d. "Struck with the reading,"
he writes, "of one of Cooper's novels called 'The Spy,' he aspired to
the sort of ambition which distinguished the hero of that work, and
was desirous of playing in France the part which Cooper has assigned
to Harvey Birch during the American war of independence.... Harvey
Birch--for he adopted this name in all his reports--never belied his
professions of fidelity. He rendered services which would have merited
a competent fortune; but when the term of them ended, he contented
himself with asking for a humble employment, barely enough to supply
his daily necessities." The belief in the reality of the hero has,
indeed, been part of the singular fortune of the book. In his account
of Nicaragua, published in 1852, Mr. E. G. Squier furnished incidentally
interesting testimony to the truth of this statement as well as to the
wide circulation of the tale itself. At La Union, the port of San Miguel,
he stayed at the house of the commandant of the place. His (p. 038)
apartments he found well stocked with books, and among them was this
particular novel. "The 'Espy,'" he went on to say, "of the lamented
Cooper, I may mention, seems to be better known in Spanish America
than any other work in the English language. I found it everywhere;
and when I subsequently visited the Indian pueblo of Conchagua, the
first alcalde produced it from an obscure corner of the cahildo, as a
very great treasure. He regarded it as veritable history, and thought
'Senor Birch' a most extraordinary personage and a model guerillero."

CHAPTER III. (p. 039)

1822-1826.

Cooper would have been more or less than mortal if the unexpected
success achieved by "The Spy" had not incited him to renewed effort.
It definitely determined his career, though at the time he did not
know it. As yet he was not sure in his own mind whether the favor his
book had met was the result of a lucky hit or was due to the display
of actual power. There can be no question as to the honesty of his
assertion when he published his third novel, that it depended upon
certain contingencies whether it would not be the last. But from this
time on he wrote incessantly. From 1820 to 1830, including both years,
he brought out eleven works. In many respects this was the happiest
period of his literary life as well as the most successful. During it
he produced many of his greatest creations. One