The Golden Canyon | Page 2

had for his own children, bethought himself that
others might receive from them the same delight and interest if they
were put into book form. He at once acted upon the suggestion and
wrote out a chapter of his story for each day, and instead of telling it to
his children in an extempore fashion, read what he had written. When
the story was completed, the various chapters were placed together and
dispatched to a publisher, who at once accepted and published it. It was
in this way the long series of historical stories which has come from his
powerful pen was inaugurated, and G.A. Henty was awarded the title of
"The Prince of Story-Tellers."
There is in this incident a glimpse of the character of our author which
endears him to us all. The story of his kindly interest in his own
children surely creates a liking for him in the hearts of the children of
others. The man who can spend an hour in telling stories to his little
ones, and retain their attention and interest, has an evident sympathy
with, and power over, the youthful nature. Time has proved such is the
case with G.A. Henty, for up to the present he has written close on fifty

stories for boys, which have been received with unbounded joy and
satisfaction by all.
As an indication of the reception which his books have met with, the
following may be quoted from an English paper:
"G.A. Henty, the English writer of juveniles, is the most popular writer
in England to-day in point of sales. Over 150,000 copies of his books
are sold in a year, and in America he sells from 25,000 to 50,000
during a year."
"All the world" is the sphere from which Mr. Henty draws his pictures
and characters for the pleasure of the young. Almost every country in
the world has been studied to do service in this way, with the result that
within the series of books which Mr. Henty has produced for the young
we find such places dealt with as Carthage, Egypt, Jerusalem, Scotland,
Spain, England, Afghanistan, Ashanti, Ireland, France, India, Gibraltar,
Waterloo, Alexandria, Venice, Mexico, Canada, Virginia, and
California. Doubtless what other countries remain untouched as yet are
but so many fields to be attacked, and which every lad hopes to see
conquered in the same masterly way in which the previous ones have
been handled.
As a rule much of what boys learn at school is left behind them when
classes are given up for the sterner work of the world. Unless there is a
special demand for a certain subject, that subject is apt to become a
thing of the past, both in theory and practice. This, however, is not
likely to be the case with history, so long as G.A. Henty writes books
for boys, and boys read them. History is his especial forte, and that he
is able to invest the dry facts of history with life, and make them
attractive to the modern schoolboy, says not a little for his power as a
story-teller for boys. It is questionable if history has any better means
of fixing itself in the minds of youthful readers than as it is read in the
pages of G.A. Henty's works. There is about it an attraction which
cannot be resisted; a most unusual circumstance in connection with
such a subject. All this of course means for Mr. Henty a vast amount of
research and study to substantiate his facts and make his situations,
characters, places, and points of time authentic. To the reader it means

a benefit which is incalculable, not only as a means of passing a
pleasant hour, but in reviving or imparting a general knowledge of the
history and geography, the manners and customs of our own and other
lands.
There is a noticeable element of "Freedom" which runs through Mr.
Henty's books, and in this may be said to lie their influence. From them
lads get an elevating sense of independence, and a stimulus to patriotic
and manly endeavor. His pages provide the purest form of intellectual
excitement which it is possible to put into the hands of lads. They are
always vigorous and healthy, and a power for the strengthening of the
moral as well as the intellectual life.
In the present work, "The Golden Canyon," a tale of the gold mines, Mr.
Henty has fully sustained his reputation, and we feel certain all boys
will read the book with keen interest.
The Golden Canyon

Chapter I.
--A Run Ashore.
In the month of August, 1856, the bark Northampton was lying in the
harbor of San Diego. In spite of the awning spread over her deck the
heat was almost unbearable. Not a breath of wind was