Horatio Alger was born in Massachusetts in 1832. He was a graduate of Harvard University. He was considered one of the most renown writers of the 19th Century. His protagonists were usually young boys who struggled from poverty to achieve success in life. He wrote over 100 books with that theme. His titles include "Ragged Dick," "Adrift in New York," 'Sink or Swim," and "The Odds Against Him," "Rough and Ready,"Sam's Chance,"and "Paul the Peddler." Alger died in 1899.
A boy of sixteen, with a small gripsack in his hand, trudged along the country road. He was of good height for his age, strongly built, and had a frank, attractive face. He was naturally of a cheerful temperament, but at present his face was grave, and not without a shade of anxiety. This can hardly be a matter of surprise when we consider that he was thrown upon his own resources, and that his available capital consisted of thirty-seven cents in money, in addition to a good education and a rather unusual amount of physical strength. These last two items were certainly valuable, but they cannot always be exchanged for the necessa-ries and comforts of life