Prompt in everything, the thought no sooner occurred to the young candidate for college honors than he proceeded to reduce it to action. He forthwith commenced arranging the facts and dates from the diary; constructed sentences in plain Saxon English; the work grew upon him; he "fought his battles o'er again;" was again captured, imprisoned and escaped; the work continued to grow, and at the end of six weeks' hard application, always keeping his _object_ in view, Willard Glazier, the young cavalryman, found himself an author--_i. e._, in manuscript. Not a little surprised and gratified to discover that he possessed the gift of putting his thoughts in a readable form, he now felt hopeful that the day was not distant when the desire of his soul to enter college would be realized. CHAPTER XXVII. CAREER AS AN AUTHOR. Glazier in search of a publisher for "Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape."--Spends his last dollar.--Lieutenant Richardson a friend in need.--Joel Munsell, of Albany, consents to publish.--The author solicits subscriptions for his work before publication.--Succeeds.--Captain Hampton.--R. H. Ferguson.--Captain F. C. Lord.--Publication and sale of first edition.--Great success.--Pays his publisher in full.--Still greater successes.--Finally attains an enormous sale.--Style of the work.--Extracts.--Opinions of the press. Still very young, and knowing nothing of the trade of the Publisher, Glazier found his way to the Empire City, and, manuscript in hand, presented himself before some of her leading publishers--among them, the Harpers, Appletons, Carleton, Sheldon and others. To these gentlemen he showed his manuscript, and received courteous recognition from each; but the terms they offered were not of a character to tempt him. They would publish his book and pay him a small royalty on their sales. His faith in his manuscript led him to expect more substantial results. The subject of the work was one of absorbing interest at the time, and if he had handled it properly, he knew the book must meet with a commensurate sale. He therefore determined, if possible, to find a publisher willing to make it to his order, and leave him to manipulate the sale himself. He was already in possession of many unsolicited orders for it, and although knowing nothing of the subscription-book business, determined that, when printed, his book should be brought out by subscription.