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[Illustration: BATTLE OF ANTIETAM.]




  Edition d'Elite


  Historical Tales
  The Romance of Reality

  By
  CHARLES MORRIS

  _Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the
  Dramatists," etc._


  IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES
  Volume II


  American
  2


  J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
  PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON




Copyright, 1904, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.

Copyright, 1908, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.




  _CONTENTS._

                                                         PAGE

  PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH                   7

  DE SOTO AND THE FATHER OF WATERS                         13

  THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE                               23

  THE THRILLING ADVENTURE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH            29

  THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA                          40

  THE GREAT REBELLION IN THE OLD DOMINION                  49

  CHEVALIER LA SALLE THE EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI       62

  THE FRENCH OF LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ INDIANS          76

  THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE                      88

  HOW OGLETHORPE SAVED GEORGIA FROM SPAIN                  95

  A BOY'S WORKING HOLIDAY IN THE WILDWOOD                 104

  PATRICK HENRY, THE HERALD OF THE REVOLUTION             113

  GOVERNOR TRYON AND THE CAROLINA REGULATORS              124

  LORD DUNMORE AND THE GUNPOWDER                          135

  THE FATAL EXPEDITION OF COLONEL ROGERS                  145

  HOW COLONEL CLARK WON THE NORTHWEST                     153

  KING'S MOUNTAIN AND THE PATRIOTS OF TENNESSEE           166

  GENERAL GREENE'S FAMOUS RETREAT                         171

  ELI WHITNEY, THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON-GIN             185

  HOW OLD HICKORY FOUGHT THE CREEKS                       193

  THE PIRATES OF BARATARIA BAY                            206

  THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO                                 217

  HOW HOUSTON WON FREEDOM FOR TEXAS                       225

  CAPTAIN ROBERT E. LEE AND THE LAVA-BEDS                 231

  A CHRISTMAS DAY ON THE PLANTATION                       241

  CAPTAIN GORDON AND THE RACCOON ROUGHS                   252

  STUART'S FAMOUS CHAMBERSBURG RAID                       261

  FORREST'S CHASE OF THE RAIDERS                          277

  EXPLOITS OF A BLOCKADE-RUNNER                           291

  FONTAIN, THE SCOUT, AND THE BESIEGERS OF VICKSBURG      302

  GORDON AND THE BAYONET CHARGE AT ANTIETAM               311

  THE LAST TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON                   319

  JOHN MORGAN'S FAMOUS RAID                               331

  HOME-COMING OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS VETERANS             347




  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

  AMERICAN. VOLUME II.


                                                    PAGE

  BATTLE OF ANTIETAM                       _Frontispiece._

  ALONG THE COAST OF FLORIDA                           9

  DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI                 19

  POCAHONTAS                                          32

  JAMESTOWN RUIN                                      54

  COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER      73

  OLD SPANISH FORT, ST. AUGUSTINE                     98

  HOME OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDERICKSBURG, VA        108

  HOME OF PATRICK HENRY DURING HIS LAST TWO
    TERMS AS GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA                    114

  ST. JOHN'S CHURCH                                  122

  OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG                       138

  VIEW IN THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS                 155

  COTTON-GIN                                         186

  JACKSON'S BIRTHPLACE                               198

  THE ALAMO                                          218

  COTTON FIELD ON SOUTHERN PLANTATION                242

  COLONIAL MANSION                                   262

  GORDON HOUSE                                       316

  TRIUMPH OF STONEWALL JACKSON                       323

  LEE'S HOUSE AT RICHMOND                            348




_PONCE DE LEON AND THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH._


A golden Easter day was that of the far-away year 1513, when a small
fleet of Spanish ships, sailing westward from the green Bahamas, first
came in sight of a flower-lined shore, rising above the blue Atlantic
waves, and seeming to smile a welcome as the mariners gazed with eyes of
joy and hope on the inviting arcades of its verdant forest