ed for some time correcting
proof-sheets, which he had received by the mail. The novel of "Rob
Roy,"[58] as I have already observed, was at that time in the press,
and I supposed them to be the proof-sheets of that work. The
authorship of the Waverley novels was still a matter of conjecture and
uncertainty; tho few doubted their being principally written by Scott.
One proof to me of his being the author was that he never adverted to
them. A man so fond of anything Scottish, and anything relating to
national history or local legend, could not have been mute respecting
such productions, had they been written by another. He was fond of
quoting the works of his contemporaries; he was continually reciting
scraps of border songs, or relating anecdotes of border story. With
respect to his own poems and their merits, however, he was mute, and
while with him I observed a scrupulous silence on the subject.

[Footnote 58: Of his novels Scott at this time had published only
"Waverley," "Guy Mannering," "The Antiquarii," "Old Mortality," and
the "Black Dwarf."]

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

Born In New Jersey in 1789, died in Cooperstown, N. Y., in
1851; son of William Cooper, the pioneer who founded
Cooperstown; settled in Cooperstown in 1790; entered Yale
College in 1803, remaining three years; midshipman in the
navy in 1808; married in 1811 and resigned from the navy;
published "Precaution" and "The Spy," both in 1821; the
latter established his literary reputation; "The Pioneers"
in 1823, "The Pilot" in 1823, "The Last of the Mohicans" in
1826; "The Prairie" in 1827, "The Pathfinder" in 1840, "The
Deerslayer" in 1841; author of many other books.

I

HIS FATHER'S ARRIVAL AT OTSEGO LAKE[59]

Near the center of the State of New York lies an extensive district of
country whose surface is a succession of hills and dales, or, to speak
with greater deference to geographical definitions, of mountains and
valleys. It is among these hills that the Delaware takes its rise;
and, flowing from the limpid lakes and thousand springs of this
region, the numerous sources of the Susquehanna meander through the
valleys, until, uniting their streams, they form one of the proudest
rivers of the United States. The mountains are generally arable to the
tops, altho instances are not wanting where the sides are jutted with
rocks, that aid greatly in giving to the country that romantic and