colour, and 24 pages of letterpress. Picture boards, 9 inches by 11¼ inches, cloth back, 3_s._ 6_d._; also cloth elegant, 5_s._

Most of us know some at least of the little girls and boys portrayed by Mr. Hassall in this amusing picture-book. As depicted with Mr. Hassall’s inimitable skill, and described in humorous verse by Mr. Bingham, they may challenge comparison with the classic Struwwelpeter. Each picture is not only attractive and amusing in itself, but furnishes a hint of virtues to be imitated or faults to be avoided.

“A most original picture-book.”—_World_.

MRS. PERCY DEARMER

Roundabout Rhymes. With 20 full-page Illustrations in colour by Mrs. PERCY DEARMER. Imperial 8vo, cloth extra, 2_s._ 6_d._

A charming volume of verses and colour pictures for little folk-rhymes and pictures about most of the everyday events of nursery life.

“The best verses written for children since Stevenson’s _Child’s Garden_.”—_The Guardian_.

STEWART ORR—JOHN BRYMER

Gammon and Spinach. Pictures by STEWART ORR. Verses by JOHN BRYMER. Cover design and 24 pages in Full Colour. Picture boards, cloth back, 6_s._

In _Gammon and Spinach_ Mr. Stewart Orr has produced a picture-book unique of its kind. Nothing could be more droll than the situations in which he represents the frog, the pig, the mouse, the elephant, and the other well-known characters who appear in his pages. Little folk will find in these pictures a source of endless delight, and the artistic skill which they display will have a special appeal to children of an older growth.

“Merry and handsome enough to make thousands of friends among little folk, what with its original verses and its amusing pictures.”—_Literary World_.

“The book should attain a wide popularity in the nursery.”—_Morning Post_.

—Two Merry Mariners. Pictures by STEWART ORR. Verses by JOHN BRYMER. Cover design and 24 pages in full colour. Picture boards, cloth back, 6_s._

This delightful volume tells in picture and verse how Dick and his friend the Hare sailed to the Downy Isle, the adventures they met with in that strange country, their encounter with the Dragon, and their remarkable voyage home. Mr. Orr exhibits in these designs a rare combination of humorous invention with brilliant draughtsmanship and command of colour, and the author supports him with a series of racy verses.

“The illustrations are masterpieces of drollery.”—_Manchester Courier_.

“The verses are very funny and original.”—_World_.

FRED SMITH

The Animal Book. A Natural History for Little Folk with a Coloured Frontispiece and 34 full-page Illustrations by F. SPECHT. Crown quarto, 11¼ inches by 9½ inches, picture boards, cloth back, 2_s._ 6_d._

This book consists of a series of bright and instructive sketches of the better-known wild beasts, describing their appearance, character and habits, and the position they hold in the animal kingdom. The text is printed in a large, clear type, and is admirably illustrated with powerful, realistic pictures of the various creatures in their native state by that eminent animal artist F. Specht.

“A work of the greatest value to the young.”—_Eastern Morning News_.

H. B. NEILSON—CLIFTON BINGHAM

The Animals’ Academy. With 24 full-page Colour Illustrations and many Black-and-White Vignettes. Picture-boards, cloth back, 3_s._ 6_d._; cloth, 5_s._

In _The Animals’ Academy_ Mr. Neilson and Mr. Bingham have again combined their forces, and have turned out a picture-book which for fun and variety will be difficult to equal. In bright, musical, “catchy” verse Mr. Bingham tells of the many amusing events that take place at a school in which the elephant is master and other well-known animals are the scholars, and Mr. Neilson illustrates the story as only he can illustrate animal frolics.

“A humorous, clever, and delightful book. The pictures of the dressed-up animals will captivate little children.”—_British Weekly_.

