he found that he was not physically able
to carry out the great city work as he had dreamed it and planned it,
on a scale that would satisfy his longings for service, and it made him
seriously consider whether there was not some other way that would more
equally measure with his strength. He went again to the Ozarks, this
time for rest and meditation, and while there began writing "The
Shepherd of the Hills." This Story has a peculiar significance for
the author. He feels toward it as he can not feel for any of his other
books. "The Shepherd of the Hills" was written as a test. The strength
of the message he was able to put into the story and the response it
should find in the hearts of men and women was to decide for him his
ministry henceforth, whether he would teach the precepts of the Man of
Galilee by voice or pen. It was a testing time that bore fruit not only
in this simple, sweet story, that to quote an eminent divine, "is one of
the greatest sermons of our day," but resulted as well in the splendid
volumes that have followed.

"The Shepherd of the Hills" was finished during the year of his
pastorate at Lebanon, Missouri, and but for the sympathy, encouragement
and helpful understanding of his church officers and membership, it is
doubtful if the story could ever have been completed. When Mr. Wright
delivered the manuscript to his publishers the first of the year, 1907,
for publication the next fall, he had accepted the pastorate of the
Christian Church in Redlands, California, hoping this land of sunshine
would give him a larger measure of health.

Some months later, resigning his Redlands pastorate, he went to the
Imperial Valley and there, the following year, wrote "The Calling of Dan
Matthews." The church and its problems were weighing on the author and
affecting his life no less than when he was in the ministry and it was
only natural that he should give to the world "a picture that is true
to the four corners of the earth." Every incident in the story has its
counterpart in real life and, with but few exceptions, came under the
author's personal observation. He did not get the real pleasure out
of writing "The Calling of Dan Matthews" that he did the story which
preceded it. But he could not, try as he would, escape it.

The publication of "The Calling of Dan Matthews" in the fall of 1909 was
just two years after the publication of "The Shepherd of the Hills."

"The Winning of Barbara Worth" required mo