Of course, a book of this kind can make no pretension to originality of matter, as the facts used in it are to be found in historical works of recognized authority, though many of them have been drawn from books that are not easily accessible to the majority of readers. If there is any originality in my little volume it is in the manner in which the tales are told. I have endeavored to tell them as simply as possible, and at the same time with as much dramatic force and fervor as I could command, while adhering rigidly to the facts of history. It would be impossible for me to say to what sources I am indebted for materials. The incidents related have been familiar to me for years, as they are to all persons whose reading of history has been at all extensive, and I cannot say with any certainty how much of each I learned from one and how much from another historical writer. Nor is it in any way necessary that I should do so, as the recorded facts of history are common property. But a special acknowledgment is due to Mr. James Parton in the case of the tale of the Negro Fort, and also for certain details in those relating to the New Orleans campaign of 1814-15. In that field Mr. Parton is an original investigator, to whose labors every writer on the subject must be indebted. I wish also to acknowledge my obligation to Mr. A. B. Meek, the author of a little work entitled "Romantic Passages in Southwestern History," for the main facts in the stories of the Charge of the Hounds and the Battle of the Canoes on the Alabama River; but, with respect to those matters, I have had the advantage of private sources of information also. Most of the stories in the volume were originally written for _Harper's Young People_; one was first published in _Good Cheer_, and a few in other periodicals. I owe thanks to the editors and publishers concerned for permission to reprint them in this form. CONTENTS. PAGE HISTORY STORIES. THE STORY OF THE NEGRO FORT 13 A WAR FOR AN ARCHBISHOP 26 THE BOY COMMANDER OF THE CAMISARDS 38 THE CANOE FIGHT 55 THE BATTLE OF LAKE BORGNE 67 THE BATTLE IN THE DARK 77 THE TROUBLESOME BURGHERS 88 THE DEFENCE OF ROCHELLE 99 THE SAD STORY OF A BOY KING 111 TWO OBSCURE HEROES 120 THE CHARGE OF THE HOUNDS 130 THE STORY OF A WINTER CAMPAIGN 140 YOUNG WASHINGTON IN THE WOODS 151 THE STORY OF CATHERINE 163 THE VIRGINIA WIFE-MARKET 175