H. B. NEILSON—JOHN BRYMER

Games and Gambols. Illustrated by HARRY B. NEILSON; with Verses by JOHN BRYMER. 26 pages in colour, and 24 pages of letterpress. Picture boards, 9 inches by 11¼ inches, cloth back, 2_s._ 6_d._; also cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

Mr. Neilson surpasses himself in these irresistible colour pictures representing the animal world at play. The great test match between the Lions and the Kangaroos, Mrs. Mouse’s Ping-Pong Party, Mr. Bruin playing Golf, Towser’s Bicycle Tour, and the Kittens _v._ Bunnies Football Match, are a few among the many droll subjects illustrated in this amusing and original series.

“Mr. Neilson has a positive genius for making animals comic.”—_Academy_.

“Children will revel in his work.”—_Daily Graphic_.

S. R. PRAEGER

How They Went to School. With 24 full-page pictures in full colour. Picture-boards, cloth back, 2_s._ 6_d._; cloth extra, 3_s._ 6_d._

A pretty picture-book for the little ones, full of quiet humour and shrewd observation of child life. The book tells in picture and story how Hal and Kitty, two tiny scholars, set out on their way to school, and the various adventures that happen to them on the road.

“Quite the most charming book we have yet seen.”—_Daily News_.

OUR DARLING’S FIRST BOOK

Bright Pictures and Easy Lessons for Little Folk. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches, picture boards, 1_s._; cloth, gilt edges, 2_s._

An interesting and instructive picture lesson-book for very little folk. Beginning with an illustrated alphabet of large letters, the little reader goes forward by easy stages to word-making, reading, counting, writing, and finally to the most popular nursery rhymes and tales.

“The very perfection of a child’s alphabet and spelling-book.”—_St. James’s Budget_.

ELLINOR DAVENPORT ADAMS

Those Twins! With a Frontispiece and 28 Illustrations by S. B. PEARSE. Cloth elegant, 2_s._ 6_d._

Two little rogues are the twins, Horatio and Tommy; but loyal-hearted and generous to boot, and determined to resist the stern decree of their aunt that they shall forsake the company of their scapegrace grown-up cousin Algy. So they deliberately set to work to “reform” the scapegrace; and succeed so well that he wins back the love of his aunt, and delights the twins by earning a V.C. in South Africa.

“A merry story for young and old.”—_World_.

A. B. ROMNEY

Little Village Folk. With 37 Illustrations by ROBERT HOPE. 2_s._ 6_d._

A series of delightful stories of Irish village children. Miss Romney opens up a new field in these beautiful little tales, which have the twofold charm of humour and poetic feeling.

“A story-book that will be welcomed wherever it makes its way.”—_Literary World_.

MY NEW STORY-BOOK

Stories, Verses, and Pictures for the Little Ones. 290 pages, of which 48 are in colour. Cloth; 2_s._ 6_d._

A treasury of entertainment for the nursery. The contents are extremely varied both as regards the text and the illustrations, and carefully designed to meet the tastes of the little ones. The many bright colour pictures will be in themselves a never-failing source of delight.

“A fascinating little volume, well filled with stories and quaint and pretty illustrations.”—_Guardian_.

STORIES BY GEORGE MAC DONALD

(NEW AND UNIFORM EDITION)

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A Rough Shaking. With 12 page Illustrations by W. PARKINSON. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

Clare, the hero of the story, is a boy whose mother is killed at his side by the fall of a church during an earthquake. The kindly clergyman and his wife, who adopt him, die while he is still very young, and he is thrown upon the world a second time. The narrative of his wanderings is full of interest and novelty, the boy’s unswerving honesty and his passion for children and animals leading him into all sorts of adventures. He works on a farm, supports a baby in an old deserted house, finds employment in a menagerie, becomes a bank clerk, is kidnapped, and ultimately discovers his father on board the ship to which he has been conveyed.

At the Back of the North Wind. With 75 Illustrations by ARTHUR HUGHES, and a Frontispiece by LAURENCE HOUSMAN. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

“In _At the Back of the North Wind_ we stand with one foot in fairyland and one on common earth. The story is thoroughly original, full of fancy and pathos.”—_The Times_.

Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood. With 36 Illustrations by ARTHUR HUGHES. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

“Dr. Mac Donald has a real understanding of boy nature, and he has in consequence written a capital story, judged from their stand-point, with a true ring all through which ensures its success.”—_The Spectator_.

The Princess and the Goblin. With 30 Illustrations by ARTHUR HUGHES, and a Frontispiece by LAURENCE HOUSMAN. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

In the sphere of fantasy George Mac Donald has very few equals, and his rare touch of many aspects of life invariably gives to his stories a deeper meaning of the highest value. His _Princess and Goblin_ exemplifies both gifts. A fine thread of allegory runs through the narrative of the adventures of the young miner, who, amongst other marvellous experiences, finds his way into the caverns of the gnomes, and achieves a final victory over them.

The Princess and Curdie. With Frontispiece and 30 Illustrations by HELEN STRATTON. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, 3_s._ 6_d._

A sequel to _The Princess and the Goblin_, tracing the history of the young miner and the princess after the return of the latter to her father’s court, where more terrible foes have to be encountered than the grotesque earth-dwellers.

NEW “GRADUATED” SERIES

_With coloured frontispiece and black-and-white illustrations_

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No child of six or seven should have any difficulty in reading and understanding _unaided_ the pretty stories in the 6_d._ series. In the 9_d._ series the language used is slightly more advanced, but is well within the capacity of children of seven and upwards, while the 1_s._ series is designed for little folk of somewhat greater attainments. If the stories are read _to_ and not _by_ children, it will be found that the 6_d._ 9_d._ and 1_s._ series are equally suitable for little folk of all ages.

*“GRADUATED” STORIES AT A SHILLING*

Holidays at Sunnycroft. By ANNIE S. SWAN. _New Edition._ At Lathom’s Siege. By SARAH TYTLER. Fleckie. By BESSIE MARCHANT. Elsie Wins. By ELLINOR DAVENPORT ADAMS. Bears and Dacoits. By G. A. HENTY. Crusoes of the Frozen North. By DR. GORDON STABLES. A Saxon Maid. By ELIZA F. POLLARD. Uncle Bob. By MEREDITH FLETCHER. Jack of Both Sides. By FLORENCE COOMBE. Do Your Duty! By G. A. HENTY. Terry. By ROSA MULHOLLAND (Lady Gilbert).

*“GRADUATED” STORIES AT NINEPENCE*

Gipsy Dick. By Mrs. HENRY CLARKE. Two to One. By FLORENCE COOMBE. Cherrythorpe Fair. By MABEL MACKNESS. Little Greycoat. By ELLINOR DAVENPORT ADAMS. Tommy’s Trek. By BESSIE MARCHANT. That Boy Jim. By Mrs. HENRY CLARKE. The Adventures of Carlo. By KATHARINE TYNAN. The Shoeblack’s Cat. By W. L. ROOPER. Three Troublesome Monkeys. By A. B. ROMNEY. The Little Red Purse. By JENNIE CHAPPELL.

*“GRADUATED” STORIES AT SIXPENCE*

Hi-Tum, Ti-Tum, and Scrub. By JENNIE CHAPPELL. Edie’s Adventures. By GERALDINE MOCKLER. Two Little Crusoes. By A. B. ROMNEY. The Lost Doll. By JENNIE CHAPPELL. Bunny and Furry. By GERALDINE MOCKLER. Bravest of All. By MABEL MACKNESS. Winnie’s White Frock. By JENNIE CHAPPELL. Lost Toby. By M. S. HAYCRAFT. A Boy Cousin. By GERALDINE MOCKLER. Travels of Fuzz and Buzz. By GERALDINE MOCKLER. Teddy’s Adventures. By Mrs. HENRY CLARKE.

