Howard Pyle, a chronicle by Charles D. Abbott, with an introduction by N. C. Wyeth and many illustrations from Howard Pyle's works.

HOWARD PYLE: A CHRONICLE
back yard the other afternoon?' laughed Mr. Pyle. The
bearer of beaten biscuit did. On that particular occasion she
had discovered John, the Pyle handyman, model and
gardener, and butler and nurse, swathed in sheets, flourishing a sickle.. 0 *.
This account shows the almost rustic simplicity with which
the Pyles lived in Rehoboth. A gentle restfulness pervaded
the whole atmosphere. Oddly enough, it was here, amid
such happily domestic surroundings, that that vigorous love
of pirates was born and was nourished until we have it
amplified and adorned in such tales as "The Ruby of
Kishmoor" and "The Ghost of Captain Brand." The
topography of the coastline explains it. To the north of
Rehoboth, just a few hundred yards south of Cape Henlopen, tower some immense sand dunes, on the top of which
looms a quaintly picturesque lighthouse built in 17 63, whitewashed and glistening in the sun. Legends which are as
old as the lighthouse itself have it that these dunes were
once the haunt of many a bloodthirsty old sea-dog, who
used them as a safe hiding place for unmentionable booty.
The legends are current gossip of the locality, and the
dunes themselves, with their smooth treacherous surface
and their vague uncertain form, rather confirm the stories
with their appearance. The persistently inquisitive visitor
can see the all-powerful onward march of the sand; he can
see it gradually spread from year to year; in one place are
the gnarled and bony trunks of innumerable trees which
were once a vast pine forest but which have met in silent
struggle the devouring sand. It is assuredly a place
curiously appropriate for pirates.
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