"Sam's Chance" is a sequel to the "Young Outlaw¹," and is designed to illustrate² the gradual steps by which that young man was induced to give up his bad habits, and deserve that prosperity which he finally attains³. The writer confesses to have experienced some embarrassment⁴ in writing this story. The story writer always has at command expedients⁵ by which the frowns of fortune may be turned into sunshine, and this without violating probability, or, at any rate, possibility; for the careers of many of our most eminent⁶ and successful men attest⁷ that truth is often-times stranger than fiction. But to cure a boy of radical⁸ faults is almost as difficult in fiction as in real life. Whether the influences which led to Sam's reformation were adequate to that result, must be decided⁹ by the critical reader. The author may, at any rate, venture to congratulate Sam's friends that he is now more worthy¹⁰ of their interest and regard than in the years when he was known as the "Young Outlaw."

下一页  尾页