ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Adaptations have been made from the works of the following authors,– John Kendrick Bangs, Eva L. Ogden Lambert, Clark E. Carr, Joel Chandler Harris, Robert Barr, Mrs. Eugene Field, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, Alfred R. Conkling, F. Hopkinson Smith, Marion Crawford, W. Hamilton Spence, Miss Elizabeth Lee, Sallie Pratt McLean Greene, Harry Stillwell Edwards, W. C. Morrow and Marietta Holley ;-through the kindness of the publishers,— G. H. Russell & Sons, New England Magazine, D. Appleton & Co., Frederick Stokes & Co., The Century Co., The J. B. Lippincott Co., The MacMillan Co., Chas. Scribner & Sons, Houghton, Miffin & Co., The Bowen Merrill Co., G. B. Putnam Sons, Doubleday, Page & Co., S. S. McClure Co., Ladies Home Journal, Alliance Publishing Co., Dodd Mead & Co. CONTENTS AUTHOR PAGE The Honor of the Woods ... Adapted .... . I The Inmate of the Dungeon . . W. C. Morrow .. . 10 Heroism and History .... Newton Bateman . . 19 The Shepherd's Trophy . ... Alfred Ollivant ... Alice's Flag ....Maurice Thompson . Pomp's Story ....... J. T. Trowbridge .. Through the Flood ... .. lan Mai Laren, ... “Gentlemen! The King!” . Robert Barr .... Engineer Connor's Son .... Will Allen Dromgoole. A Son of Abdallah ..... Albion IV. Tourgee 77 The Gold Louis ..... Adapted ..... 86 Washington . . . . . . . W. Hamilton Spence. Jerry, The Bobbin-Boy . . . . Adapted . .... 99 The Mount of Laws ... .. Hall Caine .... The Archbishop's Christmas Gift. Robert Barr .... 112 An Imperial Secret ..... Alexander Dumas . . 122 The Black Killer ...... Alfred Ollivant . . . 131 The Queen's Letter ..... Anthony Hope . i . 141 The Heart of Old Hickory ... Will Allen Dromgoole. 149 The Secret Dispatches . . . . Adapted . . . . . 159 Cut Off from the People ... Hall Caine . . . . 169 An Encounter with a Panther . . James Fennimore Cooper 176 The Cruelty of Legree . . . . Harriet Beecher Stowe. 181 The Sin of the Bishop of Moden. stein ........ Anthony Hope ... 185 A Study in Dialect .... Marietta Holley . . . 194 The English Buccaneer . . . . Adapted .. . ... The Death of Bill Sykes ... Charles Dickens .. 209 The Wonderful Tar-Baby ... Joel Chandler Harris . 217 'The Escape . . . . . . . . Harriet Beecher Stowe 222 Mistress Sherwood's Victory . . Eva L. Ogden ... 240 The Angel and the Shepherds , Lew Wallace . ... 248 The King of Boyville .... William Allen White . 253 Nominating General Grant Roscoe Conkling ... 261 The Governor's Last Levee .. Sara Beaumont Kennedy 267 Joam Dacosta ....... Jules Verne .... 277 Grandma Keeler Gets Grandpa Kee- ler Ready for Sunday School. Sally Pratt McLean . 286 Bob ...... Henry W. Grady .. 292 The Fiddle Told .....'. Nora C. Franklin . . 299 Winners by Their Own Lengths . Ralph Connor ... 307 How the Church Was Built at Ke. hoe's Bar ....... John Bennett ... “Boots” . . . . . . . . . Adapted . .. . . The Prisoner's Plea ..... Adapted .. .. . 326 The Equinoctial Storm . . . .F. Hopkinson Smith. - 334 Gordon's Reprieve ..... Adapted . . .. .. The Hero of the Day . . . . . Adapted ..... 352 The Wooing of Miss Woppit . · Eugene Field .. . 360 The Stirring Up of Billy Williams Harry Stillwell Edwards 370 NEW PIECES FOR PRIZE SPEAKING CONTESTS. The Honor of the Woods. ADAPTED. Our hero, John Norton, the old trapper, is an ideal woodsman, and his companion whom he calls “the lad" is a character hardly less remarkable than the old man himself. When our story opens, we find the two friends about to take part in a great boat race to be rowed on the lower Saranac, which is to be the event of the season, and which has attracted not only the oarsmen of the wilderness but even professionals from New York. John Norton is a famous oarsman, and the lad, who has also wonderful ability at the oars, has shrunk from competition with one who has been to him a father; and, although the trapper has persuaded him to enter the race, the youth now firmly resolves not to put forth his utmost effort unless it is to save the honor of the woods. It was high noon on the Saranac and a brighter day was never seen. The sky was so intensely blue that it fairly gleamed. All was expectation, for a great crowd had gathered in anticipation of the races, and the thought that they were to see the celebrated trapper and scout of whom they had read and heard so much, stirred them with the feeling of intense curiosity. Indeed, two parties had already sprung up. In the crowd were several aged men who could well remember the great fame which the old trapper had had as an oarsman fifty years before, when they and he were young; and the convictions of these old men were well expressed in the strong assertion of one of their number who closed a heated verbal contest with : “ I tell ye, sir, there ain't a man on God's airth who can beat John Norton at the oars." On the other hand, the professionals who were to row had their advocates. Fine, spruce college boys, “ doing the woods; ” English tourists, strong-built and burly fellows, affecting the heavy sportsman's style ; quiet city gentlemen, whose knowledge of boating was limited to the newspaper accounts of the annual race between Yale and Harvard. Thus stood the feeling and the crowd when the boat with the lad at the oars and the trapper at the paddle came into view. Nothing could exceed the fineness of the tribute paid to the fame of the old trapper, for as the boat approached, the talking ceased, and a stillness more impressive by far than the loudest cheering greeted the old man. He was |