Martin Rattler | Page 2

"The Ocean and its Wonders," 1874; "The Pirate City, an Algerine Tale," 1875; "Under the Waves, or Diving in Deep Waters," 1876; "Rivers of Ice, a Tale illustrative of Alpine Adventure and Glacier Action," 1876; "The Settler and the Savage, a Tale of Peace and War in South Africa," 1877; "Jarwin and Cuffy" (Incident and Adventure Library), 1878; "In the Track of the Troops, a Tale of Modern War," 1878; "Six Months at the Cape, or Letters to Periwinkle from South Africa," 1879 (1878); "Post Haste, a Tale of Her Majesty's Mails," 1880 (1879); "The Red Man's Revenge, a Tale of the Red River Flood," 1880; "Philosopher Jack, a Tale of the Southern Seas," 1880; "The Lonely Island, or the Refuge of the Mutineers," 1880; "The Robber Kitten" (in volume of tales by two or three authors), 1880; "The Collected Works of Ensign Sopht, late of the Volunteers, illustrated by himself," 1881; "My Doggie and I," etc., 1881; "The Giant of the North, or Pokings round the Pole," 1882 (1881); "The Kitten Pilgrims, or Great Battles and Grand Victories," 1882; "The Madman and the Pirate," 1883; "The Battery and the Boiler, or Adventures in the Laying of Submarine Cables," etc., 1883; "Battles with the Sea, or Heroes of the Lifeboat and Rocket," 1883; "Dusty Diamonds Cut and Polished, a Tale of City-arab Life and Adventure," 1884 (1862); "Twice Bought, a Tale of the Oregon Gold-fields," 1885 (1863); "The Island Queen, a Tale of the Southern Hemisphere," etc., 1885; "The Rover of the Andes, a Tale of Adventure in South America," 1885; "Red Rooney, or the Last of the Crew," 1886; "The Big Otter, a Tale of the Great Nor'-West," 1887 (1864); "The Middy of the Moors, an Algerine Story," 1888; "Blue Lights, or Hot Work in the Soudan, a Tale of Soldier Life," 1888; "The Crew of the Water Wagtail, a Story of Newfoundland," 1889; "A Gallant Rescue" (stories jolly, stories new, etc.), 1889; "The Fight on the Green" (Miles' Fifty-two Stories for Boys), 1889; "Charlie to the Rescue, a Tale of the Sea and the Rockies," with illustrations by the author, 1890; "The Garret and the Garden..., or the Young Coast-guardsman," 1890; "The Coxswain's Bride, or the Rising Tide, and other Tales," with illustrations by the author, 1891; "The Hot Swamp, a Romance of Old Albion," 1892; "Hunted and Harried, a Tale of the Scottish Covenanters," 1892; "The Walrus Hunters, a Romance of the Realms of Ice," 1893.
Ballantyne's Miscellany was started in 1863.

MY DEAR YOUNG READERS,
In presenting this book to you I have only to repeat what I have said in the prefaces of my former works,--namely, that all the important points and anecdotes are true; only the minor and unimportant ones being mingled with fiction. With this single remark I commit my work to your hands, and wish you a pleasant ramble, in spirit, through the romantic forests of Brazil.
Yours affectionately,
R.M. BALLANTYNE.
[October, 1858.]

MARTIN RATTLER
CHAPTER I
THE HERO AND HIS ONLY RELATIVE
Martin Rattler was a very bad boy. At least his aunt, Mrs. Dorothy Grumbit, said so; and certainly she ought to have known, if anybody should, for Martin lived with her, and was, as she herself expressed it, "the bane of her existence,--the very torment of her life." No doubt of it whatever, according to Aunt Dorothy Grumbit's showing, Martin Rattler was "a remarkably bad boy."
It is a curious fact, however, that, although most of the people in the village of Ashford seemed to agree with Mrs. Grumbit in her opinion of Martin, there were very few of them who did not smile cheerfully on the child when they met him, and say, "Good day, lad!" as heartily as if they thought him the best boy in the place. No one seemed to bear Martin Rattler ill-will, notwithstanding his alleged badness. Men laughed when they said he was a bad boy, as if they did not quite believe their own assertion. The vicar, an old whiteheaded man, with a kind, hearty countenance, said that the child was full of mischief, full of mischief; but he would improve as he grew older, he was quite certain of that. And the vicar was a good judge, for he had five boys of his own, besides three other boys, the sons of a distant relative, who boarded with him; and he had lived forty years in a parish overflowing with boys, and he was particularly fond of boys in general. Not so the doctor, a pursy little man with a terrific frown, who hated boys, especially little ones, with a very powerful hatred. The doctor said that Martin was a scamp.
And yet Martin had not the appearance of a scamp. He had fat rosy cheeks, a round rosy mouth, a straight delicately-formed nose, a firm massive chin, and a broad forehead. But