Lew Wallace, Young Writer
Chapter
1.
Little Hero (sneak
preview)
2.
The Journey
3.
Voice of the River
4.
The Magic Pencil
5.
Be Prepared
6.
Scottish Chiefs
7.
Winter Storm
8.
College-In-The-Woods
9.
The Magic Touch
10.
The Treasure
11.
Turning Point
12.
Pocahontas and Politics
13.
The Call to Arms
Little
Hero
"Wake up, my little dreamer!" A tall woman knelt beside her young
son, asleep in a trundle bed.
"Wake up," she whispered again. It was early, earlier than her son
usually woke up. The boy stirred slightly. He felt her hand gently brushing
back his hair. "Come, Lewis, get up! We are moving today!"
His dark eyes opened wide, and he sat up suddenly. Now he remembered his
father had said they would be going with the big, white-topped wagons this
trip!
Lewis Wallace liked to watch the wagon trains as they came
rumbling through their town,
"Are we going in a wagon?" Lewis asked.
"No, we will go in the carriage, Lewis," Mrs. Wallace replied.
"It is already harnessed and packed. Get into your clothes."
Lewis heard his younger brothers, three-year-old John and Baby Edwin, in the
next room.
"William is already up," his mother called, as she hurried to the
younger children.
"Of course he is," Lewis thought. Older brother William always did
everything right. Lewis loved his brother Bill and tried to be like him, but
Lewis was different.
Now he was thinking of the wagons. He listened for their sound-bells on the
harness tinkling in rhythm with the clomp, clomp of
the hoof beats. He could hear them coming.
"Ready, Lewis?" his mother called.
"Almost," he answered, quickly pulling on the homespun trousers.
They felt scratchy but he was pleased he no longer had to wear a dress. Lewis
had grown into trousers on his fifth birthday, a few weeks past. When asked his
age, he would proudly reply, "I am five. I was born on
Now dressed, Lewis went over to the open window to look for the wagons.
Upstairs here, in their tall brick house, he was a giant looking over the world
below him.
The sun was coming up over the hills to the southeast, touching everything
with gold. The river was splashing over the wheel of one of the mills. The gold
eagle on top of the Court House steeple caught his eye. The Court House bell
reflected the golden rays.
His father spent much of his time there. Mr. Wallace helped people who
needed a lawyer.
Lewis wondered if there would be a courthouse where they were moving. He
looked at the hills to the west. They looked golden, too. Then he glanced down.
Yes, the carriage was waiting below, with trunks and bundles piled on top.
The horses were tied to the hitching post. They pulled and strained at it,
impatient to be off.
He looked at the heavy rear wheels of the carriage. A stone was propped
under one of them as an extra brake. Slowly the stone began to move, tugged by
a small hand. Lewis' heart stood still.
"John must be under the carriage," he thought, "playing by
the big wheel!"
"John, John," Lewis screamed, as he saw his little brother so
close to danger. Dashing out of the room, Lewis slid down the banister, ran out
the door, and stooped under the back of the carriage.
With
all his strength, Lewis pulled John away, just as the stone loosened. The
carriage jolted forward. John yelled. The horses reared and jerked free of the
post. The horses were running away with the loaded carriage!
Lewis ran after the carriage.
"Stop the horses! Stop the horses!" he yelled.
Heads popped out of the stately houses along the street. Almost breathless,
Lewis kept running and shouting. The horses were at the corner of the
In the second that they seemed to pause, a tall man leaped in front of them.
He tugged at the reins to stop them.
"Whoa, Ball, whoa. Easy now," he commanded firmly.
The horses reared. The carriage reeled, shook, and came to a sudden stop.
Lewis ran to catch up with them. The horses were in front of Grandfather
Wallace's inn, at the southeast corner of the Square. The man who had stopped
the runaways was his grandfather!
"Grandfather!" Lewis shouted, "You
stopped the horses!"
"I heard you from the doorway. When I came out I saw you pull John from
under the carriage," Grandfather Wallace explained.
Grandmother Wallace appeared at the door. "What is all the commotion,
Andrew?"
"I heard Lewis shouting to his brother. The next thing I knew, the
carriage was racing down the street headed this way. I just ran out and stopped
it."
"Wasn't Grandfather brave?" exclaimed Lewis.
"Lewis, you were the brave one," Grandfather Wallace replied.
"I saw you rescue John."
"Well, bravery just runs in the family!" Grandmother Wallace
exclaimed. "Our Lewis might be as famous as brave Uncle John,
someday," she said, smiling down at her grandson.
Hearing those words, Lewis found his breath, and his chest swelled with
pride. He dreamed of being a hero like his great-great-uncle John Paul Jones-a
real hero!
What happens next?
Read the new book, Lew Wallace, Boy
Writer
and find out!