And now you don’t want to wait another minute. Let’s read the book. FRANK LANGFORD. The biographical sketches which make up this book were originally used in _The King’s Own_, a Canadian paper for boys. The author thanks the publishers for permission to use the stories in book form. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Little Cripple with the Giant Mind 13 II. The Amazing Story of Arthur Kavanagh 22 III. The Delicate Boy Who Became England’s Greatest Sculptor 29 IV. Brave Tusitala, the Teller of Stories 36 V. The Composer Who Could Not Hear His Own Music 47 VI. The Thrilling Story of An Immigrant Boy 56 VII. A Great Artist and a Great Hero 69 VIII. From Bookbinder’s Errand Boy to Great Scientist 76 IX. The Newsboy Who Became a Great Inventor 85 X. The Unlettered Boy Who Became a Tree Doctor 94 XI. The Peasant Boy Who Made His Dreams Come True 103 XII. The Boy Whose Difficulties Made Him Determined to Succeed 111 XIII. Kindergarten Pupil at Twenty-five: College Professor at Fifty 119 XIV. A Poor Negro Boy Who Thrilled a King 127 XV. A Quaker Boy Who Astonished the World 133 OVERCOMING HANDICAPS OVERCOMING HANDICAPS CHAPTER I THE LITTLE CRIPPLE WITH THE GIANT MIND On April 9, 1865, Charles Steinmetz was born at Breslau in Germany. He was a cripple from his birth. Both his father and grandfather had suffered from spinal trouble, but in Charles the affliction was more noticeable and all his life, though he had a very wise head, he had an undersized, misshapen body. He was so short in stature that he looked much like a dwarf and while his shoulders were thrown up, the head was set so as to give him the appearance of a hunchback.