Pennsylvania

Romantic Stories of the States Breathes there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said: "This is my own, my native land" ? Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned As home his footsteps he hath turned, From wandering on a foreign strand? —Sir Walter Scott. This series of "Romantic Stories of the States" is addressed to everyone, young and old, who is not "dead of soul," as Scott so aptly put it a century ago. Most of us would resent being called unpatriotic, and yet how many of us know the story of our native State? How many of us have stopped to trace the colorful adventures of the hardy pioneer fathers and mothers who laid the first hearthstones in the wilderness? If we trace the story of each one of our States back to Colonial times, we find that the well-springs of history bubble over with adventure and romance. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, as the reader will find repeat-edly in following these tales of bygone days. And in the writing of them we have adhered closely to historic fact, oftentimes gathering the local color from some ancient volume which was published only a few years after the occurrences—as for example, the narrative of the travels of the explorer himself. In each instance the story is followed from earliest Colonial times to the dawn of Statehood. We enter the primeval forest or the pathless plain, and we witness, step by step, its slow emergence and transformation into a busy, thriving commonwealth. This book is not intended as a history, so much as a series of historic incidents, or sidelights which reveal the spirit of the times. It is addressed both to young folks who revel in adventure and to their elders—the man and woman who hark back with pride to their native heath, although they may have been absent from it for many long years, and who want their children to know something of its rich past. To all such we hope the book will come with the memory-laden fragrance of a breeze from the mountains or across the prairies "back home." To still a third group of readers, this series is offered— the harassed teacher or librarian who is often asked questions in regard to local history. They know that while it is easy enough to get material about the United States as a whole, the occurrence closest home is often the most elusive. These stories may be called adventures in patriotism. They are culled from a wealth of material in our heroic past, in the hope and belief that they will bring back to us all, whether young or old, something of the rich heritage which clings to our native soil. J. W. McS.