copies of the works of Nick Carter in the New Magnet Library have been sold. Millions more are going to be sold, not because the line represents forbidden literature, but because it fills a large and growing demand for recreational reading.
Nick Carter is justly famous. He stands as one of America's foremost literary characters. He is the close companion of some of America's leading professional and business men. Statesmen of high and low degree have called him "Nick," and do not hesitate to say that he has given them more satisfaction and pleasure than any other character in fiction.
The Nick Carter stories, therefore, hold a great deal for you. Any in the foregoing list are worth while.
A half million enthusiastic followers of the Merriwell brothers will attest the unfailing interest and wholesomeness of these adventures of two lads of high ideals, who play fair with themselves, as well as with the rest of the world.
These stories are rich in fun and thrills in all branches of sports and athletics. They are extremely high in moral tone, and cannot fail to be of immense benefit to every boy who reads them.
They have the splendid quality of firing a boy's ambition to become a good athlete, in order that he may develop into a strong, vigorous right-thinking man.
There is a greater appreciation of athletic sports among Americans than among people of any other nationality.
We have had definite proof of this in the correspondence occasioned by our publication of the adventures of Frank and Dick Merriwell. These two boys are active athletes. They are proficient in every line of sport, and they play fair or not at all.
This last feature of the Merriwell stories fills our daily mail with letters from readers who say that they appreciate the integrity and fairness of the Merriwells more than words can tell.
These books, while of greatest interest to the right-thinking boy are educational and make for the development of a character which will enable the average boy to meet his fellows fairly and squarely in the battle of life.
At a rough estimate there are 400 million civilized human beings who have heard of Bill Cody, not under his real name, but by the name everybody called him, "Buffalo Bill."
His character made him an outstanding figure during a period of the development of America when a strong character was a matter of vital necessity.
We doubt, however, whether the man's work is fully appreciated, or ever has been. In the rush and bustle that followed the introduction of the railroad to the West, the results of Buffalo Bill's work were more or less overlooked, but a time is coming when this remarkable man's achievements will be fully appreciated.
This is the character whose adventures are dealt with in Buffalo Bill's Border Stories.
Read them. You will find them of true historical value.