With frontispiece. Allen was born on a farm near Lexington, Kentucky. As a young boy, he lived the life of the Southern ante-bellum gentry, but by the time he was a teenager the Civil War and Reconstruction had ushered in a new era for both himself and his family. Later, he moved to New York City to pursue writing full time. Many of his works reflect Kentucky themes. The book begins: Webster, along with thousands of other lusty forward-looking Kentucky children, went to the crowded public schools. There every morning against his will but with the connivance of his parents he was made a prisoner, as it seemed to him, and for long hours held as such while many things disagreeable or unnecessary, some by one teacher and some by another, were forced into his head.