NEW CHILDREN’S PICTURE-BOOKS

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Grimm’s Fairy Tales

In this beautiful series of picture-books the best of these fairy tales are given. The text is printed on good paper in a large and clear type, and the many illustrations in colour and in black-and-white are by Miss HELEN STRATTON.

HALF-CROWN SERIES

_Picture-boards, 13½ inches by 10 inches_

*Grimm’s Fairy Tales*

This handsome volume contains a large selection of the most popular stories by the brothers Grimm. The cover and no fewer than thirty pages are in full colour. Also in cloth, 3s. 6d.

ONE SHILLING SERIES

_Picture-boards, 13½ inches by 10 inches_

*Hansel and Grettel* | *Cherryblossom* *Roland and Maybird*

Besides the title story each volume contains several of the most popular of _Grimm’s Fairy Tales_.

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Historical Picture-Books

This novel series comprises those stories in English History that will interest and amuse little children. The tales are told in such a manner as to attract children, dates and anything that might even in the slightest way suggest the lesson-book being carefully avoided.

ONE SHILLING SERIES

_Picture-boards. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches_

*My Book of True Stories*

This book contains over thirty full-page drawings and a large number of smaller illustrations by Mr. T. H. Robinson. The cover and about twenty pages are in colour. Also in cloth, gilt edges, 2_s._

SIXPENNY SERIES

_Picture-boards. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches_

*True Stories of Olden Days* *True Stories of Great Deeds* *My Book of Noble Deeds*

Each book contains seven or eight pages in colour and many black-and-white illustrations. The text is printed in bold type.

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Scripture Picture-Books

This excellent series includes several books of New Testament stories simply told. The illustrations are by eminent artists, and the text, which, besides incidents in the life of Christ, includes most of the Parables, has been specially written by Mrs. L. Haskell, one of the most popular authors of stories for little folk.

ONE SHILLING SERIES

_Picture boards. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches._

*Stories from the Life of Christ*

This interesting volume contains over thirty full-page drawings, and a large number of smaller illustrations. The cover and no fewer than twenty pages are in colour. Also in cloth, gilt edges, 2_s._

SIXPENNY SERIES

_Picture boards. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches_

*Glad Tidings* | *Gentle Jesus* *The Good Shepherd*

Each book contains an average of six full-page illustrations, many vignettes, and eight pages in colour. The text is printed in bold type.

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Animal Picture-Books

This is certainly the best series of Animal Picture-books published at the price. The pictures, which are all drawn by eminent artists, will form an endless source of pleasure to little folks. The text is written in very simple language.

ONE SHILLING SERIES

_Picture-boards. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches_

*A Picture-Book of Animals* | *Faithful Friends*

These bright and attractive volumes contain over thirty full-page drawings, and a number of smaller illustrations. The cover and about twenty pages are in colour. Also in cloth, gilt edges, 2_s._

SIXPENNY SERIES

_Picture-boards. Quarto, 10⅛ inches by 7¾ inches_

*Talks about Animals* | *Bow-wow Picture-Book* *Animals of All Lands* | *Cats and Kits* *My Book of Animals* | *Friends at the Farm*

Each contains seven or eight pages in colour and many black-and-white illustrations. The covers, also in colour, are very attractive.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

The following typographical errors were corrected:

page 54, “been” changed to “been on” page 54, “mast.” changed to “mast?” page 60, “clergyman” changed to “clergyman.” page 96, “operation.” changed to “operation?” page 97, “may” changed to “many” page 251, “coxwain” changed to “coxswain” page 252, “as well” changed to “a swell” page 319, “kine” changed to “kind” page 341, “Colpoy’s” changed to “Colpoys’” advertisements, page 12, “success” changed to “success.”

In addition, many missing or wrong quote marks have been standardized.

Inconsistent use of hyphens and capitalization of military ranks has been retained as in the original.

One illustration, which was between pages 32 and 33 in the original edition, has been moved to page 65, as indicated in the list of illustrations.