er leaders in literature and art.

Mr. Garland wrote his stories from first-hand experience with men under
certain typical American conditions. His stories of _Boy Life on the
Prairie_ and of _Main-Traveled Roads_ are grim stories of farm life in
the West. They portray the conditions under which people lived on the
prairies only a generation or two ago. He shows us that men may become
true and strong because of their battle with such conditions. His books
are as truly American as any our country has produced.

As a writer of literature, these books show Mr. Garland to be a
realist, that is, a writer who deals with the facts of real life, but
as you read _Boy Life on the Prairie_, you will see that he is fond of
the ideal, of the fanciful, and of descriptions of simple rural scenes.
The latter quality is very plain, when he writes of the birds and of
the thrill of the open country that comes to the boys on their camping
trip.

A Camping Trip

100, 1. A prairie schooner. A long canvas-covered wagon used especially
by emigrants crossing the prairies.

105, 1. Skimmer-bugs. Bugs that skip or glide over the surface of the
water.

111, 1. Luff. To turn the head of a vessel towards the wind.
Hard-a-port is a direction given to the helmsman, meaning to put the
helm quickly to the port or left side.

* * * * *

DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER (Page 114)

Dorothea Canfield, the author of "A Thread Without a Knot," is one of
the most brilliant and forceful writers in America to-day. She was born
in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1879. The daughter of a teacher and writer, her
education was intensive and varied. As a child she learned to speak
several languages. She received her B.A. from Ohio State University and
a Ph. D. from Columbia University. She has studied and traveled
extensively in Europe as well as in America.

Both as a person and as a writer, Dorothea Canfield has been
extraordinarily well liked. As an author she is characterized by
originality, clearness, and the vital quality of human sympathy. She
always writes with a purpose, both in her works of fiction and in her
educational writings. The writer's own ideals and common sense are
revealed in her work and her stories are thoroughly interesting. Under
the name, Dorothy Canfield, she has written some notable fiction. _The
Bent Twig_ is a graphic American novel in which are portrayed the
influences of environment upon a most interestin