concern in their affairs, and stimulated them to honest and useful
living. With his first story he won the hearts of all red-blooded
boys every-where, and of the seventy or more that followed over a
million copies were sold during the author's lifetime.

In his later life he was in appearance a short, stout, bald-headed
man, with cordial manners and whimsical views of things that amused
all who met him. He died at Natick, Mass., July 18, 1899.

Mr. Alger's stories are as popular now as when first published,
because they treat of real live boys who were always up and about--just
like the boys found everywhere to-day. They are pure in tone and
inspiring in influence, and many reforms in the juvenile life of
New York may be traced to them. Among the best known are:

Strong and Steady; Strive and Succeed; Try and Trust: Bound
to Rise; Risen from the Ranks; Herbert Carter's Legacy; Brave and
Bold; Jack's Ward; Shifting for Himself; Wait and Hope; Paul the
Peddler; Phil the Fiddler: Slow and Sure: Julius the Street Boy;
Tom the Bootblack; Struggling Upward; Facing the World; The Cash
Boy; Making His Way; Tony the Tramp; Joe's Luck; Do and Dare: Only
an Irish Boy; Sink or Swim; A Cousin's Conspiracy; Andy Gordon; Bob
Burton; Harry Vane; Hector's Inheritance; Mark Manson's Triumph;
Sam's Chance; The Telegraph Boy; The Young Adventurer; The Young
Outlaw; The Young Salesman, and Luke Walton..




CHAPTER I