ope. It was regarded not merely
as a tale of adventure in a new department of story-telling, but it was
generally conceded to be a fine piece of fiction in itself, and its
hero, Harvey Birch, won, and has kept for himself, a place hardly second
to any creation of literature.

Cooper had now found his sphere, and his best work henceforth was that
in which he delineated the features of American history during the
struggle for independence. His greatest contributions to literature are
found in the short series of novels called "The Leatherstocking Tales,"
and in his novels of the sea. "The Leatherstocking Tales" consist of
five stories, in which the same hero figures from first to last. The
series began with the publication of Cooper's second novel, _The
Pioneers_, but the story of the hero really begins in the fascinating
pages of _The Deerslayer_, where he is represented in the first stage of
his career.

The series grew much as Tennyson's _Idylls of the King_ grew, the same
man being introduced in different parts of his career, though each
separate book did not follow in exact order from the author's hand. The
success of _The Pioneers_ was remarkable. Thirty-five hundred copies
were sold before noon on the day of publication, and although, perhaps,
the least powerful of the "Tales," it was read with the same interest
that had been given to _The Spy_.

In the new novel Leatherstocking was first introduced as the philosopher
of nature, ignorant of books, but wise in the lore that is taught by the
voices of Nature. It is a story of the primitive life of the
frontiersmen of that day, and their occupations, interests, and
ambitions form the background to the picture of the hero,
Leatherstocking, who embodies the author's idea of chivalrous manhood,
and whose creation is one of the noblest achievements of fiction.

The scene of _The Pioneers_ was laid in the vicinity of Cooper's boyhood
home, and all the exquisite pictures wrought into the setting are vivid
and lifelike illustrations of the little frontier village, where man
received his sustenance first hand from Nature, and where all his
surroundings partook almost of the simplicity of the first ages of the
world. It was an appropriate theatre for the actions of that rustic
philosopher Leatherstocking, and there is a vein of tender reminiscence
through the book that must always give it a charm apart from the rest,
though in itself it is the least perfect story of the se