nt--who was killed in 1863 by the
discharge of suffocating vapors from a submarine battery of his own
invention--left Mrs. Hunt alone in the world, and she removed her
residence a year or two after to Newport, R.I., where the second period
of her life began.

Up to this time she had given absolutely no signs of literary talent.
She had been absorbed in her duties as wife and mother, and had been
fond of society, in which she was always welcome because of her
vivacity, wit, and ready sympathy. In Newport she found herself, from
various causes, under strong literary influences, appealing to tastes
that developed rapidly in herself. She soon began to publish poems, one
of the first of which, if not the first--a translation from Victor
Hugo--appeared in the _Nation_. Others of her poems, perhaps her
best--including the sonnets "Burnt Ships" and "Ariadne's
Farewell"--appeared also in the _Nation_. Not long after, she began
to print short papers on domestic subjects in the _Independent_ and
elsewhere, and soon found herself thoroughly embarked in a literary
career. Her first poem in the _Atlantic Monthly_ appeared in
February, 1869; and her volume of "Verses" was printed at her own
expense in 1870, being reprinted with some enlargement in 1871. and
again, almost doubled in size, in 1874. Her "Bits of Travel" (1872) was
made up of sketches of a tour in Europe in 1868-9; a portion of these,
called "Encyclicals of a Traveller," having been originally written as
circular letters to her many friends and then printed--rather against
her judgment, but at the urgent request of Mr. J.T. Fields--almost
precisely as they were written. Upon this followed "Bits of Talk About
Home Matters" (1873), "Bits of Talk for Young Folks" (1876), and "Bits of
Travel at Home" (1878). These, with a little poem called "The Story of
Boon," constituted, for some time, all her acknowledged volumes; but it
is now no secret that she wrote two of the most successful novels of the
_No Name_ series--"Mercy Philbrick's Choice" (1876) and "Hetty's
Strange History" (1877). We do not propose here to enter into the vexed
question of the authorship of the "Saxe Holme" stories, which appeared
in the early volumes of _Scribner's Monthly_, and were published in
two volumes (1873, 1878). The secret was certainly very well kept, and
in spite of her denials, they were very often attributed to her by
readers and critics.

Her residence in Newport as a busy and successful