Classic historical novel. According to Wikipedia: "Joseph Alexander Altsheler (April 29, 1862 - June 5, 1919), was an American author of popular juvenile historical fiction... Altsheler was born in Three Springs, Kentucky to Joseph and Louise Altsheler. In 1885, he took a job at the Louisville Courier-Journal as a reporter and later, an editor. He started working for the New York World in 1892, first as the paper's Hawaiian correspondent and then as the editor of the World's tri-weekly magazine. Due to a lack of suitable stories, he began writing children's stories for the magazine."