Edward Sylvester Ellis

The touching tale of an unexpected friendship in the face of overwhelming odds. Blair Robertson has a powerful gift: He is a great talker. When he speaks, other kids listen. And he really loves to speak. One of his favorite subjects is his native land, the new United States of America. When Hal, a British orphan, passes by Blair and his friends, Blair yells, "Down with the British!" and compels his friends to toss poor Hal off the dock and into the...

Excerpt: "Among the earliest settlements of Kentucky was that which figures in our story. At the time of the following events it contained some fifty dwellings, surrounded by strong palisades to defend them from the savages, besides a well-constructed block-house, which was not only strongly garrisoned, but claimed the additional protection of a brass field-piece. This last-named instrument presented quite a formidable appearance to prowling Indians,...

Excerpt: "Young Edwin Inwood, leaped down from the small tree, in which he had been, perched for the last half hour, and ran swiftly toward the brook where his elder brother, George, and a large negro named Jim Tubbs, were waiting, ever and anon raising their heads, and looking towards the boy who was acting as sentinel, several hundred yards away, as if they were expecting some such an alarm as this. "Quick! they'll soon be here!" he added in his...