Robert Louis Stevenson loved adventure, and this is one of the reasons why _Treasure Island_ is such a delightful story. First, he and Lloyd Osbourne drew the map that you will find at the beginning of _Treasure Island_. Then the story begins, told by Jim Hawkins, whose mother kept an inn, the Admiral Benbow. To the inn comes Billy Bones, bringing his sea chest. Later one old sailor after another arrives, the most terrifying of all being the blind man Pew, who felt his way tapping with a stick. Soon it appears there is hidden treasure to be found. Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesay and Squire Trelawney sail away on the {65} _Hispaniola_, but many of the crew on board, led by John Silver, mean to take the treasure for themselves. _Treasure Island_ is one of the best stories of adventure ever written for young people. What happens on board the _Hispaniola_ and at the island is waiting hidden in the pages of the story for you to read. Robert Louis Stevenson was born in the city of Edinburgh, which was also Sir Walter Scott's native city. He was a brave, very lovable person. All his life, he was more or less of an invalid. But he did not allow ill-health to make much difference to his way of living. He kept on working, and as you know, his work was writing. There is nothing about his books which would make any one think he was an invalid. Finally, he and his wife went to live at Samoa in the South Seas, where the climate suited him, and he was able to lead a more active life than had been possible for some time. He was engaged in writing what is judged to be his best work, a novel called _Weir of Hermiston_, when he died. Of the many books that Stevenson wrote, two others besides _Treasure Island_ are especially interesting to boys and girls, _Kidnapped_, and its continuation _Catriona_. Together, the two stories make one volume, called _David Balfour_ after the hero. Swiftly moving, gay, gallant, easy to read, sweet and sound at heart as the kernel of a nut, Robert Louis Stevenson's romantic adventurous stories belong more completely than most books of fiction to the world of youth. He wrote _A Child's Garden of Verse_, _Underwoods_, and _Ballads_, as {66} well as other novels, _Prince Otto_, _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_, and _The Master of Ballantrae_. Stevenson's essays are much thought of; and he was an individual and delightful letter-writer. {67} CHAPTER XI ROBINSON CRUSOE--LORNA DOONE--HEREWARD--WESTWARD HO!--ROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS--TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA--MIDSHIPMAN EASY--PETER SIMPLE--TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST--THE GOLDEN DOG Let us stop for a little while to consider why we enjoy ourselves so much when we read stories of romance and adventure. Indeed, books of this character are fascinating to almost everyone.